Ricoh Caplio R7 review

Typical price: £200

What is it: Wide angle, feature-packed compact

What we think: Outstanding, feature-rich wide angle compact let down only by a dodgy screen

Ricoh Caplio R7 Review

Reviewed by: Rich Trenholm

Reviewed on: 26 October 2007

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 69mm (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.

Conclusion
Even for around £200, 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.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday