Editor's note: Ricoh has dropped the price of the R7 from AU$549 to AU$449.
The Ricoh Caplio R7 boasts 8-megapixel resolution and isn't cheap, but there are some seriously impressive features in this understated compact.
Design
The R7 comes in black, silver or orange flavours. The metal frame is solid and sturdy, which does mean that it is quite heavy. There are a number of neat touches that demonstrate the attention to detail on this camera, like a rubber thumb rest, a satisfyingly dinky door for the USB slot and fan-shaped lens cover elements.
Unusually, some of the R7's functions are controlled by a mini joystick as well as the standard clickpad. This makes altering settings like exposure compensation or white balance much more intuitive, and we'd love to see it unleashed on a full manual mode.
Features
The R7 is pocketable if not exactly slender, but when you consider there is CCD-shift image stabilisation and, impressively, a 7x zoom in there, it starts to look very compact indeed. As well as the humungous zoom, the lens is a satisfyingly wide 28mm so you can fit more into your pictures.
The stunning macro mode lets you get as close as 10mm from your subject. The increasingly ubiquitous face detection is also present and correct. There are two zoom speed options and incremental exposure compensation. Timelapse recording is a fun feature, for up to three hour intervals between images. Sadly, there is no aperture or shutter priority, though.
Video is available in VGA or 320x240-pixel resolution at 15 or 30 frames per second.
Performance
Start-up is very quick considering that the large lens has to spin out, although it makes an alarming spidery creaking noise. The choice of fast zoom or slower, more precise zooming is a nice touch.
The autofocus focuses with alacrity, although the multi-weighted focus is a bit random as to what it picks out. We quickly found it was better to switch to centre-weighted focus or use the reliable face detection system. The bright green focus assist lamp kept things in focus even in the dark. There is a tendency to underexpose by a stop or two, but the mini joystick makes adjusting the exposure compensation a breeze.
Shot-to-shot performance is respectable, even in low light. With the flash disabled and the focus locked we managed a gap of 1.5 seconds between pictures.
The only real criticism we have of the R7 is the 2.7-inch LCD screen. Despite a resolution of 230,000 pixels, diagonal lines are rendered horrendously jagged. It doesn't cause problems while shooting, but it is very hard on viewing images.
Battery life is good, with the large screen not seeming to drain to much power as we were able to take more than 200 pictures in our tests without the camera dying.
Image quality
We were impressed with the quality of images captured by the R7. Colour is especially well reproduced, with natural skin tones and vibrant hues. Once pictures have been taken, you can also adjust brightness and colour tone in-camera and save the results as a separate file, cutting down on post-processing.
Even at AU$549, the Ricoh Caplio R7 is an excellent compact that deserves a wider audience. The Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS may have sewn up the 8-megapixel, big screen and image stabilisation market, but for us, the R7's innovative mini joystick and feature set give it the edge. If it wasn't for the poor quality screen, the R7 would be one of our favourite compacts.
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Exsessor
08/09/2008, 03:09 AM
rating
2/10
High spec and compact but unreliable
Pros: I like the compact size, powerful zoom and other features
Cons: Lens leaves often do not close properly. I had this problem with the R4 I had previously also. After about a month the camera froze in a zoom position. Jessops changed it straight away but a few weeks after that it froze again but this time they are sending it way for repair which will take 5-6 weeks.
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coe-pjb
03/08/2008, 05:36 PM
rating
1/10
Poor colour in images. Sometimes when the camera is switched on it does not focus and then has to be powered up again to focus properly. But most importantly, the camera just stopped working after 3 months - with the lens permanent stuck zoomed out. Had it repaired under warranty (entire lens housing replaced) but this took over 4 weeks. Now a year later the same thing has happened. I am giving up and getting a big name brand instead.
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davidharman
23/03/2008, 09:35 PM
rating
6/10
great features. dont all work. will buy an r8 when all the bug are sorted
Pros: immense zoom for compact camera, pick up and play always a bonus. shockingly slow using flash in indifferent light
Cons: noisy, screen shows poor image of shot (took mine back to shop as faulty, man said it was fine when zoomed up and not to worry. would not give me my money back as not faulty-to me it was, what good is a camera thats screen cannot show a true image). i now have an ixus 75, not as feature packed but does what it does well
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slscs
26/02/2008, 02:11 AM
rating
9/10
I just got the camera last week and test for all setting, and find that camera has very sharp image, Zoom in 7X also very sharp. and very fast focusing, other features are good, that is all what i want.
Pros: Easy to use, Sharp image in the Macro and Zoom mode, compact size, large viewer.
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