Ricoh have announced an update to its range of entry-level cameras with the release of the RR630 - an upgrade to its predecessor the RR630, the latter only having just been released in February. Ricoh are aiming to offer users everything they want in a compact with the RR660: sleek design, easy operation and low price.
The RR660 certainly delivers on price as it will retail for the tiny sum of £129.99 (RRP), which is a good price for a camera of this spec from a big name manufacturer like Ricoh. The specifications are fairly standard for an entry-level with 3x optical and 4x digital zoom and a 2.4 inch LCD screen. But the big difference is its 6.16MP sensor, which is astonishing for this price.
£130 for a 6MP camera is a pretty remarkable price, but you have to view this with a bit of scepticism and have a good test of the camera before you buy - at this price some other features may be lacking, or the lens may not be fully up to the task.
It seems to offer ease-of-use too, taking AA batteries and having 16mb of internal memory (SD cards as standard) so you can practically take it out of the box and start snapping. It offers only 6 scene modes, which doesn't sound a lot, but at this end of the market a lot of choice just confuses things.
Finally the design is stylish, if you are into the brushed steel look that is the in-thing in compacts at the moment. Whether you are a fan of the design or not, the camera is fairly small and very light - it only weighs 130g. The camera will only be available in silver when it is released in July 2006.
| 
