Epson Rumored to Be Thinking About a New Digital Rangefinder

Did you know that the first digital rangefinder camera to hit the market was the Epson R-D1 back in 2004? What’s more, rumor has it that Epson may be considering a followup digital rangefinder to succeed the R-D1, which was made in a partnership with Cosina.

Amateur Photographer writes,

Epson is developing technology for use in digital cameras and has not ruled out the future launch of another interchangeable lens model.

‘Whether we come out with another version of the R-D1 is a possibility,’ said Rob Clark, executive director of Epson’s European Marketing Division.

Clark claimed Epson is ‘expert at commoditising a niche [market]’ and said the firm would re-enter the digital camera arena if it felt such a product was ‘commercially viable’.

Do you think a new Epson digital rangefinder would find a sizable niche in the photography community?


P.S. Kai over at Digital Rev points out that a successor to the R-D1 might sound very similar to a beloved droid from Star Wars.


Image credit: Photograph by matsuiyastore

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