Digital Camera Review Update of the Ricoh Caplio R7
Well, it's just over a year since we bought our little Ricoh
Caplio R7 digital camera and we have to say we're very pleased with
it. So pleased in fact, that we bought another one! No,
we're not madly
spending to single-handedly fix the economy, but as this camera model
run ended we temptingly found old stock available at a hefty reduction
and figured a second identical camera would be useful so we could each
carry one. (Erm, it's not quite identical - it's a different
colour,
Belinda wouldn't have it any other way!).
Anyway, back to the update. Both cameras continue to
work well
and produce vivid images. Let's start with the positives (not
that
there's really any negatives though!) starting with...
Camera settings
If you read our original review you may remember we said we initially
left the focus and metering at the default multi-zone settings.
But
this seemed to result in a number of shots where the auto-focus messed
up when it shouldn't have. So we tried the spot focus zone
instead
and this fixed the problem. Also initially we set
the
image quality to the highest 8 mega-pixel (mpx) 'fine' setting.
We've
retained this, but changed the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 3:2 (6:4) to
better fit with standard print sizes and widescreen trends.
Finally,
for low light situations we now simply use the high sensitivity scene
mode – we found a quick flick of the mode switch is so much quicker
than
faffing with ISO and exposure compensation and risk missing that
never-to-be repeated shot.
Ongoing operational quirks(?)
We're still getting the screen flicker for a while after changing an
exhausted battery for a charged one. This only happens if the
battery
discharges completely with the camera on, it causes the camera to shut
down, the critical point being when the battery charge gauge turns
red. Yes, we know we should change the battery well before this
point,
but, well, you know... we'll get a few more shots in won't we?
Then we
tend to forget the gauge and... opps, too late!
We highlighted some concerns surrounding what we thought to be
the
rather high JPEG image compression. Although this doesn't seem to
manifest itself with the - horror of horrors - dreaded JPEG jaggies, on
closer inspection we have noticed some image noise in areas of high
saturation, even in excellent lighting. This only seems apparent
with
the 8mpx setting, we use a lower pixel setting for exclusive web images
where it's unnoticeable. Then again, perhaps we're being too
fussy for
a compact camera (yes you are Mike).
We've found the auto white balance copes well under mixed
lighting and rarely has to be adjusted. And although we still
like the
continuous shot mode, the downside is the hundreds of images generated
to (groan) painstakingly pick through later!
So now we have two little Ricoh Caplio R7s accompanying us on
our travels. And they both make the same horrible whirring and
grating
noises from the lens mechanism which is, in fact, quite reassuring;
after all, if
the second one was quiet then we would be worried!
So this camera gets the thumbs up from us. We'll report
back
in another year to let you know if all's still rosy.
See the main digital camera
review.
You can find the Ricoh UK website at: www.ricohpmmc.com
© micbinks 2009. Please ask permission if
you wish to reproduce any of this content in full or in part.
You can view our Gower holiday and Cotswold holiday pics taken
with this camera.
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