There were lots of rumors and speculation regarding the new Ricoh camera. Would it be an interchangeable lens camera, would it have a small sensor or an APS sensor, would Ricoh team up with Pentax and use a variant of their K-mount and even use rebranded Pentax lenses? These and more speculations kept the people in forums busy, it was no secret that Ricoh was working on something big but nobody knew what it was exactly.

Today, Ricoh has finally revealed it and we were all way off, their new “camera” is neither of the above but something completely unique and different.

It is not a camera in the traditional sense, it has no interchangeable lenses and both a small sensor and an APS sensor. What it is, is something new and very exciting. It is called the GXR and is the first ‘Interchangeable Unit Camera System’ as Ricoh calls it. It is a new system not constrained by any of the current limits.

Lets have a closer look at it and see how it compares with traditional cameras and the competition.

Until now when buying a camera you had to decide wether you want to buy a dSLR or a small sensor camera and recently also the new micro 4/3 cameras.

While the dSLR gives you the flexibility of changing lenses, big sensor with low noise and good dynamic range, fast AF and fast operation, they are very large and not easy to always carry around. This leads to missed photo opportunities.

A compact camera is small, light and has the advantge of very high DOF, which is very usefull for street photography. The problems here arise when a high dynamic range, low noise and a fast AF are needed. Ricoh has been making some of the best serious compacts to date with their GRD line but also with the GX100 and GX200. Still, as good as their cameras were they always strugglled to overcome tne limitations imposed by a small sensor.

The new micro 4/3 cameras seemed to be what people were waiting for, a compact camera with a big sensor, fast AF and the ability to change lenses. These could have been exactly the cameras everyone was waiting for but the relatively poor lens quality and selection and a body not much smaller than a entry level dSLRs.

Enter the new GXR, the first ‘Interchangeable Unit Camera System’.

The name GXR comes not from the fact that Ricoh merged the GX camera line with the GRD line but refers to the GX line of digital cameras, from which the GXR took the controls and customization options, and the XR film cameras, from which Ricoh took the interchangeable lens roots.

When I first heard of the new GXR, I did not quite understand it because I was thinking about a classic approach to a camera and not something as unique and radically different.

On the GXR, you have the sensor, the imaging engine and also the lens as part of the interchangeable units. The body has no sensor and is there to provide only the physical controls, screen, battery and the SD-card reader. This means that the interchangeable units are the actual camera. In other words you don’t change lenses but cameras instead.

This by itself is not easy to understand and could make it difficult for people to sell this camera.

Below you can find the main features from the camera explained, I hope to be able to provide a full hands-on preview and a review soon.

The body as such has the usual Ricoh controls with the same fantastic screen found on the GRD III and the CX1. It is now slightly bigger though. Ricoh has also refined the controls and has implemented a different shutter button, a different power button and have added a ‘Direct’ control panel. Other new features include a 16:9 mode, a auto macro mode, the often requested AE bracketing option with customizable steps, EV customization from +2.0 to -2.0 in 13 steps and the ability to save the settings both in the body but also in the units.

Now we get to the interesting part, the actual interchangeable units. At launch Ricoh will release 2 units.

The first unit is a 12mp APS-C unit coupled with a new 50mm f2.5 GR macro lens. This unit also offers 720p HD video recording, ISO up to 3200, a 4cm macro distance and a manual focus ring around the lens.

The next unit is something a lot of people have been waiting for, it’s basically the GX300 camera sporting the same sensor as the GRD III but with a new processing engine and the same excellent lens as on the GX100 and GX200 before. All accessories like the adapter and hood, 19mm wideangle and the 135mm telephoto lens will also be available for this as will be a new improved LC-2 lenscap.

After Ricoh pioneered the first external EVF on the GX100, which has since then been copied by both Panasonic and now Olympus for their m4/3 cameras, Ricoh has introduced the first ever 920,000-dot EVF for the new GXR.

Ricohs new system could be the most significant development in digital photography, it certainly is the most exciting one. The possibilities are endless, Ricoh could release unitss with only lens mounts on them, for example a full frame sensor with Contax G-mount or a Leica mount to compete with the M9, or release a mass storage unit, a mini polaroid printing unit, dedicated HD movie units and so on.

The GXR will be released in one months time so ready for the Christmas shopping season.

More about the new GXR in the coming weeks after I get the chance to get my hands on one. One thing is clear now, Ricoh have created something unique and the GXR could change the way people think about digital cameras.

Find below some further links to the press release and other interesting pages to it.

Press page : English
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/press/release/nr_gxr.html

Main page for GXR:
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/gxr/

Special page for GXR (available from the 11th):
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/gxr/special/

In case you have been wondering why my GRD III review has been delayed that much, this is to do with me being quite busy recently but also because I want to make it a very extensive review that should hopefully answer all questions regarding all three GRDs.

Another reason is that I have been working on a project for Ricoh. They have asked me to make a book for the GRD III. This was a great project and I am really happy to have had the opportunity to work on this.
Now that the book is finished and printed, I thought I will upload it so you can have a look and see the book. It looks fantastic in print and it shows why looking at pictures on screen is not the best way to appreciate them.

You can see the full book here.

The full book is quite big so you might have to wait a bit for the pages to load for the first time. To be able to read the text you have to click on 1:1. If you have problms with the loading times let me know and I will reduce the size of the pages so it loads faster.

One other thing I am very happy about is that Ricoh has chosen a few pictures from my book to print a big poster and advertise the GRD III at Foto-Koch, the biggest camera store in Düsseldorf and the place I bought my very first Ricoh GRD I over 5 years ago.

In the meantime if you want to read some excellent reviews on the GRD III have a look at Carl’s review and also at Wouter’s review. Both have done a fantastic job with their reviews.

If you have been reading my review of the Ricoh CX1, you know that I really liked the camera and found it to be one of the most fun to use cameras I had. It also produced great results and had features aimed at photographers and not purely for marketing.
Today, Ricoh have announced the CX2. Read on to find out what the main differences are and my thoughts on it.

The CX1 still utilizes the same 9.29MP 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor from the CX1, this is good news indeed as the sensor performed very well in the CX1.

The main difference is the new zoom lens now covering a range from 28-300mm at f3.5-f5.6, this is up from 28-200mm at f3.3-f5.2 on the Cx1. This is a welcome addition and should make the camera even more versatile. Although the zoom range has increased, the lens is still almost as bright as before.
While the longer telephoto range is a good addition, I feel Ricoh should have also focused on improving the wideangle and maybe offer 24mm or even 21mm wideangle.

The continuous shooting has also been slightly increased and is not at 5fps where the Cx1 can record at 4fps.

Ricoh has also added some new and very interesting scene modes: ‘High Contrast B&W’ and ‘Minaturize’.

Unfortunately the poor video mode has not been improved and the camera still can’t shoot HD-video or does not have a high-speed video mode or zoom during recording. This is a bit disapointing as it means the CX2 is still lagging behind the competition.

Ricoh has also missed the opportunity to add full manual controls or a RAW mode in the CX2. This will make it difficult for the CX2 to go against some string competition from Panasonic, Samsung and now even Canon with the S90.

Ricoh cameras still have the best interface and some unique features aimed at photographers but with the competition offering HD-video, wider lenses, manual controls and even RAW it will be difficult for the CX2 to stand out from the crowd.
Especially the video mode is something that Ricoh needs to improve if they don’t want to lose sales. I had to recommend the Panasonic and Samsung cameras instead of the CX1 because they wanted to be able to shoot HD-video and unfortunately the CX2 does not address this.

Overall so far it looks like the CX2 is a solid evolution from the CX1.

Below is the press release and more pictures of the different colors.

Tokyo, Japan, August 20, 2009 - Ricoh Co., Ltd. (president and CEO: Shiro Kondo) today announced the release of the CX2, a new digital camera featuring a high magnification 10.7x (28-300 mm) optical wide-angle zoom lens in a compact body only 29.4 mm thick. The CX2 is capable of 5 frame/second high-speed continuous shooting of still images with the maximum number of pixels.

The new CX2 inherits many popular features from its predecessor, the CX1 (introduced March 13, 2009), such as the high image quality and expanded dynamic range made possible by image processing engine Smooth Imaging Engine IV and a high-speed image processing CMOS sensor. At the same time, it enhances functions that expand photo possibilities in a number of areas, including (1) a 10.7x optical zoom lens that expands shooting capabilities from wide-angle through telephoto range, (2) high-speed continuous shooting (approx. 5 frames/sec. at maximum number of pixels) functions so you won’t miss the target scene, and (3) the easy-to-use AF functions Pre-AF and Continuous AF.

New scene modes such as “high-contrast B&W mode” and “miniaturize mode” have been added to stimulate shooting creativity, and various CX1 model functions have received enhancements, such as the addition of face recognition to easy shooting mode and the addition of an AUTO option for automatically defining the range expansion effect in dynamic range double shot mode.

With its expanded range of functions for the relaxed enjoyment of photography, the CX2 represents the further evolution of the compact digital camera as “A tool you will want to use every day.”

The CX2 will be available at SRP £299.99 inc

Features

With a 10.7x optical zoom lens (28-300 mm) in a compact body only 29.4 mm thick, the CX2 shoots freely all the way from wide-angle to telephoto.  

• Ricoh’s original retracting lens system made it possible to fit the newly developed high magnification 10.7x optical wide-angle zoom lens in a 29.4 mm body that is both easy to carry and easy to operate.
• With 28 mm wide-angle to 300 mm telephoto coverage, this high magnification zoom lens can handle a wide range of shooting situations, including powerful telephoto shots as well as wide-angle shooting of both expansive landscapes and interior scenes with limited distance between camera and subject.
• The zoom function can be switched to high-speed zoom by continuing to turn the zoom lever.

More advanced high-speed continuous shooting* functions enable you to get the shot you want.

• With the enhanced continuous shooting mode, it is possible to do high-speed continuous shooting at approximately 5 frames/second for still images with the maximum number of pixels.
  Continuous shooting speed will vary depending on shooting conditions, card type, card condition, etc.
• For the M-continuous plus shooting function, which saves consecutive images shot before the finger is removed from the shutter release button, a mode has been added that makes it possible to shoot at the maximum number of pixels. To fit the scene being photographed, you can select from two modes: M-Continuous Plus (9M) for 15 images (5 frames/sec.) taken in as little as three seconds and M-Continuous Plus (2M) for 30 images (30 frames/sec.) taken in about one second.
  M-Continuous Plus (9M) image size is fixed at N3456 (9M).
  M-Continuous Plus (2M) image size is fixed at N1728 (2M).
  The consecutively shot images are recorded as a single MP file (a file format with multiple still images in a single file).
• With ultra-high-speed continuous shooting, the CX2 shoots 120 images (120 frames/sec.) during an interval of about one second after the shutter release button is pushed, or 120 images (60 frames/sec.) during an interval of about two seconds.
  Image size is fixed at N640 (VGA).
  The consecutively shot images are recorded as a single MP file (a file format with multiple still images in a single file).

High image quality from Smooth Imaging Engine IV and a high-resolution CMOS sensor.

• The CX2 has the image processing engine Smooth Imaging Engine IV and a high-speed image processing CMOS sensor. Together they can shoot high-quality images with high resolution and low noise.
• Residing on a customized circuit of the image processing engine, the pixel output interpolation algorithm reduces whiteout in high-contrast situations, thereby recreating beauty as seen.
• Dynamic range double shot mode makes it possible to record images with an almost naked-eye impression; it has a new AUTO option where the camera automatically defines the optimal exposure difference. Now it is even easier to enjoy the benefits of dynamic range expansion of up to 12EV.
• Multi-pattern auto white balance makes it possible to recreate natural as-seen colours even in people-photography scenes that were difficult to shoot with past auto white balance functions, such as scenes with both shadow and sunlight and scenes mixing flash and natural light (or fluorescent light, etc.).

New modes to stimulate creative photography.

• As the name implies, “high-contrast B&W mode” shoots images with higher contrast than normal black & white mode. This makes it possible to record images with a grainy feel such as that created by using ultra-high-sensitivity film in a film camera or by push processing film at the development stage.
• The new “miniaturize mode” shoots scenes with the top and bottom areas of the image blurred. This makes it possible to shoot actual scenes but record images that recreate the impression given when photographing miniatures.
• The new “manner mode” enables you to turn off the flash, the AF auxiliary light, and operation sounds without changing the camera settings. This is convenient when shooting in museums and other public buildings.

Easy shooting mode which can be enjoyed by a simple operation now has a function for automatic face recognition.

• When faces are detected during shooting, the CX2 shoots the image with the focus, exposure, and white balance optimized for the faces. Compared to the previous model, there have been increases in recognition speed and number of faces detectable. A maximum of eight subject faces can now be detected.
• When shooting subjects up close, the camera automatically switches to macro mode so macro photography can now be enjoyed without the inconvenience of having to switch modes.

Pre-AF and Continuous AF functions quickly and accurately focus on the subject.

• With Pre-AF, the camera automatically adjusts the focus even when the shutter release button is not half-pressed. Quick shooting is possible since the focus is adjusted in response to subject movement.
• With Continuous AF, if subject movement is detected while the shutter release button is half-pressed, the camera automatically adjusts the focus to match the subject movement.

High-definition 3.0-inch 920,000-dot VGA LCD monitor.

• The large, high-resolution LCD monitor has a wide viewing angle and high contrast. The screen has a fluorine coat to prevent soiling, a hard coat to prevent scratches, and an anti-reflection coat to give excellent visibility even outdoors in bright sunshine.
• With sRGB comparison of 100% for colour reproduction range, the monitor vividly reproduces image colours.

A wide range of functions inspired by the “A tool you will want to use every day” concept.

• With the macro photography functions you can get as close to the subject as 1 cm for wide-angle** and 28 cm for telephoto.
• A comfortable and easy-to-hold grip shape.
• Electronic level utilizing an acceleration sensor.
• Image sensor shift blur reduction function to reduce hand-motion blurring.
• Three grid guides useful for framing images while shooting.
• Image flag function to enable the quick display of specific images from among those in the camera. The maximum number of flags has been increased from 3 to 20.

Ricoh has released the last firmware update for the GRD II, it includes some of the new features found in the new GRD III.
The most interesting enhancement is certainly the ability to swap the front wheel and Adj. switch functions in manual mode, the other enhancements are for the playback mode.

Below are the updates found in version 2.40:

1. Displayed-file memory in playback mode

For playback, the file displayed is the last file that was displayed the last time playback mode was used. (In cases where photographs have been taken, the most recently taken photograph is displayed.)

2. One press zoom with ADJ. lever

When displaying still images in playback, pressing the ADJ. lever will display the image magnified.

3. One press zoom ratio selection

The zoom ratio can be selected for use for one press zoom in playback.

4. Playback mode dial option selection

In addition to the following combination “ADJ. lever: Next/previous frame; Up-down dial: Zoom in/out,” it is now possible to select this combination: “ADJ. lever: Scroll left/right; Up-down dial: Scroll up/down”

5. Changing dial functions for manual exposure mode

It is possible to change the dial functions so that the ADJ. lever controls aperture and the up-down dial controls shutter speed. (The normal setting is the reverse.)

The firmware can be downloaded for Windows or Mac.

Installation instructions are available here.

Part 1 of the CX1 Review was all about the build and controls of the camera. As usual there is little if anything to fault with the build and especially the controls or Ricoh cameras, they are designed by people who actually use cameras and with photographers in mind.

This would not matter much though if the cameras would not deliver when it comes to the image quality or would not be responsive enough and would cause you to miss the decisive moment. In part 2, I will have a look and see how the camera performs when it comes to the operation and the image quality.

Operation and Picture Quality

After powering it on the CX1 is ready to take the picture in just over 1 second, this is not very fast but it is an improvement over the R10 and good enough compared with other cameras in the same class. Once it is on however the camera is very fast to take pictures and you never have to wait for it, thanks to the CMOS sensor you can keep shooting without ever having to wait for the camera to finish writing.

One of my biggest complaints with the R10 was the slow AF and even more problematic was the screen freeze while the camera tried to achieve focus lock. I am happy to say that the CX1 not only fixes this but improves massively on it and even adds a new ‘Multi Target AF’.

The screen freeze is all but gone now and the AF speed is one of the fastest I have seen in any digital compact camera and is almost as fast as the phase-detection AF found in older Ricoh cameras while being more accurate than these. You will never have to wait too long for the camera to achieve focus lock even at 200mm or low light situations. This to me is a huge step up and makes the CX1 a great camera for street photography.

The very fast contrast detection AF is one of the biggest benefits of the CMOS sensor and Ricoh did very well to incorporate it in the CX1. Not only does the CMOS sensor allow for very fast contrast detection AF but it also allowed Ricoh to implement another extremely usefull feature in the ‘Multi Target AF’.

The ‘Multi Target AF’ mode is very interesting and makes use of the CMOS sensor’s ability to focus very fast and uses the high continuous shooting capabilities to take 7 pictures with different AF points. This might not sound all that exciting at first but comes in very handy if you want to use the macro mode and are not sure what focus point would work best or to combine a series of pictures in one single image with a high depth of field or simply if the subject is slightly moving (a flower moving in the wind for example). This mode combined with the excellent macro capabilities makes the CX1 a great choice for macro shooters. You can read more about this mode and see a example for high DOF here.

Of course the CX1 has kept the great ‘Snap’ mode found in other Ricoh cameras. The snap focus takes advantage of the big depth of field the sensors have and pre-sets the focus to 2.5m. This means you get a sharp picture from 2.5m to almost infinity. This method also helps to eliminate any focus lag and works very well in practice, as long as you don’t require the focus to be much closer than 2.5m, you can assign it to the Fn button for fast switching between normal AF and Snap if you like.

Another reason Ricoh moved to a CMOS sensor is to improve the shooting speed of the camera, the CX1 can now take pictures at 4fps (or 3fps depending on the SD card speed) at full resolution untill the card is full. This works great and the LCD does a good job in keeping up with it so you can track the action relatively well. You will never miss the decisive moment thanks to this and especially if you take sports pictures it will be a big advantage.

This is not all however, the CX1 goes even further and allows you to take up to 120fps, albeit at reduced resolution, and will save it as a MPO file (you can read this with the supplied software, extract in-camera or download the software from here).

Something not found in many other camera is the time lapse mode which allows you to take pictures at a set interval between 5 seconds and 2 hours. This is a great feature and Ricoh is one of the few manufacturers who do not limit the number of pictures you can take or the resolution you can use in timelapse mode.

One thing that Ricoh did not improve and where they are still lagging far behind the competition is their video mode. When even dSLRs start to have an HD video mode it is simply inexcusable to just deliver a poorly implemented VGA video mode without any optical zoom or at least without making use of the CMOS sensor and allow video recording at 120fps. Ricoh seriously needs to improve on this or just leave the video mode out, as it is at the moment it is useless for anthing other than emergency use.

Ricoh is a company focused on photographers and one can see this by looking at the features implemented in their cameras but HD video is not something that can be ignored these days.

The shooting experience as a whole is very good thanks to the great controls and fantastic AF. The camera is fast to zoom from 28mm to 200mm and even has two zoom speeds so you will not miss a shot due to this. The Image Stabilizer works very well and helps quite a lot in low light and when using the camera at 200mm.

Now let’s see how the image quality fares and if the move from CCD to CMOS has improved it.

One of the main standout features of the Ricoh CX1 is the DR Mode.

Small sensors have a limited dynamic range which makes it sometimes difficult to get good results if the light conditions are difficult. One method to get around the limited dynamic range of small sensors is to use HDR, take two or more pictures with different exposures and merge them together. Until now this had to be done on a computer but with cameras becoming more powerful, Ricoh has implemented this feature in-camera and easily accessible via the mode dial.

The CX1 takes two pictures in a row, one exposed for the highlights and one for the shadows, it then merges these together and creates so a high dynamic range picture. Taking two pictures and merging them together means there will inevitably be a delay between the two pictures so this mode will be of no use for fast action shots. I would say it should not be used for shots with any movement if possible in order to get the best results.

The DR mode is certainly a great addition and will improve the dynamic range quite a lot under difficult light conditions. It is one of the main features of the CX1 that set it apart from the competition and one that actually helps improve your pictures.

The CX1 is a compact camera with a small sensor but by it using a CMOS sensor and staying at 9MP it manages to deliver a very good image quality. The default image settings are good but benefit from some tweaking, I would recommend using: Contrast +2, Sharpening -1 and Color Depth -1.

This will give you generally a very good quality to your images if you don’t pixel peep or print very large. The only problem with the image quality is Ricoh’s recent move to use very heavy handed noise reduction in their JPGs.

This is a shame, people used to buy Ricoh cameras because of the minimal processing done in-camera and little noise reduction smearing. Unfortunately Ricoh has moved away from this and don’t allow users to turn the strong noise reduction off. The CMOS sensor in the CX1 seems to be capable of producing much better results if Ricoh would allow one to turn the NR off or use RAW instead. Overall, I would say the image quality is better than it used to be on the R10 but the difference is not that big.

The metering is very accurate and you don’t need to worry too much about dialing in negative exposure compensation.

With regards to the WB, the CX1 offers a ‘Multi-Pattern AWB’. Unlike a normal AWB setting which uses only one reading to make the decision this will read different points in the image and select the best WB setting for each. The WB using this setting or just the normal AWB setting was always very accurate and it did produce very good results.

Low light shooting is not necessarily the strong point of this camera as it won’t be a strong point on most small sensor cameras and the images over ISO 800 suffer from too much NR smearing but are usable for the web and small prints. The flash will be helpful in these situations. As with the R10, the flash output is very good with natural colors without overexposing and it is strong enough for small group pictures. Red-eye was not really an issue in either of the flash modes and as long as you make sure the focus is locked correctly should not have any problems with your flash images.

Conclusion

There is really not much innovation going on in compact cameras these days so it is refreshing to see that Ricoh has added a wealth of new and interesting features in the CX1 which are not gimicks but actually improve your pictures. The CX1 like no other camera manages to offer the perfect mix for beginners and enthusiasts alike. The controls are some of the best you will find, the Easy mode works very well and the images are pleasing enough without the need to mess around with the settings. At the same time it offers enough controls over the image settings and picture taking process to please even people looking for more than just as simple point and shoot. The addition of the CMOS sensor is a great move on Ricoh’s part as it allowed them to implement some quite unique features which will benefit everyone. The DR mode, Multi Target AF, time lapse capabilities, electronic leveler, very good WB thanks to the Multi-pattern AWB or the continuous shooting options are all features not available in most cameras.

The CX1 improves in almost every area from the R-series but has unfortunately not improved on the poor video mode or fixed the too strong noise reduction. Ricoh realy needs to sort this out as having HD video is a minumum requirement at the moment as is the ability to control the noise reduction and be able to disable it.

Overall, I can fully recommend the CX1 if you are looking for a well built and very versatile point and shoot camera that won’t let you miss any photo opportunity but the main reason is that the CX1 is simply a joy to use and this to me is more important than anything else.

Click here to view the sample Gallery from the CX1.

Most of the time when a manufacturer releases an upgrade to their cameras it is to only add one more MP and maybe some additional scene modes or blink/smile detection ‘features’. Ricoh has never been a manufaturer to follow this and has been consistently improving their cameras by adding useful features and taking in user feedback.
Their latest release is the Ricoh CX1 and the changes and improvements from it’s predecessor, the Ricoh R10, are so big that Ricoh has decided to change the name.
This review will focus on the main new features of the CX1 and will also look at other improvements and changes from the R10. I will not go into detail of every single option in the menu so if you want to see the manual or read all the specs you can find it all on the Ricoh website.

The Ricoh CX1 follows on from the R10 and offers the same versatile 7.1x 28-200mm zoom lens, great build and very good controls. The biggest difference though is the sensor, the CX1 is one of the first compact cameras to offer a CMOS sensor. CMOS sensors have advantages over previous CCD sensors when it comes to speed, dynamic range and also offer a better noise performance. Ricoh has been listening to concerns about the increasing number of mega pixels on cameras and has decided to use 1/2.3″ CMOs sensor with only 9.3MP, this allows for improved image quality when compared with the old 10MP CCD sensor in the Ricoh R10 and cameras from other manufacturers who try to cram 14MP and more in a tiny CCD sensor. Using a CMOS sensor also allowed Ricoh to implement a host of very interesting features which are not just gimicks but are useful tools when taking pictures. These features include a DR mode for improving the dynamic range when taking pictures, 4fps shooting at full resolution or up to 120fps at reduced resolution, a Multi Target AF mode and improved overall AF speed and a Multi Pattern AWB.

Build & Controls

Let’s start part 1 of the review by looking at the build and main controls first before moving on to the other features. Like the R10, the CX1 looks how a camera should look and is not meant to be a fashion accessory. The design is very good indeed, it is understated but professional and comes in the colors black, silver and a really classy looking champagne rosé color (the version I got for review). Unfortunately Ricoh dropped the fantastic bronze color of the R10 but the rosé color should have a much wider appeal, it does look very stylish and due to it being a metallic color it should not only appeal to girls.

The feel of the CX1 is very similer to the R10 but it feels even more solid. One immediately apparent change from the R10 is the removal of the rubber grip on the front. The missing ruber grip makes quite a big difference in the way you hold the camera and without it the camera feels more slippery. In my opinion it is a shame the rubber grip at the front has been removed, it helped to have a better grip on the camera. The thumb pad on the back is a welcome addition but on it’s own without the front rubber grip means the CX1 is not quite as secure to hold as the R10.

The back of the camera is where some of the biggest changes have taken place. The already excellent LCD screen from the R10 has been further improved and is now one of the best screens you can find on any camera. The size has remained the same at 3″ but the resolution has been doubled to 920,000 pixel and it is even brighter with better viewing angles now. Ricoh have surely made the most out of the increased resolution and use it to the full advantage to give clearer fonts in the menus and fit more information on the screen in record and playback mode. It really is a fantastic screen and must be seen to be fully appreciated.
In my R10 review I wrote that “The only downside with the screen is that Ricoh did not put anything in front of the screen to protect it, like they did on the GRD II.”. I am glad to say that Ricoh has listened and have addressed this by putting a protective layer in front of the screen. This helps protecting the screen but also takes care of glare in bright light. It adds however one minor issue for people wearing polarized sunglases, in portrait mode the screen goes black and you can’t see anything, it is fine in landscape mode though and it is really is only a minor problem and will not really affect most people.

Other changes have been done to the controls where some buttons have been re-arranged with the most obvious being that the ‘Adj./OK’ joystick has been changed. It is smaller now and feels more solid but because it iss smaller it’s also a bit more fiddly to use. The R10 was a bit better in this respect although I am sure there are prople who prefer this over the R10 so it is more a personal choice. One change to the ‘Adj./OK’ joystick I don’t like is that now you can’t just press up and down to adjust the EV compensation, instead you have to open the Adj. menu first.

Like the R10 the CX1 has superb controls and I can only repeat what I wrote in the R10 review. All of the main controls are handled by the ‘Adj./Ok’ joystick, press it and you get to the ‘Adjust’ menu where you can access your most used settings. This can be freely configured so you can select up to 4 options such as ISO, WB, EV and Focus, the last option is always AE/AF shift. Hold the joystick to the right and it will allow you to activate and cycle through the Flash modes, to the left and it activates the Macro mode. It could not be any easier so it should allow you to experiment with different settings without having to constantly go in the menu or rely on scene modes.
The only problem is with the ‘Fn’ button which is difficult to press and would be much better suited in place of the play button, this has not been improved from the R10, if anything is it slightly worse since the texture of the button is the same as the other buttons.

The zoom control is around the shutter and this is where it should be, it has been slightly re-designed and feels better now. You can set the zoom to be either continuous or to work as a step zoom. The step zoom feature is great on the GX series. Because it has 7 positions, in order to to get to each it requires a pull or push of the zoom lever so it takes quite long to get from 28mm to 200mm. This could be easily solved by just activating the high-speed zoom when holding the zoom lever in position.
The dial on the top is easy to turn and clicks firmly into place so it won’t turn accidentally. You can save 2 ‘My Settings’, activate the high speed mode, select the DR mode and the usual scene and video mode. The camera will remember everything, including the zoom position, when using the ‘My Settings’. The green Auto mode also remembers all your last settings and passes some of them on to the high speed and DR modes.
The ‘Easy’ has been improved and works much better now. It limits what you can do and only displays a few items in the menu but can now activate the macro mode automatically. This is indeed a good improvement and means you can happily use this mode only if you don’t want to worry about the correct settings.

Overall the CX1 is, like the R10 before, a very well built camera with great controls and a superb LCD screen. You will not find many cameras in this price range which offer you more or even come close to the CX1 in this respect.

Continue to part 2, to find out how the image quality is and how the camera performs in use.

Next…

Today, Ricoh has announced the Ricoh GR Digital III. The GRD III follows the very successfull Ricoh GRD I, released in 2005, and the Ricoh GRD II, released in 2007. Before that Ricoh had the film GR1 series, the GR21 and even released their GR lenses in a limited edition made for Leica L-mount.

The Ricoh GRD III continued the tradition of compact, well designed cameras with a high quality GR 28mm lens. Where it is different from it’s predecessors is that the lens is now a whole stop faster than the first GR1 lens, which was a f2.8 lens the new GRD III lens is a newly designed f1.9 lens!
This is very good news and shows that Ricoh have been listening to the requests from users to incorporate a faster lens. There are currently no compact cameras out there with lenses faster than f2.0 and there were only a few Olympus cameras available with f1.8 lenses but these were bigger and started at 35mm.

The other new features are a slightly bigger 1/1.7″ sensor, new improved and userdefined Snap AF mode, a great 3″ LCD screen with 920,000 pixels and VGA resolution, faster 5fps continous RAW shooting, S-mode, 3 improved ‘My Setting’ modes, improved AF speed, the ability to costomize the hue and saturation of each color (orange, green, blue, red and magenta), a DR mode (JPG only), closer macro focusing at 1cm and the new Multi-Pattern Auto WB.

Ricoh has also been listening to concerns and did not increase the number of pixels on the sensor and kept it at 10 MP although they had the choice between 10MP and 17MP. Instead they have been working to improve the noise performance and increase the sensitivity. The sensor is completely new and offers the added advantage of cell quality and pixel pitch compared to the older CCD sensors.
Together wth the fast f1.9 lens it will make the GRD III one of the best compact cameras for low light shooting.

To accomodate the new lens and bigger sensor, the body had to be slightly redesigned and is now slightly bigger and heavier. The lens protrudes more now and the flash hotshoe is slightly raised. The camera feels and looks more like the GR21 and now as much as the GR1 film cameras.

Because of the bigger lens there will be new accessories released for the GRD III, the old lens hood and adapter lenses do not work on the GRD III. Ricoh will release a new (GW-2) 21mm adapter lens and also a new external flash (GF-1) after the launch.

Find below the main GRD III features:

- new 28mm f1.9 GR lens
- 10mp 1/1.7″ CCD sensor with improved sensibility at high ISO
- ISO 64-1600
- 3″ 920,000 pixel LCD with VGA resolution and high viweing angle
- new GR Engine III
- PASM-modes, now with S-priority mode added
- 5fps RAW shooting
- 3 My Settings
- new full-press Snap function and customizable Snap focus distance
- Multi-Pattern AWB
- DR double shot mode (JPG only)
- added a 2nd Fn button
- Customizable front and back wheel (shutter speed/aperture)
- New GW-2 21mm wide conversion lens
- New GF-1 external flash
- 188g (vs. 168g from the GRD I and GRD II)

There will be a full review available soon.

Other than the DR mode, the CX1 has a few other unique and interesting features. In this last part I will look closer at the ‘Multi Target AF’.

The ‘Multi Target AF’ mode is very interesting and makes use of the CMOS sensor’s ability to focus very fast and uses the high continuous shooting capabilities to take 7 pictures with different AF points. This might not sound all that exciting at first but comes in very handy if you want to use the macro mode and are not sure what focus point would work best or to combine a series of pictures in one single image with a high depth of field or simply if the subject is slightly moving (a flower is moved by the wind for example). So this mode is most usefull in macro mode but even outside this is can come in very handy if you want to try different focus points.

I found this feature very handy and given how good Ricoh cameras are at shooting macros, this is a feature which will make the macro mode even more useful. This shows the difference between Ricoh and other manufacturers, they take the advantages of the sensor to create a feature which is a great help for photographers and not just a gimick to advertise with.

You can download the fullsize picture in the Gallery here.

One of the main standout features of the Ricoh CX1 is the DR Mode. Small sensors have two major shortcomings when compared with larger sensors found in dSLRs. The first is the noise, which is often smeared away by the in-camera noise reduction, the second is the limited dynamic range, this is more difficult to hide or fix in-camera.

One method to get around the limited dynamic range of small sensors is to use HDR, take two or more pictures with different exposures and merge them together. Until now this had to be done on a computer but with cameras becoming more powerful, Ricoh has implemented this feature in-camera and easily accessible via the main dial.

Lets see how this mode works and how big the difference really is between the normal mode and the DR mode. The CX1 takes two pictures in a row, one exposed for the highlights and one for the shadows, it then merges these together and creates so a high dynamic range picture. Taking two pictures and merging them together means there will be a delay between the two pictures so this mode will be of no use for fast action shots. I would say it should not be used for shots with any movement if possible in order to get the best results.

This shows some of the problems that can occur if you shoot through windows and use the DR mode

I found the DR mode to be most efficient when shooting on overcast days

This shows how the DR mode can also recover shadows and not just highlights but also why it is not usable when there is movement. Here I also used Fill Light at 50 in ACR.

This was again with Fill Light set to 50 in ACR and shows what can be recovered.

This is an example where the DR mode worked very well even with mixed light

To find out how good the DR mode really is I thought I compare it with the GRD II. The GRD II has quite a high dynamic range for a compact camera but the DR mode is very effective and even the RAW file from the GRD II does not show quite as much dynamic range.

I found the DR mode to be very effective if used right, it works best on overcast days and it is least useful in low light.

Looking at the pictures here shows quite a difference between the normal mode and the DR mode. The difference is indeed quite big and shows a good first step in overcoming the limitations of small sensors. It is not perfect yet and it has problems with movement but also with certain light conditions. I would always advise to take a normal picture with it and use a tripod where possible.

The DR mode is certainly a good addition and capable of improving the dynamic range quite a lot under the right conditions. It is one of the main features of the CX1 that set it apart from the competition and one that actually helps improve your pictures.

All pictures have been taken out of the camera without any processing unless there is an ‘ACR’ in the file name, then I have only used the Recovery tool at 100 in Adobe Camera RAW. You can download the samples from this page here.

It has been a while since our 1st Ricohforum meetup in December so we decided to organize another meetup. This time we planed a walk from Kings Cross to Camden and then finish up in Primrose Hill.

Last time nobody from Ricoh could make it but we had a great replacement in Frazer Allen from Alpha Digital, this time however we had Tohru and Yasunori from Ricoh joining us.
Tohru also brought along the famous Ricoh GR M-mount lens so we could try it out on Tom’s Epson RD-1. It certainly is a very nice lens and very well made. Compared with Tom’s Hexxar 28mm f2.8 lens it is much smaller although heavier.

After having a few coffees we started our walk and headed for the St. Pancras station to take some pictures in there. It is a great place to take pictures and we spent quite some time walking through.

The next stop before was the St. Pancras Old Church and graveyard where we took pictures of the old gravestones before getting to the canal.

The walk along the canal was nice and gave us more time to chat about cameras before heading into Camden where we got some lunch and then split in smaller groups to go and take pictures. Camden is a great place to take pictures of people because there are a lot of very strange characters around.

Afterwards we all met in a bar for a quick pint before heading to Primrose Hill and then to the last bar where we met up with more people who could not join earlier. We had an interesting discussion and kept trying to extract more details about the upcoming Ricoh cameras but Tohru kept quiet about this.

Unfortunately not as many people as expected turned up but we still had a great time. The meetup was great and it is always nice to meet people with similar interests and find out how they ended up with a Ricoh camera. The build and controls are for everyone the main reasons for this and if you use a Ricoh camera you know why.

There were a few rumors regarding the next Ricoh camera and we also had the first leaked pictures of the Olympus E-P1 to discuss at various stages during the day. Ricoh is not keen on starting or confirming rumors and keep tight about any upcoming cameras so we could not extract too much information from Tohru.
What looks certain is that the new Ricoh camera will be released between July and October and it could be the GRD III or a camera replacing the GRD series as the CX1 did with the R series. This camera could be the rumored interchangeable lens camera although it is not certain how big the sensor will be or what sensor it will use other than it will most likely be a CMOS sensor. It will have a screen like the CX1, a fast AF and continous shooting mode.
Another interesting comment was that there will be no GX300 and if there will be a successor in any form it won’t be out before next year, Ricoh always has a 2 year run of their high end models and only updates the R/CX-series every 6 months.
There are no plans either to release a firmware update to add RAW to the CX1 or allow to turn the noise reduction fully off on the CX1, GRD II or GX200.
Ricoh does not see the video mode as important so having HD video recording in their new cameras will not be a priority.

I will have a gallery with more pictures from the meetup available soon.