Is the shutter lag a problem on other modern compact zooms, eg you rate the ixus 800/850 highly

As these are both near $450 street is the ixus850 the better choice

Stephen: Shutter lag is not a problem on most compact cameras. It is there to a greater or lesser extent on all of them but companies like Canon and Sony have it well under control.

Ricoh say they are surprised by my experience with the R6 and they have sent the review unit to the workshop for testing. As I say in the review Ricoh have a reputation for slaying the shutter lag dragon, so I'm prepared to believe that there may have been something amiss with the review camera. I am waiting for their word on the matter and perhaps a chance to try the camera again.

TL

I have an R6, and I an only say that I am perplexed by your comments! Once focused, the shutter lag on the R6 is almost nonexistent. I can attest to this personally - it's one of the reasons I bought this cammera. Most of the other reviews I've read seem to agree (e.g. "We measured an average capture lag of 0.4 seconds, which reduced to instantaneous capture when shots were pre-focused." - www.photoreview.com.au)

Also, I have no trouble shooting moving or off-centre subjects by first half depressing the shutter to "lock" the focus. The "focus lock" is described in detail on page 32 of the manual. To quote: "Put the subject of your photo in the center of the screen and press the shutter release button halfway. The camera focuses on the subject and the exposure and white balance are fixed." For me, this works exactly as one would normally expect.

Now if you want REAL shutter lag, try the Olympus FE series - this is what I was going to buy until I discovered the wonders of the R6.

Any news? Hope you'll amend the main headline and text if this turns out to be a buggy evaluation camera. Other than that it sounds like what I need to set aside my Leica IIIc for a little while and try digital imaging. So far I'm just scanning (Nikon film scanner) to digitize.

I've been waiting for something that can challenge the Leica with the rapid-winder that's served me well for decades now. It used to be an inconspicuous camera. But now, people notice it!

This is the only example I've heard of with the slow half press result. So far in the R3/4/5/6 community at DPReview that problem has not surfaced.

I maintain pages on those Ricoh cameras at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/ricoh/01-intro.html so would have heard something by now.

The only fault (probably quality control issue) is that some R6 seem to have soft areas in top right corner. Otherwise most R6 users are way happier than they were with the previous R3/4/5 models.

Regards................ Guy

I used my R6 for the first time over the weekend & found most of my indoor & night shots recently to appear dark even when using the nightscape mode with a flash.
Very much a novice but would like to know what settings on the R6 would improve these shots?
Regards
Mz

Moz: It is hard to offer any advice without seeing an example of the problem pictures. There are a couple of obvious things you can do -- increase the ISO speed and/or adjust the exposure using the exposure compensation control. Just keep in mind that digital pictures don't cost anything until they are printed, so if it doesn't look right on the camera LCD screen then make an adjustment and take another one. And another. Until it does look right.

You say that you are new to the camera and perhaps to digital photography, so one thing to remember is that the camera won't always get the exposure/focus right. As you gain experience you will probably find the spot metering more useful than the full area metering because you can then meter from a small area in the most important part of the picture. The camera doesn't know what is important, so it averages if the metering is set to full image area. Spot metering puts the selection of the important bits in your hands.

TL

The bad news for novices is that most R6 photos require post processing. The good news is R6 photos tend to greatly benefit from post processing and can rival images of a DSLR.

I owned R6 for a month. Shutter lag is not bad. The biggest problem with the cam is flash messuring. That is really anoying that you just can`t rely on flash pics..

Hey terry,

I'm trying to find a decent p&s camera with wide-angle lens (and at least 200mm zoom), thats not (too) big to carry arround (I allready own a DSLR, but its not much of a use when backpacking, or just taking my (3) kids out. I wonder if you could give me any suggestions/advice. (What would be Your choice)

Thanks in advance,
Goran

ps i know this might not be a perfect place to post my question, but I couldnt find any contact information... sorry

Goran: The Ricoh reviewed here fits your specifications. Since publishing the review the Ricoh people have tested the review unit they sent me and found it faulty. So the shutter lag should not normally be a problem.

Panasonic have two models -- both with the prefix TZ -- that also fit your requirements.

I'm not very keen on any of them because they don't have optical viewfinders, but if you can live with just an LCD as a viewfinder then these cameras are OK. My preference would be for something like the Nikon P50 or P5100. They have wide angle zooms but don't have the 200mm max that you want. But they do have optical viewfinders.

TL

After 2 months I had to send my R6 back because it completely seized up with the shutter open and jammed. Now a few months later the audio on movie mode has become distorted and crackly, rendering movie clips impossible to hear.

My father has the same camera and has the same audio problem. I wonder if it is a coincidence or a common defect?

My R6 had no shutter lag , but after the warentty ran out the zoom stopped working, Now if I send it back for repair the lens assy will cost £119 ,seems to be a common fault especially the lens failing to retract, I suspect a design flaw but paying that kind of money for something that may happen again is not worth it, Ditch Rioch and buy another make! Rioch will not admit to selling duff cameras, I read the reviews before I bought it they were glowing,now just watch the web and see how many Ricoh have failed