Mirrorless FF (or M Module), how much are you willing to pay?

[aleksanderpolo]

I was shooting GXR-M with 35/1.2 @1.4 yesterday, and as much as I love the combo, I really hope I can be shooting 50/1.4 on FF. So, how much are you willing to pay for a FF mirrorless. Let's assume it's a GXR M Module with mid-level sensor (<24MP), effective microlenses arrangement like the current M module.

I would gladly pay for $2000 for the M Module alone, and if there is an update in the body, additional for that too. How about you?

I hope that Ricoh and other maker can see this thread and be encouraged in that direction.

[DougFord]

Yeah, I think you're at the sweet spot as far as price.
And i think Ricoh/Pentax could make a big splash come Sept. by announcing a FF live view module with an updated body with built-in EVF. This would be true head to head competition with the leica M9/10 sans the mechanical RF.
It would be very interesting if they go that route.

[funkydog]

No more than $1500 for the FF M module. Any higher and I'd rather buy a user M6 to shoot film. Background - I have the GXR M and just acquired a MDa body for the Leica feeling and FF. Least expensive working M body in near mint condition with no busted VF & RF issues ever!

Hopefully, Ricoh doesnt join the megapixel race if they ever produce a FF M module. Look at the Sony Nex 7. Nex 5n IQ beats it pants down.

[Sparrow]

... $1000 ... I thought we'd settled that over the weekend

[john neal]

Interesting, I had a dealer offer me a new Modul R for half price in the week that Leitz announced they were discontinued - I didn't have the cash then and now cannot find a modul for anywhere near that price - they seem to be v expensive if they ever turn up for sale.

In the end, I sold the R8 and went FF Canon EOS 5D

[thegman]

I like M lenses, but in DSLR territory, you can get into FF cheap with a second user 5D, or even a brand new Sony FF DSLR is not ridiculous. For me, the EVF/mirrorless thing is good, but not worth the extra pennies.

If they come down to circa APS-C prices, then that would be different, but at the moment, even the APS-C models can be a bit pricey compared to a Canon, Sony, or Nikon DSLR.

[dct]

Comparing the actual m4/3 or APS-C sized ICL offerings from Panasonic, Olympus, Ricoh, Sony and Fuji I have to accept something like +USD 1500...2000 for a step-up to a FF mirrorless with similar functionalities. This would be a fair plus IMHO.
Prices under USD 2000 for the FF ICL will remain wishful thinking...

[Bobfrance]

Keep up you guys! Haven't you heard the rumours of Hasselblad bringing out a medium format mirrorless camera and Canon producing a medium format DSLR? It's time to raise your expectation up a notch.

And yes - I'd pay $1000 and not a penny more!

[aleksanderpolo]

I heard persistent rumor that the M10 is going to be $1000, so you say it's not real??!!

Surprise no one is interested in parting with their kidney yet, someone is willing to do it for a bunch of apple stuffs, come on guys.

[fotomeow]

I voted for two price ranges (you can do it in this poll, ya know), b/c I am much more interested in a FF 35mm (chose 1500-2k), and would pay more if I knew I would like the optics, but sight unseen, this is the best I can offer>
I also chose 500-1k) for the 50mm. same reasoning as above.

[willie_901]

I really don't care what it costs as long as it has an OVF and a sensor with dynamic range and signal to noise at least as good as the D700.

[Keith]

I'd happily pay what I payed for my D700 provided it matched that camera's output and could mount the same lenses.

[jsrockit]

It's not enough to simply be mirrorless and full frame (not sure this matters to me anymore). For me, I need a really good internal viewfinder, relatively small size, fast AF, and classic shutter / aperture controls. Fuji has come closest.

[Lss]

Originally Posted by jsrockit

It's not enough to simply be mirrorless and full frame

Exactly.

(I need 10 letters? Uh, fine, I'll go one better: Exactamundo.)

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by jsrockit

It's not enough to simply be mirrorless and full frame (not sure this matters to me anymore). For me, I need a really good internal viewfinder, relatively small size, fast AF, and classic shutter / aperture controls. Fuji has come closest.

... let me know when you find one, that's pretty much what I was looking for when I first considered a digital camera maybe 10 years back

[EdwardKaraa]

I think a more realistic pricing would be around 3000$ to 4000$, probably closer to the latter. I would pay that price if the EVF is good, meaning much better than any of the rubbish currently offered by Sony, Olympus and Ricoh.

[aleksanderpolo]

That would be close to the M9 price. I thought the whole mirrorless thing is about pretending to have an M8/M9 without paying the same price?

Originally Posted by EdwardKaraa

I think a more realistic pricing would be around 3000$ to 4000$, probably closer to the latter. I would pay that price if the EVF is good, meaning much better than any of the rubbish currently offered by Sony, Olympus and Ricoh.

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by aleksanderpolo

That would be close to the M9 price. I thought the whole mirrorless thing is about pretending to have an M8/M9 without paying the same price?

Half off is a huge discount no?

[aleksanderpolo]

How much is a used M9 selling these days? I didn't pay much attention to its price as it is still in the "sell a kidney" range for me.

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by aleksanderpolo

How much is a used M9 selling these days? I didn't pay much attention to its price as it is still in the "sell a kidney" range for me.

$5000 or so.

[rbelyell]

these prices are crazy! fuji came out with one of the greatest mirrorless ever for $1500, with choice of 2 great vfs. sony, as much as i hate them and this particular idea, came out with a FF mirrorless WITH a (supposedly) zeiss lens for $2500. and folks are talking about $4000??!! $2-2500 tops, amd closer to 2 at that! and less for an M module on the gxr!
tony

[Godfrey]

I have both an M9 and GXR with A12 Camera Mount.

I like the GXR quite a lot, but I think it would be something of a mistake to update the camera unit to a larger format without first addressing some of the issues with the body. For me, the body needs more responsiveness: it is both slow and a bit inconsistent on the shutter lag. The write speed is modest, and it doesn't buffer writes to media so it blocks for a third to half a second. I'd like to see updates on both those fronts as well as a newer, higher resolution EVF before I went to the expense of a FF sensor camera unit.

I expect it would be difficult for Ricoh to produce a FF sensor camera unit with M-bayonet customizations, that performs as well or better than the current A12 Camera Mount, that costs much under $2000 MSRP. I would expect a price in that ballpark at least. They'll need a new shutter and I have to wonder what sensor they'd use. Optimizing a FF sensor for RF lenses is a non-trivial effort—look what Leica is doing with CMOSIS, what they did with Kodak in the past. It's a much more difficult sensor optimization than optimization for APS-C or SLR lenses due to the short mount register and the size of the format relative to the lens mount and distance to primary nodal point with a large number of lens designs.

I think Ricoh would be better off updating the A12 Camera Unit to the latest 16Mpixel Sony APS-C sensor, and optimizing that. They've already got a good shutter for that, the micro-lens optimization would be much easier, and the net gain of 1.5-2.5 stops of sensitivity would be welcome. That could potentially keep the costs down in the same ballpark as the current A12 Camera Mount (which, frankly, continues to work very well compared with even the latest cameras out ... getting better than that is essential if any update at all will be profitably marketable).

G

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by rbelyell

these prices are crazy! fuji came out with one of the greatest mirrorless ever for $1500, with choice of 2 great vfs. sony, as much as i hate them and this particular idea, came out with a FF mirrorless WITH a (supposedly) zeiss lens for $2500. and folks are talking about $4000??!! $2-2500 tops, amd closer to 2 at that! and less for an M module on the gxr!
tony

Optimization of a sensor for a) a new interchangeable line of lenses dedicated to the camera you're going to put it in, or b) for a new non-interchangeable lens camera is FAR less difficult and less expensive than optimizing a sensor for a wide range of lenses never designed to work with it in the first place.

That's a fact of life in today's technology.

[bwcolor]

I'm guessing that all of us want Ricoh to make money. Also, we would all like them to do a first rate job and rival the Leica 'M' files and ergonomics.

All of this takes money and a lot of development time/cost. So, I don't expect nor want a product on the cheap. I'm betting to meet the above, we are talking around $3K for a complete camera... body and module, or camera.

[rbelyell]

Originally Posted by Godfrey

Optimization of a sensor for a) a new interchangeable line of lenses dedicated to the camera you're going to put it in, or b) for a new non-interchangeable lens camera is FAR less difficult and less expensive than optimizing a sensor for a wide range of lenses never designed to work with it in the first place.

That's a fact of life in today's technology.

pardon my ignorance, but how can one 'optimize a sensor' for 'lenses never designed to work with it'? that seems 'definitionally preclusive' to me, ie, cant happen as a matter of logic. and it wasnt really what i was talking about...the canon 5d i used for years, with only one lens 'designed' to use with it, worked amazingly with a whole bunch of lenses never designed to be used with it. we're talking about a FF mirrorless, doesnt matter if its sony mount, fuji mount, whatever, we on this forum will most definitely be using it with 'non optimized' lenses. extra 'technology' cost is not apparent to me.