[Uluru]

Tokyo, 24th April 2014

Leica’s T Type system camera and lenses announcement has prompted Ricoh to respond, and publicly announce they are withdrawing from the hi-end mirrorless camera market.

Namely, it seems Ricoh was working on almost exactly the same concept as the Type T from Leica, a very modern, lightweight and future-oriented platform for image making based around APS-C sensor, GR technologies and interchangeable lenses.



Leica’s new T-Type hi-end mirrorless system loaded with future technology


However Sony, Olympus, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, and now even Leica — the smallest and what was generally believed the most inert of all camera manufacturers — have beat them to it.

What exactly happened? At this very moment the Ricoh HQ is in total confusion, people running up and down, left an right between labs and offices, large amounts of coffee are consumed and endless mathematical simulations on supercomputers are executed over, and over again.

The core conclusion of all practical and simulated results seems to point to Ricoh’s belief in an old story of Achilles and Tortoise, also known as Zeno’s paradox. Which goes like this:

In a race, the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.

Ricoh believed that the GR camera alone gave them enough head start some 20 years ago when they have designed, what was then believed, the best pocket mirrorless camera ever. Although they always wanted to do more with it, say turn it into a system / modular camera, they were slow in executing. Ricoh believed Zeno's paradox will confuse all other participants in the mirrorless race, all of which started later and at a quicker pace. Ricoh held they will hardly come even close to them, and will never overtake them.


Ricoh, apparently, based its long term strategy on Zeno’s paradox


How Ricoh’s strategy worked in theory?

Suppose Leica wants to catch a stationary (in strict mathematical terms, ‘very slow paced’) Ricoh. Before Leica can get there where Ricoh is, Leica must get halfway there first. Before Leica can get halfway there, Leica must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, Leica must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on.

This description of tasks requires Leica (or any other racer) to complete an infinite number of tasks before reaching Ricoh, which Zeno’s paradox maintains is an impossibility. In other words, other racers do not have a chance competing against Ricoh in the long run of the race.



Unfortunately, the paradox was seemingly ignored by other race participants. Hans Reichenbach, one of leading philosopher of science, proposed once that the paradox may arise and may indeed work when considering space and time as separate entities. However, in a theory like general relativity, which presumes a single space-time continuum, the paradox may be blocked.

Thus it seems the paradox may be blocked by simply ignoring it and living a life within general relativity, which many racers in the mirrorless race did. And that is why it did not stop them from taking a lead.

Ricoh’s fans, and their brethren Pentax fans, are in state of denial. They were first accusing each other, one group claiming Ricoh has lost pace because of too much attention to Pentax products, the other claiming that Ricoh did not have enough of a head start with their poor market presence even before the acquisition of Pentax.

After a fierce fight they have calmed, exhaling in exhaustion that Ricoh’s true race is one hidden from the eyes of public. According to their beliefs, Ricoh will all of a sudden appear at the finish line with a full range of magical products that beat all others and win the race. That is called “Deux Ex Machina” paradox, but more about it later.

// In case you wondered, the content and conclusion of this message are purely fictional. //

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Last edited by Uluru; 04-24-2014 at 12:15 AM.

// The contents of this message are purely fictional scenarios //

Actually, the plural of "scenario" is "scenari."

[Zav]

I can't wait for the next step: "Ricoh withdraws its previous statement. Spokesperson for the Japanese manufacturer stated that soon after the initial release, they realised that there was a market for camera under 10 000 USD and that they don't feel threatened by Leica anymore"

[Clavius]

LOL! Realistic scenario, afaik. In Pentax's locked rooms there are bound to be multiple projects and prototypes that were cancelled because they were "beaten to it" by other manufacturers.

[macTak]

Uluru, you might add that Ricoh, like the flying arrow (cf. Zeno A27 DK) , was moving towards its own goal by standing completely still. Anyway, it doesn't matter since nothing could possibly be added to or subtracted from their produces (cf. Zeno B1-2 DK).

[Aristophanes]

Leica = so expensive it makes pretty much zero impact. Leica has become part of what is called the luxury category. They make high-end optics in front of sub-par sensors. IQ is pedestrian.

---------- Post added 04-24-14 at 10:00 AM ----------

The smart thing Leica has done is incorporate Wi-Fi and made the system Multi-OS friendly.

The Ricoh/Pentax methods of Flu cards is already obsolete.

I also like the Leica internal 16GB of storage. Not sure if this will suffice in place of SD cards, especially for video. I suspect Leica will get ripped for this and could well be the system's Achilles' Heel.

I would say this is a perfect opportunity for Ricoh to adapt the GR to compete.

[mecrox]

Leica = so expensive it makes pretty much zero impact. Leica has become part of what is called the luxury category. They make high-end optics in front of sub-par sensors. IQ is pedestrian.

---------- Post added 04-24-14 at 10:00 AM ----------

The smart thing Leica has done is incorporate Wi-Fi and made the system Multi-OS friendly.

The Ricoh/Pentax methods of Flu cards is already obsolete.

I also like the Leica internal 16GB of storage. Not sure if this will suffice in place of SD cards, especially for video. I suspect Leica will get ripped for this and could well be the system's Achilles' Heel.

I would say this is a perfect opportunity for Ricoh to adapt the GR to compete.

Lol, a picture in one of the papers of a Leica S in the hands of the Russian premier was a bit worrying.

Well, perhaps Ricoh could produce a full-frame GR and send a tank onto Leica's lawn. They could make it with a fixed lens and a couple of adapter lenses for wide and telephoto (a kind of Fuji x100s on steroids) or they could produce it with just three lenses - redesigned and remounted D-FA as was 31mm, 43mm and 77mm - while making it clear that only these three lenses at perhaps £1500 each or more will ever be produced for this camera. Before anyone says this is crazy I should say that, yes, it is crazy. On the other hand, there are a lot of rich folks out there now who are so crazy that they'll spend any amount of money to appear different from (alas, usually superior to) the rest of us.

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Last edited by mecrox; 04-24-2014 at 04:46 PM.

[Uluru]

Well, perhaps Ricoh could produce a full-frame GR and send a tank onto Leica's lawn. They could make it with a fixed lens and a couple of adapter lenses for wide and telephoto (a kind of Fuji x100s on steroids) or they could produce it with just three lenses - redesigned and remounted D-FA as was 31mm, 43mm and 77mm - while making it clear that only these three lenses at perhaps £1500 each or more will ever be produced for this camera. Before anyone says this is crazy I should say that, yes, it is crazy. On the other hand, there are a lot of rich folks out there now who are so crazy that they'll spend any amount of money to appear different from (alas, usually superior to) the rest of us.

It would be interesting to see anything from Ricoh that is mirrorless, which means very light, modular and isn't a Q. But it may be quite possible Ricoh indeed has lost all momentum and incentive to come with any larger sensor mirrorless modular camera.

The GR had a tradition that was valid to preserve in days of digital. And is kinda modular; it has a wide angle converter. Again, nothing new — they had that before. The real new would be a tele converter for GR, and then maybe the GR could become a quasi modular approach, perhaps even sold as a kit: a camera plus two converters (21mm and 50mm) in a small bag. So it is camera and three lenses, but one lens is already on the camera. Not bad at all, and in fact, quite versatile, simple and powerful.

But nada.

Thus indeed, maybe that is all about Ricoh has to offer — others have already done it for them.

[6BQ5]

Oh, wow! My heart sank when I saw the subject line in the forum.

*whew*

I think I'll give my Q a hug now.

[Blue]

Tokyo, 24th April 2014


The core conclusion of all practical and simulated results seems to point to Ricoh’s belief in an old story of Achilles and Tortoise, also known as Zeno’s paradox. Which goes like this:

In a race, the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.

. . .


Ricoh, apparently, based its long term strategy on Zeno’s paradox


. . . //

Good thing George Teague never heard of Zeno's Paradox!

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