Ricoh A16 24-85 mm

This should have been the first module to launch with the GXR. It has been a long wait, but perhaps it is a good thing. Armed with a new sensor and experience from the previous modules, Ricoh has released a "budget" lens to take advantage of the GXR platform.

It costs around SGD $650 on the streets, so the term budget is in relative to the GXR world. Essentially a kit lens, it is obviously made of plastic which makes it light. The build is clearly less robust compared to the previous prime modules, and feels plastic with a rough texture. The lightness and rough feel actually helps as it the largest lens module so far, very comfortable handling it.

This lens module is all electronic for zoom and focusing. So far the auto focusing seems accurate, and slightly faster than previous modules.

One key difference in this module, Ricoh copied from the M mount module and removed the anti-aliasing  filter, which makes the image potentially sharper. Most images online so far seems to prove it, now I have to figure out why mine are not as sharp.

One new function in this module is Dynamic Range Compensation. I don't know how it works but it seems to work. Below is an example, left is normal mode, right is compensated. The compensation mode automatically sets the iso level at a minimum of 500.