[BigMackCam]

"compact cameras"

I didn't see that mentioned in the actual application - only in the blog post. That said, towards the end of the drawings document there's a diagram of the intended device. Of course, it needn't look exactly like this, but it certainly appears to be a compact camera of some sort. I'm wondering if it might be a video camera... but with a fixed lens? Probably not. A GRIII sister model does, indeed, seem more likely...

Attached Images

 

[Flubber]

That last drawing reminds me of my youngest days, playing on my Nintendo Game Boy, with that cross-shaped button in the middle.



Ahh.. Those were the days.

[Mistral75]

yep I meant confirmed APS-C in the patent

It's confirmed in the patent:

• implicitly, by the angle of view associated with the focal length in each example; this is the angle of view a lens with such focal length would capture when used with an APS-C sensor.
• explicitly, in the detailed description: it's stated that the radius of the image circle is 14.2mm for all 10 examples.

[TwoUptons]

If an old folder has a 45mm lens then it would be a 135 film camera. As far as I know there was never a wide angle 120 folder. Most or all of the latter had either 75 or 80mm lenses if 6x6, or 105mm if 6x9 (=45mm in 135). I'm pretty sure Zeiss made both 135 and 120 format Ikontas, although I think the 135 ones are pretty rare and the most common Ikontas are medium format. Great cameras, BTW, and capable of excellent images if you get a good one with a Tessar lens.

I think all of the wide angle optical designs back in the day would have needed to extend back too far to fit into the body of a medium format folder while still allowing it to, well, fold...

But I'll admit, I always thought the focal length of the lenses on fixed-lens rangefinders was a design optimization between the desired focal length, desired aperture, the sophistication of the lens design, the compactness of the camera body, and any other bits of ergonomic or technical weirdness (where's the shutter go?).

So a complex, fast, wide angle lens wasn't going to be on a super compact camera, for example, but you might see a simpler, slower design...
My Argus C4 has a 35mm f4.5 Lithagon that's not tiny...

-Eric

[illdefined]

It's confirmed in the patent:

• implicitly, by the angle of view associated with the focal length in each example; this is the angle of view a lens with such focal length would capture when used with an APS-C sensor.
• explicitly, in the detailed description: it's stated that the radius of the image circle is 14.2mm for all 10 examples.

thank you, this is what I was looking (and hoping for). my japanese is pretty rusty.

[illdefined]

thanks for posting this, was curious to see what "33" was in this particular diagram, but it clearly says “FINDER" in katakana (and separate from the "MONITOR" too)

"32" looks like the return of the flash but could also be the AF lamp

I didn't see that mentioned in the actual application - only in the blog post. That said, towards the end of the drawings document there's a diagram of the intended device. Of course, it needn't look exactly like this, but it certainly appears to be a compact camera of some sort. I'm wondering if it might be a video camera... but with a fixed lens? Probably not. A GRIII sister model does, indeed, seem more likely...

[Viking42]

I think all of the wide angle optical designs back in the day would have needed to extend back too far to fit into the body of a medium format folder while still allowing it to, well, fold...

Quite so. You only have to look at the Rolleiflex wide angle TLR that came out in the '60s to see that it's 55mm lens is quite a bit bigger than the standard 75 or 80mm lenses of the day. No way that would work in a folder.

But I'll admit, I always thought the focal length of the lenses on fixed-lens rangefinders was a design optimization between the desired focal length, desired aperture, the sophistication of the lens design, the compactness of the camera body, and any other bits of ergonomic or technical weirdness (where's the shutter go?).

-Eric

There's definitely something to that statement, with emphasis on "optimization", as you say. Some of those old fixed lens designs were really special, and many still hold up today as being truly excellent. The designers were not restrained by limitations brought on by interchangeable mounts, aperture couplings, etc.. Even better were those mounted to a moving lens board, such as the Rolleiflex or Mamiya C series designs -- no need for internal moving focusing elements....the simpler the better.


A bit of thread drift happening here. Back to the topic at hand....I hope Ricoh is watching this thread and can see the interest in a 40-ish mm version of the GR. I'd sell my MX-1 and another camera or two to get one of those.

[MMVIII]

That's typically an angular measurement - it would make sense because it's inversely proportional to FL (23mm -> 30.9 w, while 28mm -> 26.6 w). However, the numbers don't fit the FOV of the lenses on an APS-C camera at all (they are about half of what I expect), so I'm not sure.

Maybe it is the FOV for the radius of the coverage circle...?
Edit: better explanations from others were already provided, don't mind my post...

[Kunzite]

I didn't see that mentioned in the actual application - only in the blog post. That said, towards the end of the drawings document there's a diagram of the intended device. Of course, it needn't look exactly like this, but it certainly appears to be a compact camera of some sort. I'm wondering if it might be a video camera... but with a fixed lens? Probably not. A GRIII sister model does, indeed, seem more likely...

That looks precisely like a GR :-)

[stevebrot]

That's typically an angular measurement

Angular frequency


Steve

[illdefined]

That looks precisely like a GR :-)

according to the patent, this camera has a viewfinder of some kind

[reh321]

according to the patent, this camera has a viewfinder of some kind

Rather straight-forward when the camera has a fixed prime lens.

[BigMackCam]

That looks precisely like a GR :-)

Ha ha Well, I'm assuming Ricoh wouldn't include a diagram of how they really intend the final camera would look (for confidentiality reasons) - but the included features probably match... lens, viewfinder, screen, flash, directional controller, buttons, card slots, all in a seemingly-compact form-factor. So they could be thinking GR-series... or something else entirely. I tend to think the latter... and I'm still wondering if it might be a video camera of some sort

Or...

Maybe it's a light-field cam, and they've picked up where Lytro left off

[illdefined]

Rather straight-forward when the camera has a fixed prime lens.

definitely seems like an OVF seeing how “33” is on both sides of the camera in the diagram (and Pentax’s current aversion to EVFs)

i can’t read the kanji letters, so wonder if IBIS is included as part of this

[BROO]

So they could be thinking GR-series... or something else entirely. I tend to think the latter... and I'm still wondering if it might be a video camera of some sort

Looks a bit like a fixed lens rangefinder style similar to the Fujifilm X100V ? A good vlogging camera.