The camera body is attractive and the form is small enough to fit in a pocket. It also feels rugged. The camera focusses quickly and produces sharp, naturally coloured, well exposed images. The macro mode is exceptionally good, allowing focus down to 1 cm when the lens is set to wide.

There is noticeable picture noise at ISO settings above 200. The manual settings are restricted to 3 aperture choices but there is a range of shutter speeds from 30 seconds to 1/2000 sec. There is no P mode but there is spot metering which works well.

Like this: The Ricoh Caplio GX8 has both optical viewfinder and LCD screen, as all cameras should have. However this camera, like many of its peers, suffers from restricted view through the optical finder. You only see about 80 per cent of the image that the camera is capturing.

The GX8 has an external flash shoe.

Dislike that: There is an astonishing degree of barrel distortion at the wide angle end of the zoom range. With its 28mm wide angle lens the GX8 would be an ideal camera for travelling were it not for the distortion. Every photo of every fine old building in Europe will show bowed uprights.

Parting shot: The Ricoh Caplio GX8 has exemplary resolution and outstanding macro capability and virtually no shutter lag. It comes with a good user manual and is Pictbridge enabled for direct connection to a printer. Were it not for the barrel distortion it would be recommended without reservation.