Ricoh R8
The basics
The Ricoh R8 is also known as Ricoh Caplio R8. It is a compact 10 Megapixel compact digital camera with a 7x optical zoom and a 4.8x digital zoom. Its dimesions are 102 x 58 x 26 mm and weighs 168 grams. It has several shooting programmes including Sepia, Portrait, Faces, Landscape, Night, etc.
The good
What's the Ricoh's best feature? Why the 7x optical zoom lens. It's superb for shooting far-away and close-up objects, the latter thanks to its fantastic macro mode. Taking shots of your own feet is a cinch, and the images come out sharp as a pin sharpened by a diamond pin sharpener. There's a speedy continuous shooting mode too, which rattles off just over one picture a second for as long as you hold the button. Ultimately what you need to know is that the 10-megapixel pictures are highly detailed and mostly free from noise.
The bad
The bland, boxy design is disappointing, but not as disappointing as the lack of manual controls. And while the 7x optical zoom is great, you'll need to keep your hands steadier than an Olympic shooter to snaffle crisp photos on full zoom. Either that or just break out a tripod.
The bottom line
We've seen some beautiful R8s in our time, mostly Audis, but this isn't one of them. Fashion faux pas aside, though, this still is an impressive camera with some notable features.
User comments (1)
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Rupe Grewal19 September 2009
I have had lots of digital cameras. I have a Nikon SLR, an Olympus hybrid and had several compacts. The design of this camera is beautiful and solid, but the bottom line is the pictures are not as sharp as a cheaper Fuji Z 10, and that is a fact. It is too noisy, but the colours are better. Also, the flash is a little too fierce in most portrait conditions.
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