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August 01, 2007
[ RICOH CAPLIO GX100 camera ]
Price: $800 camera, $900 with viewfinder
Highly Recommended
The low-down: This 10 megapixel compact camera has two unusual features – its lens and its viewfinder. The lens has a zoom range of 24 to 72mm (film equivalent) which is wider than other compacts and not as long at the telephoto end. The electronic viewfinder is an optional extra that fits into the flash hot shoe and is hinged so that it can be used from above, very handy for low level shots. It is also the best EVF we have seen with reasonable resolution and definition. The camera body is of aluminium overlaid with rubberised plastic and feels rigid and looks purposeful. Controls and menus are well laid out and there is complete user control for those who want it. Focus, exposure and colour are generally good although reds over saturate and there is some bleeding and loss of detail. Macro mode is so-so and, not surprisingly, there is image noise, but much better controlled than on most 10mp cameras. A rechargeable battery is supplied but the camera will also run on AAA batteries.
Like: The lens is excellent and the resolved detail is exceptional, helped by the sensor-shift image stabilisation. The wide angle end of the zoom is wonderful with very little barrel distortion. RAW images are saved in Adobe’s universal DNG format.
Dislike: Write times to the memory card are a problem, especially in RAW mode. It takes some seconds to write to a standard SD card, during which time the camera is locked and unusable. The RAW image is large – 14.4MB – and the write delay will stop most people using RAW.
Verdict: The Ricoh goes to the top of the list of cameras recommended for travellers to Europe. In fact this is a camera that would be handy in a photographer’s kit alongside a single lens reflex for those occasions when a quick snap with an all-in-one is called for. Highly recommended, and do buy the viewfinder.
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Posted by terry at August 1, 2007 11:53 PM
Worth Checking Out
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Comments
Terry, I am after a little RAW advice please. I notice the Ricoh produces DNG files and you often mention RAW. I shoot in raw and it loads straight into iPhoto. I also have CS2 but it doesn't recognize my raw images (from Nikon D70s). Any suggestions so that I can have better color temperature control please? eg If I use floodlights to do PR shots of my wine bottles it would be nice to adjust for color temp rather than eye ball via color curves. Thanks, David of Red Hill, yes the winemaking David.
Posted by: David Lloyd at August 9, 2007 05:17 AM
David: You should download Adobe Camera RAW from the Adobe web site. It is free and it integrates with your version of Photoshop -- CS2. It consists of the Develop section of Adobe Lightroom which costs and arm and a leg, so you are really getting something special when you get it free.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html
Hope this helps.
TL
Posted by: Terry at August 9, 2007 06:04 AM
Hello Terry, Back in Aug '07 you recomended the Ricoh Caplio GX100 as a good choice of digital compact for travelling. I do not wish to lugg my D70S through Turkey and Europe over 7 weeks while travelling by motorcycle and train. I am an ardent proponent of the P setting and enjoy the creative flexiblity of my DSLR. Is the GX100 still a good choice or has a more recent offering eclipsed it. We are all still waiting for a compact with a larger sensor, as far as I can determine.
Regards, George Ruban
Posted by: George Ruban at March 5, 2008 11:24 PM
George: The Ricoh's are good cameras. Keep in mind that these superior compacts have fixed focal length lenses -- equivalent to 28mm in film terms. That may or may not suit your purpose.
You should probably look at the Ricoh side by side with the Canon G9 and choose between them. There is also a new Sigma with a proper APS sized sensor that should be in the shops about now. It also has a fixed focal length lens. It looks very promising on paper.
TL
Posted by: Terry at March 6, 2008 07:15 AM
Dear Terry,
at what focal length is the lens free of distortion at all?
Marek
Posted by: Marek at March 7, 2008 02:56 PM
Marek: I don't consider distortion to be a problem at all with this camera. Ricoh take a sensible approach to lens design -- they keep the zoom range modest, the concentrate on achieving excellent wide angle results and they don't pretend you can get a good camera for $299.99. The top Ricohs as expensive because they are good. I have heard that these are the compacts of choice for many professionals looking for a sort of digital Leica. The only reservation I have is that there are too many pixels so ISO speeds must be kept as low as possible to avoid picture noise.
Panasonic also make a couple of decent travel cameras in their TZ range. They are worth looking at but are not quite in the same class as the Ricoh. TL
Posted by: Terry at March 8, 2008 12:01 AM
Dear Terry,
thank you for your reply, though you haven't answered my question precisely (I do nto like reading between the lines...).
I certainly agree with your points (the zoom range, the price tag, and the megapixel sensor related problems).
You see, I only hoped (somehow) I could take completely distortion free photographs with a s m a l l (/solid) digital camera at wide angle. Due to some pretty obvious limitations this zoom camera from Ricoh cannot present any serious replacement for Leica or other fine photographic cameras and I don't think the Ricoh would strive for that either (though I would welcome this...).
Well, I do not want to risk a Leica M8 at this very early stage of digital photography development in spite of the eternal potential in Leica lenses.
I do appreciate efforts from Ricoh engineers to meet the demand of the wide angle photoamateurs' demands, and it would be nice of them to show even more dedication (in terms of optics: 24-48 mm zoom and zero% distortian at the middle focal length), be it for twice as high the price tag, dropping the MP down to 5-6 MP. Also less compressed JPGs (eg. 1:2) or even TiFFs support would be so fine, so fine... that I can't believe this will happen ever.
Thank you for your commitment and the helpful reviews/hints (it's so hard to find normal camera reviews).
Marek
Posted by: Anonymous at March 9, 2008 12:13 AM