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![[Design and Development] What technologies gave birth to this new-concept camera system?](gxrinside/gxrdev1/cts_top_02.jpg) |
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The pursuit of high image quality
A month and a half have passed since the GXR
interchangeable unit camera system went on sale. In that time, the
GXR has been covered in many media, giving rise to considerable
interest among camera users. Major contributing factors in this
interest include the newness of a system enabling both lens and
image sensor to be changed and also user surprise at the images they
have created with GXR imaging power. |
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| "Our goal was image quality
surpassing an SLR camera." (Katsuhiko Nuno) |
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"This time we developed two units
in parallel: the GR LENS A12 50 mm F2.5 MACRO camera unit (referred
to as "A12" below) with a 50 mm fixed-focal-length lens and the
RICOH LENS S10 24-72 mm F2.5-4.4 VC camera unit (referred to as
"S10" below) with a 24 to 72 mm wide-angle zoom lens. For the A12
our goal was image quality surpassing an SLR camera and for the S10
our goal was image quality surpassing Ricoh's GX200 high-end compact
camera," said Katsuhiko Nuno, camera unit development leader in
Design Group No. 1 in the Personal MultiMedia Products Company ICS
Design Office.
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High praise for beautiful bokeh
For the S10, which covers a range of focal
lengths, a thorough effort was made to reduce noise. Suppressing
image distortion and color fringing near the edge, the S10 achieves
high-resolution and contrast at all focal lengths. It brings
together the best of the compact digital camera development
expertise accumulated by Ricoh up to now.
Making full use of
Ricoh optical technology for a lens worthy of the GR LENS name, A12
lens resolving power boasts superior definition and sharpness to the
edge of the frame. "This was our first time developing a 50 mm GR
LENS, and we were totally obsessed with image quality. Particularly
with respect to "good bokeh," at trial manufacturing time we checked
the bokeh with simulations, and using prototypes we repeatedly shot
and evaluated images, not stopping until we were satisfied," said
Nuno. |
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| (Click
to enlarge) |
What is "good bokeh"? ——Please
take a look at the picture of a woman at right. The blurring (bokeh)
of the light in the background periphery takes a round form. The
closer this form is to a perfect circle, the closer the bokeh comes
to being considered low-distortion "beautiful bokeh." "We have heard
from very happy users who are thrilled to be able to use a small
camera to shoot portraits with beautiful bokeh without having to ask
the subject to strike a pose. Developing both the A12 and S10 camera
units was practically the same as developing two different cameras
simultaneously so it was a real challenge to achieve satisfying
image quality and set up a highly reliable manufacturing operation
within the tight development timeframe. It was with great relief
that I saw the GXR on store shelves as scheduled," said Nuno.
*Lens focal lengths in the text are
all converted to 35 mm film camera equivalents. |
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