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01-10-2014, 10:03 AM   #1
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Ricoh GXR pulled from UK market

In an interview with Amateur Photographer at CES, Ricoh Imaging UK managing director Jonathan Martin said GXR sales have been discontinued in the UK and, as far as he knows, production has stopped altogether.

CES 2014: Ricoh pulls GXR camera sales from UK market | Amateur Photographer

01-10-2014, 01:05 PM   #2
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I believe it was discontinued earlier this year (I.e. summer) in the US and likely other places too. Can't complain about the popularity of the gr, through!

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01-10-2014, 01:07 PM   #3
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Not too surprising with the GR getting all the hype and adapters making Leica M-lenses adaptable to many cameras.
01-10-2014, 01:15 PM   #4
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Too bad we won't see any K-mount GXR...
Secondly this a bad track record re. customer follow-up.
I just hope FF will effectively be K-mounted... for which doubts are legitimate until it shows up.

01-11-2014, 02:21 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Zygonyx Quote
Too bad we won't see any K-mount GXR...
Secondly this a bad track record re. customer follow-up.
No I don't think so. The whole thing didn't work, didn't sell.
They killed it. That's it.

Maybe they should have kept it digging holes in the financial reports?
Don't think so.
01-11-2014, 06:09 AM   #6
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I think if that product was so wrongly doing, Ricoh wouldn't have developped and sold it for more than 4 years (actually nearly 6 altogether).
01-11-2014, 06:19 AM   #7
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The Ricoh camera division was a money-losing hobby.

01-11-2014, 09:45 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Zygonyx Quote
I think if that product was so wrongly doing, Ricoh wouldn't have developped and sold it for more than 4 years (actually nearly 6 altogether).
Sometimes companies get so married to their own creations that they can't admit their mistakes. Maybe others "got it" but I never really understood the whole GXR concept. I guess one person's elegant engineering solution is another's Rube Goldberg contraption.

Last edited by IchabodCrane; 01-11-2014 at 10:00 AM.
01-11-2014, 10:16 AM   #9
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It will be new GR versions - new GR with fixed lens and GR with zoom. Not this year, maybe.
01-11-2014, 11:09 PM   #10
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I don't think the GXR was doomed to failure from the start. Anyone who has used one can attest that it is a very well designed camera. I don't think many people who bought one would regret it and I see them in use quite often in Japan. The main problem is that Ricoh didn't develop enough units to make it appeal beyond a couple of niches. When you look at the timing, it seems clear that Ricoh stopped developing anything new for it from the moment they bought Pentax.

It seems almost tragic that classic Ricoh cameras have been reduced to just one model. It's also amusing to to watch Pentaxians complain about a mere name change on the back of their cameras, while Ricoh fans have had to watch as almost all models were axed. I hope the success of the GR leads to a range of products that keep the Ricoh DNA, even if it is only extension to the GR line.
01-12-2014, 02:49 AM   #11
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Well designed, yes, but what problem was it supposed to solve?
IMO the GXR is a strange product, somewhat modular but not really so. Sensors are tied up with the lenses, and you only have one old processing module; you can't upgrade anything.
01-12-2014, 03:33 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kunzite Quote
Well designed, yes, but what problem was it supposed to solve?
IMO the GXR is a strange product, somewhat modular but not really so. Sensors are tied up with the lenses, and you only have one old processing module; you can't upgrade anything.
Well if Ricoh would have found a way to get compatibility (downwards) it could have produced GXRv2 bodies, accepting all GXR but GXRv1 can't use GXR2. Reasonable IMO.
In this case, the only problem left is the lens+sensor (if that really is a problem).

But as a body fits anything, it was great: more like NEX & co seen today: a tool to mount whatever you wish lens.
The thing is you keep the body whetever adapter you put on. This is NOT stupid. At all. But most people prefer to change body and not pay for the modularity. I can get that too. Really.
01-12-2014, 04:01 AM   #13
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I said it's strange, not stupid
As a modular design, I'm not sure it brings any advantage compared with a classic ILC design (except that it can use different sensor sizes, if that's an advantage).
As a body fits anything, the GXR only had one mount module - the M one. It's worse than a NEX from this point of view.
01-12-2014, 04:48 AM   #14
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From what I've heard, Ricoh wanted to do a hi-end mirrorless, but were afraid to start a new mount because they were too small a player. That's why the GXR was made, as something that looks like ILC albeit it was not. At any stage they could exit the game, with no tears and hard feelings.

Once Pentax was for sale, Ricoh jumped in wholeheartedly because they had a chance to obtain something they wanted all along — an established mount they can perfect and nurture. When the deal with Hoya was signed off, GXR's fate was sealed.

Pentax also had an idea for a high end mirrorless before Ricoh came on board, but it required lots of money and development, so they opted for Q instead. It was just too much for them; FF and hi end mirrorless required major new infrastructure, while sustaining the K-mount and DA lenses. So they opted for the 645D and Q.
01-12-2014, 07:11 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Uluru Quote
so they opted for Q instead
and whether we like it or not, Q seems to be a commercial success.
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