Customer Reviews

Ricoh Caplio R7 Digital Point & Shoot Camera, 8mp, with 7.1x Optical Zoom, 4.8x Digital Zoom, 2.7" LCD Display - Black Finish - U.S.A. Warranty

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bought it because the macro mode is great. After you hit the macro button, you can lean the camera forward until the lens hits the table to create a tripod (dipod, I guess). Then you can focus on an object as close as 1 cm away. Really is great at food photography when at a restaurant. Also bought it because it has a time lapse function, so I can document grass growing (I actually do that kind of thing). 8x optical zoom is also nice. On bad side, lens noise is almost laughably bad. A 5 year old today asked "what's wrong with your camera?" when I turned it on. The sound it makes is akin to that made when releasing the top during a game of skittles. This makes the camera too loud to use in a quiet setting like a museum where no photographs are allowed, which is too bad because I like to do that. Indoor photographs aren't great, though I might have the settings wrong -- flash seems underpowered, and noise (the pixel kind) seems to be substantial even when flash is used. I wish I could set aperture on the camera -- I think Pentax offers that, but it is a rare (perhaps unneeded) feature in point and shoots. Still, if you are used to an SLR, it feels awkward to relinquish control to the camera. Overall, I love the camera. Check out "R7" groups on flickr if you want to see what type of photographs this beast takes.

I bought this camera after lots of research. The only thing that made me doubt was the other reviews in Amazon but I gave it a shot as all other reviews (profesional) said that it was a great camera. Just google Caplio R7 reviews!. I am very picky about cameras and have had a few. My latest camera was a Canon sd400 which I loved as it took great pictures and you could fit it in any pocket. The trouble with these small compact cameras is that they have very little zoom...well, till I found the Ricoh. It is compact, takes really great pictures and has a 7x zoom. Many here have complained that it is too noisy and to tell you the truth it is a bit noisy but not as much as I imagined it to be. The real escense of a camera is to take good pictures (colorwise). The rest is a bonus. What is the use of a camera that has 2000 gadgets but pictures come out bad. If it were an ipod I would be concerned about the noise but it is a camera and it does what a camera should do, take great pictures. Not like the sony t10 that I had that couldn't get the colors right and I could not even fix it with photoshop (it always oversaturated the blues - sony trademark). Apart from the quality of the photos (I have tried it in almost all situations) the camera has almost no shutter lag (it even has an option for snap shots that reduces shutter lag to 0). It has face detection which I havn't used that much because you have to enable it, the flash is very strong for such a compact camera which is good for night shots, it has the manual shutter speed which I love to take more artistic photographs, controls are very easy to access and you can save your favorite settings which you can access in a rush. Battery lasts forever. I'll try and upload a few pics so that you can see what this little camera can do. So far the best compact camera I have owned. If you are still not satisfied go for a Canon, they are always the safe choice.

I've had Ricoh R7 for about a month. I also own Canon 40D DSLR, Fuji S6000fd, Fuji F30. I've gone through another 10-15 cameras in the last 2 years so I have something to compare to.

I replaced Panasonic TZ5 with it. Panasonic TZ5 is a larger camera which died on me within 2 weeks showing display error. Addly, Panasonic TZ5 ergonomically is not a very comfortable to hold. The lens is one side, you hold it on the other side, so center of mass is not in the middle for sure. And it will not fit into your jeans pocket, and you will always know its there if you do (relatively heavy camera.)

After I returned my TZ5 to Adorama I replaced it with Ricoh R7. I did not want Ricoh R8, because it was a larger camera with more Megapixels which I did not want due to more noise. I wanted smallest lightest camera with a lot of optical zoom and wide angle. I have Fuji F30 which is a unique legendary camera but it is not a wide angle camera. I wanted wide angle. I also wanted something that I could sneak to concerts and actually use its zoom. I cannot sneak in my Canon 40d or my Fuji S6000fd these are excellent, but huge.

I received my Ricoh R7 and it was just like I thought. It weighs 150 grams, It is very thin. It is so light you will not feel it in your pocket. My Fuji F30 is built more solid but weighs more. However, regarding the build, R7 fell from my pocket on the ground, the battery came out, but the camera was absolutely fine, just put the battery back in. Thus despite the fact that camera may look plastic, the built is ok.

Regarding the picture quality: I am used to DSLR quality so I am very picky about noise, pixelpeeping, etc. Often times I carry both my Fuji F30 and Ricoh R7 and would take pictures of same subjects from the same positions just to see whether R7 could deal with low light and other issues. Here is my conclusion. My Fuji F30 can easily do ISO800 and sometimes ISO1600 is ok. ISO3200 on Fuji is a stretch, it is too noisy. Howevever, Fuji has no image stabilization.

Ricoh R7, in addition to wide angle (meaning you can actually take picture of someone sitting at the small table across from you at the restaurant without getting up and moving back) also has Optical Image Stabilization which is great. It is so great I can do 1 second shutter speed shots with it and they come out clear and sharp. So in automatic mode you can leave Ricoh on ISO64 and ISO100 during a day. In dark conditions, or at night, you can switch it to "Night mode" and flash,and with "IS"'kicking in, you will achieve great photos with background exposed in addition to your subject. And you can hand-hold these!

BTW, this camera has 7.1X zoom at 8PM but, just like Panasonics, you can up it to around 11X when reducing to 5PM and 3PM. If you looking for a light high zoom camera with wide angle, this is on your short list.

Also it is greatly overstated how loud the lens is. My Fuji F30 is probably as loud as Ricoh R7. So that is not a problem at all for me.

I bought this camera after all of the rave a gleaming reviews about how awesome this work of art was. Meh. Its just about what you expect from a digital camera in its range. Maybe more or less depending on your experience with camera's.

If you aren't skilled with all of the ISO/ev/white balance type settings, you will have to spend a lot of time with the manual figuring out how to get a picture to come out right. Especially in the dark. Its a bit frustrating not to be able to whip the camera out and take a picture whenever you feel like it without haveing to manipulate the camera settings first so it won't come out wrong.

I've had mine for a few weeks and the rubber thumb grip on the back is already tearing off. And i read about a guy who's shutter stopped working. Mine did the same thing, the lens won't telescope, but all of a sudden started working again. I'm not to sure what causes that. It happened after going to the beach once, so its possible this camera is highly sensitive to the salt content in the air or the sand. So beware if you take it to the beach. But it happened again several days later... no beach. I dunno. sometimes you have to power cycle it to get it to open right.

What else. It also sucks that you finally learn how to use this camera, but soon as you give it to someone else to take your picture, they can't... That is probably the biggest thing I hate about this thing. Not very user friendly. If you give your camera to joe to take your picture, cross your fingers. So you have to give a quick tutorial to whomever you give your camera too on how to take the picture so it won't be a big blurry mess.

But besides the thumb grip, flickle telescoping lens, and slow auto focus... the camera is pretty solid. Again, depends on the user.

bd

I purchased this camera because of the 28mm lens and the long list of features. I used the camera for 4 days and the lens stopped retracting. Ricoh gave me a very hard time about fixing it, but finally did and returned it. I used it for 2 months and it stopped functioning again. Now, back ordered parts and no telling how long I will have to wait. Very poor attitude at customer service. I have never had such buyers remorse. Buy a Panasonic or Canon, but stay away from Ricoh.

People that disagree with my original review seem to be a little on the defensive side. I am adding to my previous review because of some of the comments others have made. I am leaving my original review at the end of my revision. Here is my update. The camera is $130.00 cheaper than when I first purchased the camera a few months ago. That is a big drop in price in a short amount of time. Picture quality was better on my friends 5mp Kodak that is 3 years old. I took many shots in my different settings and the only ones that turned out good were the pictures taken outside with plenty of light. I printed off pictures and noise was less than acceptable. Very yellow and grainy to say the least. Yes, zoom was great for size of camera. That was why I originally purchased this camera. If you have this camera and enjoy it, that is great. Some of the comments that like this camera and feel the need to take a negative comment personally about a camera need to have a reality check. If the picture quality would have been good, I would have kept this camera and tried to deal with the noise. Original post: I am very picky when it comes to cameras. I went with the Ricoh R7 because of the size of the camera and the optical zoom. I researched many days and just did not find any point and shoot cameras that satisfied me. I received the Ricoh R7 and was instantly let down. The feel of the camera is very cheap. I turn on the camera and was very responsive. I started to zoom and this very loud noise was heard. I thought this cannot be correct. I tried everything I could to correct it but to no avail. I have never been more disapointed in a product I have spent this kind of money on. I sent it back immediately. I don't write reviews but this was so bad that I had to warn others. Maybe my camera was a defect and that might make me feel better. Very disapointed and would strongly suggest that you keep looking for a much better camera.