Although not a very common name in the digital camera market, Ricoh does have a history of making cameras and currently has quite a wide range of consumer products in this category.
The Caplio R5 is its latest offering, with a step up in features over its predecessor, the R4. It's a 7.24-megapixel device with a massive 7.1x optical zoom (28 to 200mm equivalent on a 35mm camera). Considering the fairly small dimensions of the camera, such a large optical zoom is impressive, and Ricoh advertises it as the highest available in its class.
Powering up quickly, the camera feels quite responsive in operation although, as with other cameras, some lighting conditions and image optimisation operations can increase processing times and shutter 'lag', reducing the responsive feel slightly. Controls on the camera are well laid out and it's easy to get accustomed to using it.
The zoom sounds a little clunky in operation and it can be difficult to keep the camera steady at maximum zoom due to its small size, but Ricoh has developed an anti-vibration feature that moves the CCD in an opposite direction to counteract the movement. This is a feature that gave us mixed results and had a side effect of increased 'shutter lag' (delay in taking the photo), but at least it can be turned off.
A nice feature of the lens is its ability to zoom out to quite a wide angle, which is good for group shots and for photographing subjects close-up. For really close-up shots, the macro mode offers an impressive 1cm distance capability.For reviewing and composing photos, the 2.5-inch screen offers a high definition of 230,000 pixels, which provides crisp images. While 2.5-inch screens are becoming the norm in this category, many are lower resolution than that provided in the Ricoh Caplio R5.
For quick navigation between photos, the screen doesn't display the maximum quality at first, but shows the best quality only after a short delay. However, a better method of navigating quickly is to utilise the zoom when playing back pictures, which changes the review mode. There is no optical viewfinder, so the screen is the only means of framing photos.
No doubt due to a design decision to keep the size of the camera to a minimum, the Caplio R5 uses a small rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which is claimed to be enough for up to 380 shots on a single charge.
Of course, using the flash and spending some time reviewing pictures on the screen reduces this capability, so if the intention is to use the camera on long holidays, we'd recommend either packing the charger or purchasing a second battery.
The Caplio features some internal memory, but this isn't much use for anything other than trying the camera out, due to the large file size of the resulting photos. For any normal use, a Secure Digital (SD) card is required.
The new CCD features a high sensitivity of 1600 ISO, and this should translate to better images when not using the flash, but we found little practical difference compared to a current Canon digital camera with 800 ISO sensitivity.
Generally, images taken with the Ricoh Caplio demonstrated accurate colour reproduction and detail, but we noticed some fringing on borders between whites and adjacent darker colours. We also noticed slightly clunky performance as we zoomed in on subjects. This is not surprising considering the 26mm thickness of the camera, but buyers should be aware that a high numerical specification doesn't necessarily translate to excellent quality images.
As with many cameras now, the R5 doubles up as a video camcorder, and this is a practical solution for occasional amateur movies. Video resolutions are up to a reasonable 640 x 480 pixels at up to 30 frames per second.
