GXR & GR Digital III Camera Magazine Awards

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Ricoh President Receives Camera Magazine Awards

Tasco Sales Australia, proud distributors of Ricoh Photographics is proud to announce that Camera magazine travelled to Ricoh’s headquarters in Tokyo to present the company with its two Camera Magazine Imaging Awards for the GR Digital III and the CX2 Compact cameras. Their visit coincided with the launch of the GXR system which was held at Ricoh’s impressive R&D facility in the Tokyo suburb of Omori.

At a Special ceremony held before the launch, the president of Ricoh’s Personal MultiMedia Products Company, Kazuhiro Yuasa, received the two awards from editor Paul Burrows and was clearly elated at the company’s achievement.

It is the first time the same manufacturer has won both the compact camera categories for consumer and enthusiast level models. Mr Yuasa said the Australian awards would help emphasize Ricoh’s commitment to designing compact cameras which delivered high-quality imaging performance. While a comparatively small player in the camera market, Ricoh sees its key point of difference with the bigger brands as being the D-SLR level of performance delivered by models like the GR and GX series.

Part of the awards ceremony included a specially-recorded video message from former Wallaby fly-half Stephen Larkham who now plays for the Ricoh-owned Black Rams team in Japans Top League. Larkham said, “I know Ricoh is extremely happy to have won these awards and I’d like to thank Camera magazine, on their behalf, for this recognition”. He added that he uses a CX2 himself.

At a sneak press preview of the GXR system the day before its launch, Mr Yuasa said Ricoh’s strategy was to create compact cameras which could serve as a viable alternative to a D-SLR. “People go to D-SLRs because they think it’s the only way to get good quality images,” he stated. “Our mission is to make people who are ‘over shooting’ aware of what compacts like the GR and GX models can do.”

He also stressed that, unlike the Micro Four Thirds format cameras seen so far which are derived from D-SLRs, the GXR has compact camera roots and is designed to offer the same appeal, but with the added flexibility of interchangeable lenses.

“Our concept is completely different from those of the Olympus Pen or the Panasonic GF1. It’s designed to still look and feel like a compact, but with the expanded shooting range previously considered only possible for an SLR”.

Ricoh’s core objective, he stated, is “to expand the opportunities to take photos any time and anywhere”. Part of this strategy is the company’s Ring Cube centre in the heart of Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district which houses an extensive collection of Ricoh cameras (starting with the pre-Riken Bakelite Olympic models from 1934), an exhibition space exclusively for Ricoh shooters and an area for workshops, seminars and research.