Ricoh CX3

The basics

The Ricoh CX3 is a premium compact that offers the latest back-illuminated CMOS sensor. Just like the Sony HX1 and WX1 snappers that were acclaimed for their superb low-light performance Ricoh has stuffed something similar into its own camera body.

The good

In a nutshell, the Ricoh CX3’s 10-megapixel is back-illuminated, which means it's more sensitive to light than a regular sensor. This, coupled with some pretty effective noise reduction tech, makes the CX3 one of the best compact cameras around when it comes to low-light results.

There's also a decent range of the zoom lens (10.7x optical zoom) and the built-in anti-shake tech to counter unsteady hands.

Other nice touches include an electronic spirit level to aid framing and a built-in dynamic mode, which takes two exposures very quickly and merges them together to deliver a shot with detail in both shadows and bright areas – sort of like an integrated HDR mode. There’s also the ability to film hi-def 1280 x 720 movies.

The bad

The CX3 lacks the ability to shoot in RAW – the Canon G11, for instance, manages to feel more like a serious photographer’s camera than the CX3 despite its roughly similar price.

It’s also a bit large compared to some rivals. Like the G11, it’s just a little too large to sit comfortably in a trouser or inside jacket pocket.

The bottom line

Minor quibbles aside, the Ricoh CX3 is a mightily impressive compact camera with great performance and some neat usability touches.