RR730 front,
RR730 back
sample images: one,
two,
three,
four,
five and
six
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Details at a glance
Megapixels: 7.16
Optical Zoom: 3x
Digital Zoom: 4x
LCD: 2.5 inch
Storage: SD/MMC
Internal: 32mb
Size: 89.4 x 60 x 26mm
Weight: 120g
We clicked with
Price, simplicity, AA batteries so you can get a replacement anywhere
Shots in the dark
Poor at low light shots, short battery life, limit of 200 ISO
Links
More Kodak information
www.kodak.com
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There's a certain consistency to Ricoh. Three months ago they gave us a compact camera with 6 million pixels for £130. Well this season 7 is the new 6 so like most manufacturers they have replaced their 6 million pixel RR660 with the 7 million pixel RR730. We have one of the very first in the country so street price hasn't been established yet but RRP is £129.99 or about £18.50 per megapixel. Which is pretty cheap.
Features
Spend 300 quid on an entry level point and shoot from another manufacturer and you'd feel cheated if you didn't have at least 27 scene modes. Well, the RR730 doesn't have 27 scene modes - but then it isn't 300 quid. It has a back to basics approach that is quite refreshing. A dial lets you select full auto, “program” (where you can change the ISO etc), portrait, landscape, sports and night mode. The 4 way selector also lets you choose self timer and macro mode. That's it.
If you want a camera that has a special mode for your cousin Dwayne falling off a skateboard and a different mode for when he crashes his bike then look elsewhere. If you want a camera that gives you enough controls but doesn't overcomplicate things then read on.
Handling
It's the same size as an RR660. That means that length and width are roughly that of a credit card. The RR730 is thicker than some cameras, something over an inch from front to back and you may find it just a little chunky for a jeans pocket. It will easily fit in a jacket pocket.
The buttons on the back are well laid out and have a decent separation. Too often we see tiny cameras with impossibly small buttons but the RR730 should be usable by anyone with average or small size hands. I particularly like the piano style keys for play, menu and delete. These are clearly marked and easy to press - this is one of the few compact cameras I'd feel happy using while wearing gloves.
The rest of the controls are pretty familiar from the RR630. On the top there's a mechanical dial that allows you to select the various scene modes. The four way selector does 4 things - flash mode, timer, macro and exposure compensation. Those are pretty much the 4 things you want on the selector and again by removing things you don't need Ricoh have made a camera that is easy to use. Even if you're not familiar with it you can find the button you need pretty quickly.
Ricoh have stuck to their simplification in the menus. If you are in auto mode and press the menu button, it appears that you can only change the image size and quality. However, place the camera in another mode, such as program, and you have full control over ISO, white balance, metering system etc. Turn the dial to “movie mode” and again the menus change so that you only see the appropriate options. This can be slightly confusing at first as you try to change the ISO while in auto mode but once you realise what's going on it simplifies the whole process by not showing you options that you can't change. There's also a set up “mode” on the top dial that allows you to set rarely changed options such as time and date and USB mode. Again it's nice to see these removed from the menus you might use every day.
Image quality
Let's start with the good stuff. Image quality is better than the RR660. You might remember that I said the RR660 was “OK for the money” and so is the RR730. It's actually a little better than the 660. Yellows are much more accurate and purple fringing may have been improved. In a minute I'm going to say bad things about image quality but keep this in mind - go on holiday and take snaps in decent light then print them to 6X4 and the RR730 will give you great results. To my mind it is perfect for the target market - first time users who capture memories rather than photographers looking to squeeze the final drop of quality out of their camera.
As with the 660, the RR730 is pretty bad for noise. Well exposed pictures at ISO 100 have noise in the shadows. At ISO 200 the noise leaps out at you. The camera doesn't go much higher and it's just as well. Having said that I printed ISO 200 shots that I considered noisy out on a Kodak G600 printer at 6X4 and they look great. When viewing pictures on screen it's easy to be over critical. I wouldn't like to print ISO 100 pictures at A4 but for snaps you really don't notice it.
As with most compacts, the onboard flash but as with most compacts this is pretty brutal. It's effective up to about 10 feet and is adequate for party pictures but of course will give you pretty harsh shadows.
The metering on the camera is pretty good. It coped well with some tricky scenes (see the white boat on the beach) without hassle. In the woods I has to use exposure compensation to bring out the rich autumn colours but I would do that with most cameras.
Focusing is a very “polite” affair. The camera makes almost no noise or vibration while focusing so it can be hard to know when it locks on - the bracket turns green but you don't always notice just when. I realised with this camera that I focus a lot by feel - when I feel the camera stop focusing I shoot. Shooting macro I got a lot more out of focus shots than I would normally expect. In low light focusing becomes even less certain. There's no focus assist light so if it's too dark to focus then the RR730 simply gives up. Since there's no manual focus you won't be taking that picture after all.
Shooting
The RR730 is a shade quicker than the RR630 but it still won't be troubling any of the speedy cameras. It takes about 4 seconds or so to power up. Shot to shot takes a while - you're better off just choosing your moment well and shooting. There is no burst mode. This is not a camera where you can just hose the subject.
Flash photography is better than the RR660. The shot is still taken on the second flash but they seem closer together. There is still plenty of time for your subject to blink from the first flash in time for the second though.
What's not to like
Battery life is an issue. The camera takes two AAs and comes complete with two Duracells. Apart from being bad for the environment, disposable batteries never work particularly well in digital cameras. I got about 40 shots out of it before it shut sown and I had to reach for the NiMH rechargeables that I prefer. The worst thing is that the battery meter had only dipped 1 bar from full (there are 3 or 4 bars). On one shot it was full, then one bar down, then flashing a warning. Back to one bar down - then the camera started shutting down with no warning. My advice would be to buy some decent rechargeables and carry plenty with you. Disposable AAs are available everywhere but should only really be used as a last resort.
Talking of batteries - the battery cover is the usual plastic item but have an over strong spring. Touch it in the wrong way and you will find it jettisoning your batteries on the floor. The memory card is housed in the battery compartment so watch out when changing memory. However, you'll be changing batteries much more frequently than SD card.
Camera specification
| Mega-pixels: | 7.16 |
Photo: | JPEG |
| Optical Zoom: | 3x |
RAW: | No |
| Digital Zoom: | 4x |
Aperture: | F2.8-4.8 |
| LCD: | 2.5 inch |
Focal Length: | 34-102mm |
| Dimensions: | 89.4 x 60 x 26mm |
Shutter speed: | 8 -> 1/1500s |
| Weight: | 120g |
Exposure: | ISO 64 to 200 |
| Storage: | SD, MMC |
Movie: | 320 x 240 @30fps |
| Internal Mem: | 32mb |
Battery: | 2AA |
| Interface: | USB 2.0, AV |
PictBridge: | No |
