Ricoh Caplio R5 Digital Camera

LOOKS
I like cameras that fit nicely into your pocket and the R5 does that very well. It's not the smallest but it's perfectly acceptable size for a compact with smooth lines and metal bodied build to add to its appeal.

BUILD QUALITY

Metal framed bodies are always going to be tough but Richoh do need to look at the way the leaf bladed lens cap operates as I know of several owners whose lens caps have jammed, including myself.

FLASH

The flash is integral to the body and I think it's a good idea as pop up flashes are prone to break due to their often flimsy construction and the chance of them getting knocked because they stick out. However that is the only good thing I'm going to say about the flash because for most indoor shots it is pretty useless. Daylight fill in flash works fine but overall it is simply too weak for indoor shots.

SET UP

I cannot stress how important it is to set the camera up in the menu as getting it wrong it can make a huge difference to your final image. Leave it in default settings and the camera does itself an injustice. However a bit if tweaking will greatly improve its performance.
PIC QUALITY. Set it to F2816 (6M). ISO. Set the speed to 100 and leave it at that. Set the COLOUR DEPTH to vivid. SHARPNESS. set to sharp. WHITE BALANCE. Set to auto.

PICTURE QUALITY

If you take note of the above the R5 will give excellent results for most outdooor situations, even to A3 enlargement. Colours are strong and sharpness is good. I have a framed sunset on my wall taken with its predesessor R4 and it gets many compliments.

MACRO

One of Ricoh's strong points has always been its macro facility with most compacts focussing as close as 1CM. That means you can fill the frame with a bumble bee or similar and to me is a big bonus as most if its rivals can only manage 5CM or so. Remember to make sure the camera shake facility is on at all times as without you will get blur using macro mode.

SUMMARY

The R5 is a good camera for outdoor landscape use with the 28mm film equivelant lens turning in nice punchy vibrant images. It's also excellent for those who to get close up and personal with small objects. It looks good, feels good and overall is very nice and easy to use. Needs a better flash and less flimsy lens protector.

Good in every respect. Can't fault it. Fantastic value - £170 new on ebay including 2Gb memory card, battery charger and adaptor. Had it a month, tested it fully in Africa - a thousand shots and some video - and it performed very well. Easy to use, very user friendly. Good enough zoom functions. With two or three fully charged spare batteries, a big memory card and a belt case, it's ideal for days spent in remote areas. Recommended.

"It's not the wand but the wizard that waves it that matters" aptly describes this little baby. Small enough to take anywhere and when it shoots you're guaranteed excellent results. In fact it's hard to take bad pictures with the in built skew correction. So many cameras now with big opticals! What's the point when you don't have the wide angle lens? The R5's 28mm lens will fit everything into a picture including the whole of the Eifel Tower from close range and if you've got lots of friends you can get them all into the same picture! In reasonable light it's OK indoors, except if you're a zoom freak in which case no flash is ever going to be good enough. 7+ megapixels produces great results and there's also lots of digital zoom to supplement the generous optical. Lots of menu options but try them all for the best results. It's very much 'horses for courses' with menu items so don't get an inferiority complex if you get it wrong 'cause you won't be wasting any film!
Close up shots are excellent and I haven't experienced any problems yet with the lens shutter. It's not the cheapest around but you will have to pay extra for the combination of features in this gem. Will be a big hit with the ladies as it doesn't take up much space in the hand bag. Give the girlfriend one and she will be more than satisfied! ROTFLMAO.

having had a compact camera before, i had read a review on this model before
and had been impressed with it.
having had the camera now for a couple of months,the results from it have been
exellent.the cameras menu as the best i have had for sutch a small unit.
i cannot think of a negative thing to say about it.

I bought this camera for my daughters 19th birthday. She is an art student and wanted something to use to take pictures with a good end result and that wasn't too bulky. She compared quite a few cameras and this one came up as the best for what she needed. This little camera is excellent. My daughter cannot praise it enough. Well worth the money.

I love the size it fits in my handbag so it is always with me for those impromptu moments. I filmed my grandson in his nativity play and was very surprised with the quality of the footage. It also has the longer zoom very rare in this size camera, which is useful for shooting outside photos. I love it and am very glad I bought it. The only thing I would say is that being so small it does have a bit of camera shake so best to lean against something. I am sure this is true of all small cameras.

Ho deciso di comprarla per il suo versatile obiettivo 28-200 mm (che le permette di scattare foto grandangolari e di catturare oggetti anche lontani grazie al suo particolare sistema di lenti)e al suo limitatissimo SHUTTER SPEED (la velocità con la quale scatta dele foto senza andare in momentaneo letargo) Ho scoperto poi che fa anche delle foto in modalità macro di assoluto rispetto. Divertente se si desidera utilizzarla in modalità manuale, la sua pecca sono le poche mdalità di scatto preimpostate alle quali però se ne possono aggiungere due memorizzando settaggi selezionati dall'utente. Le dimensioni sono abbastanza ridotte, ma comunque giustificatamente non ridottissime. La qualità degli assemblaggi (soprattutto il tasto di selezione zoom che delle volte sembra andare a vuoto) lascia un po' a desiderare e la qualità delle foto in notturna non è delle migliori. Quello che per molti è una pecca ma che in realtà io adoro è il rumore dell'obiettivo nelll'azionare o ritrarre lo zoom. E' una macchina molto particolare pertanto, che non può essere equiparata ad altre in commercio. Va quindi accettata così com'è. Potendo spendere di più è in commercio la sua sorella più evoluta (e più compatta) Caplio R7, o volendo virare altrove opterei per una lumix (che parta dai 28mm!!!)