Which? Reviews No advertising, no bias, no hidden agenda

Ricoh GXR camera system November 2009

Ricoh GXR camera system

The Ricoh GXR is a new camera system that features an interchangeable lens and sensor unit. At the time of its launch, it was the smallest camera system with interchangeable lenses available. The GXR system launches with two lens and sensor units, however there are expected to be more released in 2010.

Ricoh GXR

Ricoh GXR

The Ricoh GXR system is a camera that comes in two parts. While a digital SLR has a body with in built sensor, and a lens, the Ricoh GXR has a lens with a built in sensor, and a body.

The system will launch in December when the body, two lens and sensor units, a flash and an electronic viewfinder will all become available.

Ricoh expects that more lens and sensor units will be made available early next year - and has also hinted at the prospect of projector and even printer units becoming available that could be attached to the camera's body.

Ricoh explains that the the pairing of the lens with a suitable sensor is an important photographic consideration that hasn't, until now, been addressed in digital photography.

We shall be testing this camera in our labs soon to see if the the pairing has the benefits that Ricoh claims. What is evident from our short hands on time with the GXR, however, is that there is very little chance of dust entering the system. The trial photos that we took were also very impressive.

Details of the first two lens and sensor units can be found below our video first look of the Ricoh GXR.

 

Please enable Javascript to view this video

 

The Ricoh GXR system will launch with two lens and sensor units
  GR Lens A12 Ricoh Lens S10
Resolution 12.3Mp 10Mp
Sensor type CMOS CCD
Sensor size 23.6mm x 15.7mm 1/1.7-inch
Focal length 50mm fixed 24-72mm (3x zoom)
Video capabilities HD (1280 x 720p) VGA (640 x 480p)
RAW frames per second 4 5
Aperture f/2.5 - f/22 f/2.5 – f9.1 at 24mm
and f/4.4 – f/15.8 at 72mm
ISO (Both feature Auto and Auto-Hi setting) 200 - 3200 100 - 3200
Battery life (according to Ricoh) 320 shots 410 shots
Weight (when mounted to camera) 423g 325g
Raw images per GB of memory 49 68
Price £600 £300

Digital camera reviews

If you're shopping for a new camera check out all our other digital compact camera and digital SLR camera reviews.

Get involved with Which? using Twitter, email and RSS

Tech email screenshot-Dell laptop

If you'd like news via RSS subscribe to the Which? news RSS feed. If you have an older web browser you may need to copy and paste http://www.which.co.uk/feeds/reviews/news.xml into your newsreader. More details on RSS news feeds.

On Twitter you can follow WhichTech for regular tech tweets.

Get email updates - keep your finger on the pulse of digital technology with the weekly email from the Which? Technology team

Every Tuesday we'll send you the latest news and reviews of MP3 players, mobile phones, cameras, high-definition TVs and other gadgets. 

It's packed with the latest product launches, First Look reviews, expert advice and some incredible deals - can you afford not to be the first to find out?