Preliminary conclusions

First-looks conclusion
Alas, the Caplio GX is a frustrating disappointment. The camera is nice to use and to hold. OK, there are some irritations, like the flash system charging lock-out and the occasional reticence to shoot when ordered, but overall – the Caplio GX is a camera that looks and feels like it should take great pictures, but it doesn't.

We always print test shots because examination on the screen can be misleading. But if anything the printed results made things even worse for the GX, showing up noise issues in an even harder light.

Things we liked about the Ricoh Caplio GX:

28mm extra-wide zoom

Super-close up macro modev

Wide ISO range up to 1600

Good control layout

Manual override available

Flash hot shoe included

Quiet in operation

Sensibly designed menu system

Good battery life

Fast start up time

Good AF performance

Good price for the specification

Things we didn't like:

Poor colour saturation and hue

Poor resolution from 5MP sensor

Image noise

Highlights burn out too easily

Obtrusive flash charging lock-out

Exposure inconsistencies

Slow image saving (especially TIFF mode)

Shutter release occasionally fails to fire

Over-eager power-saving

All things considered, we can only and with all honesty rate the Caplio GX as:



Let's not get too carried away – the camera is not so bad that it's unusable. It's just nowhere near as good as it should be.

I believe a lot of the problems we have discovered with the Caplio GX could be sorted with improved firmware. I very much hope Ricoh has plans to fix the issues highlighted by our time with the camera.

How about a second opinion from Photographyblog.com?

Full review to follow
This is a preliminary first-looks review based on our experience of using the camera under everyday conditions plus limited benchmark testing. A full review with additional benchmarking will follow.