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We clicked with:
24mm wide angle lens
RAW processing option
Excellent camera control
Very fast-acting shutter
Shots in the dark:
It's a lot of money
Some basic functions removed to menus
Flash occasionally goes mad
Price Comparison:
Ricoh Caplio GX100
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Ricoh has long held a reputation for producing fine compact cameras. Even back in the film days, its GR camera was one of the most desirable compact cameras money could buy, and its GR-D followed in the same tradition in the digital domain. Now comes the Ricoh Caplio GX100, a zoom compact with an intelligent specification and the sort of performance good enough to keep many a DSLR at bay.
Ricoh compacts are at the top end of the price spectrum for compact cameras, but they also offer top-end performance to go with it. The GX100 is a perfect example of this top-end offering; it has the option of writing RAW files as well as JPEG, for more precise, non-destructive control of the final image.
Arguably more importantly (you can get non-destructive editing for JPEG now), this 10megapixel compact comes with a fast, wide lens. The zoom's coverage spans the 35mm equivalent of a 24mm-72mm lens, where most compacts only reach an equivalent of 28mm or 35mm. It doesn't sound much, but the difference between a 24mm and 28mm wide angle is profound, both for landscape and reportage photography.
There's no optical viewfinder on the Ricoh Caplio GX100, but there's an optional electronic viewfinder that slots in the camera's hot-shoe if the 2.5” LCD isn't enough. The user interface is designed for simplicity and picture taking, with the minimum of superfluous buttons and both a front thumbwheel and rear thumb controller, to make manual control more intuitive. By moving most functionality to the menu and displays though, finding things like image deletion is not as easy as pressing a key with a wastebin on it. There's a function key on the top panel, which can be assigned a range of useful options, such as putting the camera into manual focus mode. Manual is a big thing for the Ricoh Caplio GX100; even the flash pops-up manually and it sports an external lens cap.
Manual does not mean rudimentary, however. The camera has a handy ISO range from 80-1600 (realistically, usable pictures up to ISO400) and a brace of auto modes if you don't want to engage with total operator control. What it does mean is one of the shortest shutter lags you will ever find on a compact camera, which makes it ideal for candid street photography.
Coupled with an excellent lens, very good white balance control and a wide usable sensitivity range, this makes the Ricoh Caplio GX100 closer to a 21st Century Leica than just another compact. It's not perfect, of course; the flash has a tendency to try too hard and randomly deliver full power flash when it should be acting as fill-in flash. But when it works, it works well.
Those with geeky historical knowledge of the camera industry often talk about how the original Leica of 70+ years ago changed the way 35mm film was thought of and paved the way for the acceptability of smaller, lighter cameras. Although today, Leica makes a digital heir to that heritage in its M8 camera, one can't help thinking the stunning Ricoh Caplio GX100 is the little camera that takes on what the Leica originally did so well. Ricoh's made another classic here.
