Ricoh Camera Giveaways and the New GRD Bet

The recent months have seen Ricoh’s heavy-handed promotional efforts.  Apart from the photo contest in collaboration with Greenpeace concluded some weeks ago in Hong Kong, there are three more chances for aspiring photographers to get free Ricoh cameras.  There are lots of Ricoh's cameras to be given away.

(A poster about the photo contest co-organised by Ricoh, Greenpeace and Jurlique for Hong Kong only, which was concluded in May.  Winners are to be awarded with airtickets plus hotel accommodation, several fully-geared GX200 and CX1 cameras)

Ninth Ricoh Photo Contest

The first one is open to contestants from around the world, namely, the Ninth Ricoh Photo Contest to close on 21 August 2009.  The theme of the contest is easy on the surface, but actually requires some effort to ponder on and express in the final image.

The prizes are:

Main Award: GR DIGITAL II + optional lenses and accessories (one person)
Special Award: GR DIGITAL II (5 persons)
Photo Style Award: CX1 (1 person)
Photo Style news Award: CX1 (1 person)
GR BLOG Award: GX200 (1 person)
GR DIGITAL 4 Anniversary Special Award: GB-1 GR Bag (1 person)
Award of Excellence: Special album (40 persons)
(*prizes may be the subject of change)
All 50 winning photos will be displayed in Ricoh RING CUBE gallery in Tokyo!

For full details, read here.

The Second Ricoh Photo Contest (Hong Kong and Macau Only)

The contest is open to Hong Kong and Macau residents until 30 June 2009.  Entry photos must be taken with a Ricoh camera, to be sent in JPEG format at no more than 4MB in size with all the EXIF kept intact.  Of course, contestants have to send in their names and contact number.  The email address is info@laikok.com.hk.

The theme is Faces of Macau, which means you should pay a visit to Macau if you live in Hong Kong.  Prizes include one each of the GRDII, CX1 and R10.

 

 

GX200 Giveaway Quiz

Another COMPLETED promotion was not photography related but fun and easy.  Upon purchase of the DVD (Region A) of the movie Australia, patrons could enter into a quiz game here.  The one who gave the highest number of correct answers at the earliest time was given a FREE GX200.

A Bet on the New GRD

If these contests happen not merely out of coincidence, Ricoh is being rather keen to empty their remaining stocks as well as to gain wide publicity in the market.  Taken together with the approaching time of the next GRD model’s release in summer, these contests are heralding the coming of the next beast.

As once Ricoh’s niche market, the serious compacts have burgeoned with a whole array of choices of models and technologies.  It is a fair bet that Ricoh has been working very hard to regain/ upkeep its share in this market, which is pretty much the only surviving space for it (where it has done exceptionally well so far IMHO).

So will the next GRD feature a larger sensor?  If so, it will more likely be a larger CMOS sensor as used in the DP2 rather than the APS-C sensor used in DP1 or the Samsung NX.  The guessimate is based on the venture of the CX1 into using a CMOS sensor and the advances of the CMOS sensor.

Will the sensor boast any advancement in imaging technology.  Unless we are going to hear the imaging sensor makers for OEMs like Ricoh's, I don't expect a great extent of advancement.

For lens, I venture that the next GRD will stick to the fixed lens, which is pretty much a signature feature of the camera.  Probably, the lens will be faster.

For sure, Ricoh is not going to put any idiotic funny feature in the new GRD.  But if you are thinking about it, Ricoh, please don't.