Steve Huff: The Ricoh GXR Review (with the 28mm and 50mm Modules)

Steve Huff is one of the very few “professional reviewers” that tested the Ricoh GXR: “So all in all, the Ricoh seems like a misunderstood camera. Those who own one LOVE it. Those who don’t dismiss it because it is different. Me, I like it and I am having a blast shooting with it. The camera really is for  those who put quality photos first. For $1000 or so the body and 28mm would make a great starter set. Adding the 50 makes it much more versatile.“

Canon, Nikon, Samsung and Pentax mirrorless rumors

According to Nikonrumors “Nikon’s Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera could be announced at CES 2011” and they also found more mirrorless patents.

Meanwhile Canonrumors says that we will not see any new mirrorless system from Canon before 2012.

K-rumors said that Pentax will announce a new APS-C mirrorless system in February.

According to X-rumors Samsung will announce a new NX camcorder within a few months.

Japanese mirrorless sales data Jan-Sep 2010

Source: Megapixel

In this interview Canon minimizes the success of mirrorless cameras saying that their are not really gaining a lot of market share (at least not in Europe and US). But you should take a look on that:
MichaelKJ collected all japanese mirrorless sales data from January to September 2010. It gives you a clear idea about the growing market share!

Single Mirrorless camera share:
Jan: MFT= 13.2%: GF1=8.0%, G1=5.2%
Feb: MFT= 13.9%: GF1=9.1%, G1=4.8%
March: MFT= 16.7%: GF1=7.8%, E-PL1=6.9%
April: MFT= 13.6%: GF1=5.0%, G1=2.2%, E-PL1=6.4%
May: MFT= 13.7%: GF1=3.6%, G2=3.5%, E-PL1=6.5%
June: MFT= 10.0%: GF1=4.1%, E-PL1=5.9% (NEX-5=11.1%, NEX-3=5.3%)
July: MFT= 12.6%: GF1=5.4%, E-PL1=7.2% (NEX-5= 9.0%, NEX-3=5.9%)
August: MFT= 10.6%: GF1=3.6%, E-PL1=7.0% (NEX-5= 9.7%, NEX-3=4.3%)
Sept: MFT= 8.3%: GF1=3.6%, E-PL1=4.7% (NEX-5= 8.9%, NEX-3=4.1%)

Company share:
Jan: Panny=13.2%; Oly=0%; Canon=29.1%; Nikon=27.5%; Sony=0%; Pentax=11.3%
Feb: Panny=13.9%; Oly=0%; Canon=26.3%; Nikon=30.3%; Sony=2.3%;Pentax=8.0%
March: Panny=7.8%; Oly=6.9%; Canon=31.9%; Nikon=28.6%; Sony=0%;Pentax=6.5%
April: Panny=7.2%; Oly=6.4%; Canon=27.4%; Nikon=34.4%; Sony=0%;Pentax=5.9%
May: Panny=7.1%; Oly=6.5%; Canon=25.2%; Nikon=36.5%; Sony=0%;Pentax=5.8%
June: Panny=4.1%; Oly=5.9%; Canon=19.0%; Nikon=29.0%; Sony=16.4%;Pentax=4.4%
July: Pany=5.4%; Oly=7.2%; Canon=24.8%; Nikon=23.3%; Sony=14.9%;Pentax=4.9%
August: Pany=3.6%; Oly=7.0%; Canon=25.3%; Nikon=26.0%; Sony=14.0%;Pentax=4.4%
Sept: Pany=3.6%; Oly=4.7%; Canon=29.3%; Nikon=17.9%; Sony=17.9%;Pentax=4.0%

DSLR vs Mirrorless
Jan: Mirrorless=13.2%; DSLR=67.9%
Feb: Mirrorless=13.9%; DSLR=66.9%
March: Mirrorless=16.7%; DSLR=67.0%
April: Mirrorless=13.6%; DSLR=67.5%
May: Mirrorless=13.7%; DSLR=67.5%
June: Mirrorless=26.4%; DSLR=52.4%
July: Mirrorless=27.5%; DSLR=53.0%
Aug: Mirrorless=24.6%; DSLR=55.7%
Sept: Mirrorless=26.2%; DSLR=51.2%

New Ricoh and Samsungs firmware update


Ricoh firmware update for the GXR system (Ricoh.com). The firmware adds Spot and Macro AF area selection options, faster AF, auto noise reduction, Exif 2.3 support and 3 magnification ratios to check focus.
And Samsung posted the new firmware upgrade (version 1.01) for the new NX100. This update improves the accuracy of autofocus in the Night mode. You can download the firmware at samsungimaging.com. There is also a pdf file with a How-to at downloadcenter.samsung.com.

Google trend: The mirrorless success analyzed

The top cameras comparison (we choosed the most sold camera for every brand)

We used google trends to see which is the most searched mirrorless camera. The winner is the Sony NEX-5. But if we compare any mirrorless camera with a DSLR oyu easily see that Canon and Nikon still dominate the world (look the graph below).

Photokina: Latest cameras. DSLR still rules