Ricoh R8 review

That said, it's possible to set the maximum ISO level and minimum shutter or aperture speeds, so although you don't have actual manual control, you can set the parameters of the automatic mode.

Aside from the lack of a manual mode, the R8 is certainly tweakable. There are bracketing options for white balance and colour settings as well as the usual exposure. There are also several burst modes, and the ability to record two differently-sized images simultaneously.

Performance
The large lens takes only 2 seconds to spin out and capture an image from start up. After that, the camera takes another 2 seconds between shots. In keeping with the feature-rich theme, there are three continuous modes on the R8: burst mode, and two modes that capture 16 low-resolution frames in 2 seconds, recording them as one large image. Burst mode will merrily trundle on capturing 0.7 frames per second for over five minutes with no sign of slowing or stopping, which is astounding stamina for a compact.

Battery life was also impressive, with the R8 powering through 200 shots in everyday use -- including lots of flash use -- and 500 test shots. After all this, the battery meter was still more than half full. Strangely, on one occasion the camera crashed -- which is a first in our experience -- but this may have been a fault with our model.

Image quality
Portraits are good, although skin tones can be washed out. We found that delving into the menus and tweaking every shooting option going gave the best results, which was made less of a daunting prospect by the excellent manual, and option to save our adjustments.

The adjustable intensity of the flash helped in low-light to lift the subject from the darkened background, but again skin tones were anaemic. Low-light performance was pleasing, particularly when we capped the aperture, shutter and, crucially, the ISO speed. Tinkering with the exposure compensation gave us some cosy low-light pictures at ISO 400 that were virtually free of image noise, although without any feedback on what the shutter and aperture were set to these literally were shots in the dark.

Conclusion
Although we miss actual control over the aperture and shutter, the Ricoh R8 allows you to wield an enormous amount of power over your images. There are a huge amount of customisable options, with the emphasis on acessibility as opposed to dumbing down. Novices unimpressed by the large zoom might prefer a sleeker camera such as the Canon IXUS 860 IS, while the experienced snapper after a backup model may prefer something with more traditional controls, like the Nikon P5000. Still, embracing the R8's myriad options will be a rewarding experience for anyone.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday