Ricoh GXR

The Ricoh GXR is a compact digital camera first announced by Ricoh Company, Ltd, Tokyo on November 10, 2009. Unlike conventional cameras which either have a fixed lens and sensor or interchangeable lens and a fixed sensor, the GXR takes interchangeable units, each housing a lens, sensor and image processing engine, sometimes called a "lensor" as a portmanteau of lens and sensor.

Following the introduction of the Ricoh GR in 2013, the GXR was quietly discontinued.

Features
The GXR has a modular design, consisting of two major components: the host body, which holds the battery, pop-up flash, rear screen, and external interfaces for data and flash; and a Camera Unit, which holds the image sensor, lens, and image processor in a sealed module. Ricoh also offered a Lens Mount Unit, which omits the bundled lens in favor of a mechanical interface compatible with many Leica M mount lenses.

The body has a hot shoe on top for an external flash unit; the Ricoh GF-1 is designed for the GXR. Alternatively, Ricoh marketed both optical and electronic viewfinders which attach to the hot shoe. The GV-1 and GV-2 are optical viewfinders featuring the field of view equivalent to a 28 mm lens, and are intended to be used with the A12 28mm unit. The VF-2 electronic viewfinder offers 920,000 pixels and 100% field of view, and can be used with any unit.

Camera and Mount Units
Officially, Ricoh released five Camera Units and one Lens Mount Unit. Journalist Thom Hogan has coined the "lensor" nickname for the Camera Units. The body accepts one unit at a time; each unit slides onto the body via a stainless steel rail and locks into place. To remove a unit, it can be released by a lever on the camera's body. Both the body and lens unit use magnesium alloy exterior.

Each Camera Unit (lens + sensor) has its own unique specifications relating to its sensor and optics, meaning that different lens units will change the features, behavior and performance of the camera body to varying degrees when attached. By pairing the lens and sensor as a single unit, Ricoh claim that each unit has these features optimised to one another and a specific task, whereas with conventional interchangeable lens cameras, each different lens must use the same sensor and engine. The sealed units also prevent dust from reaching the sensor, which can be a problem with other cameras where the sensor is exposed whilst a lens is being changed. However, a significant disadvantage of this system is the extra cost involved in having to buy a whole new sensor with every new lens.

The Lens Mount Unit was sold with a device used to check mechanical compatibility of lenses; some lenses extend deeply into the body and could cause interference with the sensor.


 * Notes