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This unique photographic equipment, the Rioch GXR Mount A12 12 MP Digital SLR camera (the "GXR Mount A12") presents a reviewer some difficulty to share his user experience in a concise and interesting user review.
As a new owner of this product, I have a few points for the intended user of the GXR Mount A12 review :
1 NOT A STANDALONE PRODUCT
This is a system product it is part of a system and requires the Ricoh GXR body module to and a compatible M-mount interchangeable lens to work ;
2 DESIGNED TO WORK WITH LEICA M-MOUNT LENSES & M-MOUNT COMPATIBLE LENSES
It is a lens-sensor mount, it is part of a camera body built & designed to work with Leica "M" mount interchangeable lenses available since 1954. Today it works with most Leica-M, Zeiss ("ZM"), Cosina Voigtlander (CV) M-mount and where compatible certain LTM or Leica Thread Mount (LTM)lenses with the appropriate M-mount adaptors. Because of the millions of M-mount lenses out there, The GXR Mount A12 comes with a mount testing kit to test the mount compatibility of your lens before you mount the lens ;
3 AN M-MOUNT ADAPTOR WITH A 12.6Mp APS-C SENSOR.
In old "analog film terms", this would be both "the lens mount" and the "film" but of course things are much simpler to classify this as a "Digial SLR Camera body" because of the electronic components but it is NOT a standalone camera body product unlike the Leica M8/M9 because it the body is complete only with another system part, the Ricoh GXR Body module.
4 ONBOARD 1.5X SENSOR CROP MEANS IT IS A DEFAULT 1.5x TELECONVERTER.
The smaller than 35mm film format sensor of the 12 Mega Pixel APS-C sensor of the GXR Mount A12 has a 1.5x crop to the image taken with M-mount lenses, for example the Leica M-Summicron 50mm F2 would become a 75mm F2 M-Summicron lens, the 35mm F2 M-Summicron becomes a 52.5mm F2 M-Summicron,and the 90mm F2 M-Summicron becomes a 135mm F2 M-Summicron, In a nutshell, the usual 35mm,50mm and 90mm set-up becomes 50mm,75mm and 135mm! Add in an affordable (non Leica) lens like the 15mm f4.5 Voigtlander Superwide Heliar and you have a gang of four of 22.5mm, 50mm, 75mm and 135mm on your GXR! ;
5 RETAINS THE PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LEGACY M-LENSES
The GXR mount does not interface electronically with M-Mount Leica lenses with electronic contacts. Since it is made as an adaptor to retain much of performance and characteristics of "analog film era" M-mount lenses, The GXR Mount A12 is quite minimalistic in terms of enhancement to lens, but the good news is, it still retains the old favour of your most favourite M-lenses, including those you received as an gift from your grandparents.
6 RELATIVE EXPENSIVE BUT COST EFFECTIVE NICHE PRODUCT
Although this is a relatively expensive product, its cost could be measured against relatively more expense product like the Leica M8, Leica M9 and the 2x crop micro-fourthirds (with expensive adaptors) product currently available.If you been saving up for an M8 or M9, this may be the "next" best choice available to date. Key advantage over the micro-fourthirds (MFT) Olympus Pen or Panasonic GF-series is the bigger 1.5x crop APS-C sensor.
7 REPLACES HIGH COST OF CONSUMABLES THE FILM
Replacing the hefty cost of consumable like film means that user is more encouraged to experiment and play with the M-lenses they already owned and to get the most out of the relatively expensive but extremely well built M-mount lenses. Though some would agrue that M-lenses were made for film, my comments are based on sound economics and does not imply that it would replace the quality of photographs made with film.
8 TWO MANUAL FOCUSING WITH FOCUS ASSIST MODES
Recommended for photographer who loves to manually focus their lenses only. The mount does not convert the lenses to Auto focus but it comes with 2 focus assist modes in case focusing with the 3 inch LCD screen of the GXR body module proves to be a challenge and requires some practice.
9 EXCELLENT IMAGE QUALITY AND PRICE-PERFORMANCE
This largely depends on the interchangeable lenses used, however, we are talking about the top-end class of lenses to "mate" with a optimal and high performance digital sensor. In the hands of a seasoned photographer, the technical specs, image quality, optical performance would meet the price of this GXR. Furthermore, the added cost of modifying M-lenses with electronic contacts is avoided, leaving the mechanical solid old lenses as they are.
FIVE STAR PRODUCT
As a owner of two Ricoh GXR cameras with the S10 and A10 interchangeable modules, and half a dozen old Leica M mount lens collection ; I had purchased this product on its release to the retail store without reading any review, a bold move if the product turns out to be a lemon-given the hefty price-tag.
Alas, the GXR Mount A12 has met and exceeded my expectations as a niche solution and a very compact and a GXR system built on high performance gear set-up. Thank you for reading this user review.
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