Ricoh Caplio R6 - Digital Camera Review
Review Date: 08/09/07
Rating: Recommended
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Introduction: Announced on the 5th of March 07, the Ricoh Caplio R6 is a new compact update to the Ricoh Caplio R5 - the 7 megapixel digital camera has a 7.1x optical zoom lens - this is impressive considering that the camera is now even slimmer. The camera's wide-angle 7.1x optical zoom lens starts at 28mm and zooms to 200mm equivalent, and has a built in lens-cover. The camera also features a "Vibration Correction" CCD sensor, much like Konica Minolta's Anti-shake technology - image stabilisation is becoming more and more common as an effective way to reduce camera shake and blur in low-light or with long zoom lenses. The Ricoh Caplio R6 is available for £162, which is excellent value for money. The camera is enclosed in a black, silver or red metal body. The camera is very compact and fits easily into pockets, measuring: 99.6(W) x 55.0 (H) x 23.3mm(20.6 at the thinnest part) (D), and weighing 135g (without batteries and memory card).. The camera takes a rechargable lithium-ion battery Nb. As the Ricoh Caplio R6 is so similar to the Ricoh Caplio R5, this review is based on the Ricoh Caplio R5 review.

Ricoh have this to say about the camera:

"Ricoh's unique Double Retracting Lens System makes it possible to equip the Caplio R6 with 28-200mm optical 7.1x zoom in its remarkably slim 20.6mm body (when fully retracted). A thin body means an even more comfortable hand held camera, as well as one that emphasizes durability. The innovative curves and lines of its curve fit form and buttons positioned for one-hand operation achieve a superb body design that becomes a natural extension of your hand each time you take a picture. The Caplio R6 takes the functionality, reliability, and quality that are a must for a digital camera to a whole new level."

You can find more information on their website.

The Ricoh Caplio R6 improves on the Caplio R5 in the following ways:

• 2.7" screen with 230,000 pixels
• Face recognition focus
• Updated design (shape),
• Slimmer body (20.6mm thick vs 26mm on previous camera)
• 54mb internal memory
• Updated layout (new zoom control, mode button etc),
• Updated colours (silver/red/black),
• Dual size picture recording

There are other more subtle improvements as well, in addition to some drawbacks, such as the lower shot life of 310 shots compared to the 380 shots on the R5.

The Camera: a visual tour of the camera in black: (Photos of the camera taken with the Casio Exilim EX-Z77)

Front - Camera off.

Front - Camera on, lens extended (wide-angle), flash, focus assist.

Front - lens at telephoto position.

Back - 2.7" screen, zoom control, mode switch, playback button, adjust button, delte / self-timer button, display button, 4-way controller with Menu/OK button in centre.

Top: Power button, shutter release, zoom control, microphone, speaker.

Bottom - battery / memory compartment, metal tripod mount. The battery is a 3.6v 1000mAh Lithium-Ion battery.

Size Comparison: Compared to a Pentax 35mm film camera - a medium/compact sized 35mm film camera.

Size comparison.

Size comparison.

Size comparison, compared to the Casio Exilim EX-Z1050.

Specifications / Features:

• 7.24 Megapixel CCD Sensor
• 7.1x Optical Zoom Lens f=4.6-33, 1:3.3-5.2 (28 - 200mm equiv.)
• 2.7" TFT screen, 230,000 pixels
• Vibration Correction (anti-shake CCD sensor)
• 3.6x Digital Zoom / Auto resize*
• ISO AUTO, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
• Video mode: 640 x 480 pixels, 30 fps with sound
• 1cm Macro mode, 25cm telephoto macro mode
• Pictbridge support
• Face recognition scene mode
• 2 Custom Scene modes
• 310 shot battery life
  

Box Contents:

• Digital Camera (with 54mb of memory built in)
• Lithium-Ion Rechargable Battery DB-70
• Battery charger
• AV Cable
• USB Cable
• CD-ROM
• Strap
• 192 page manual

Average box contents - you will need to buy a larger memory card and a case (as with almost all digital cameras).

Battery usage: Up to 310 pictures with the supplied battery according to CIPA testing - this is very good for a compact digital camera. Battery life seemed very good, but not as good as the 500-shot Fuji F10 / 580-shot Fuji F30 for example.

Menu Options / Modes: The camera mode is selected using the back switch - this switches between My mode, Scenes and Photo mode. There is a seperate Play button on the back.

Photo mode/menu: The menu button brings up the menu screen as shown on the right below:

Photo mode	Photo Menu

Screen / LCD display in photo mode: (shown on the left) The screen resolution with 230,000 pixels is good, and has a live histogram. The screen is clear and the text and menus are easy to read. Optical Viewfinder: There is no optical viewfinder.

Photo menu options: Picture quality / size, Focus (multi, spot, manual, snap, infinite), Photometry (multi, centre, spot), Sharpness, Continuous mode, Colour depth (vivid, normal, neutral), Auto bracket (off, on, white-balance bracket), Time exposure, Interval, Image with sound, Date imprint, Exposure compensation, White balance, ISO setting, Slow shutter limit, Camera shake correction (on/off), Record dual size, Restore Defaults.

Photo adjust button menus	Setup menu

Photo adjust button gives you quick access to: Exposure compensation, White Balance, and ISO settings, by default. You can customise all four options. In macro mode there is a 5th option that allows you to choose the area of focus for the macro photo.

Setup menu options: Format card, Format internal memory, LCD brightness, Reg my settings, Step zoom, ISO Auto-High (Auto 400, 800, 1600), Sub file size, Auto power off, Beep sound, Volume, LCD confirm, Adjust button setting 1, setting 2, setting 3, setting 4, AF Aux light, Digital zoom image, Shooting Settings Change Warning, Enlarge Photo icon, USB connection, Sequential Number, Date Settings, Language, Video out mode.

Scene modes	12 Thumbs Playback View

Scenes: Portrait, Face, Sports, Lanscape, Nightscape, High sensitivity (LCD monitor becomes easier to see), Zoom macro, Black and White, Sepia, Skew correct mode, Text mode, Video.

Playback (Review) mode/menu: The menu button brings up the menu screen as shown on the right, below:

Playback mode (highlight view)	Playback Menu

Playback mode: Scrolling through the photos is fairly quick, although initial display can seem a bit sluggish. The zoom is quick, and allows you to zoom up to 16x. A new feature is the highlight view mode, that shows any areas where the image is white or over exposed.

Playback menu options: Slide show, Protect, DPOF, Resize, Copy to Card (from internal memory), Skew correction, Recover file.

Picture Size / Quality: The camera takes the following size pictures, and the following number of images will fit on the 54mb memory provided with the camera:

As shown in the table above, you can fit a small number of images on the 54mb memory - a large memory card is definitely recommended, unless you want to use the lower image sizes / higher compression options in order to fit more pictures in memory. There is a fairly good choice of image sizes and aspect ratios, and a good choice regarding image compression.

A large memory card is relatively cheap, and highly recommended, I would recommend at a bare minimum a 512mb memory card, and preferably a 1gb memory card, or larger, especially considering the relatively low prices - the larger the memory card, the more photos you will be able to take. If you are likely to go on holiday then the largest memory card you can afford would definitely be worth investing in, as you don't always know when you will next be at a computer. Listed below are links to memory cards that will work with the Ricoh Caplio R6:

Find the latest prices for SD memory cards at Amazon.co.uk: 512mb: £4, 1gb (1000mb): £2, 2gb (2000mb): £10, 4gb (4000mb SDHC): £26 (with USB reader)
Need more help deciding what memory card to buy? Have a look at our guide to digital camera memory cards or our article what size memory card should I buy?

Speed: The camera is quick to switch on and take photos, being ready in just just under 1.3 seconds - taking the first shot from switch of in 1.8 seconds. Focusing seemed very quick even in low-light (when set to spot focusing) focusing in around 0.5 seconds, although it was slower in macro mode. The camera shutter response seemed almost instant and felt VERY quick, (taking the photo in under 0.1 seconds) when pre-focused. Shot to shot time was quick, with a delay of around 1.5 seconds between shot without flash or 2 seconds with flash - tested with review (0.5s) on. The flash recharge time was very quick. The cameras menu's seemed fairly quick. Continuous shooting is very quick, taking 0.3 seconds between shots, roughly 3 fps (without flash) - upto 19 photos and be taken at the highest resolution and quality. The playback mode is also fairly quick displaying a thumbnail version first, and then a sharper version half a second later. There's also an 8fps small mode for 16 shots.

Ease of use: The camera is very easy to use, especially in AUTO mode, or one of the scene modes, even though the camera has a lot of options. The controls on the back of the camera are quite straight forward - the menus are responsive and easy to read and navigate. The menus are also easy to use, and the options are big enough and easy enough to see clearly. The modes are easy to access, quick and simple, mainly thanks to the right number of dials and buttons on the camera (the adjust button making it especially easy to get to regularly used options - this can be customised so that you have access to the option you most frequently use). Most functions can be worked out without having to refer to the manual. The mode switch and play button make it very easy to switch between the different modes.

Ergonomics and Buttons: (Feel, placement, labels, etc) The buttons are fairly easy to use, and they are in a good position. There seem to be the right amount of buttons allowing easy access to the most commonly used functions and features. The buttons feel okay, although some may find them small - particularly the small on/off button. The shutter release is better than on the previous camera, and the zoom control is much improved. The buttons are labelled fairly well. I thought the camera felt good ergonomically, although there is very little in the way of a hand grip on the front (there's a decent raised thumb grip on the back), it's fairly easy to put your finger(s) in front of the flash. The camera feels fairly solid with a curvy metal body, however the plastic battery cover felt quite fragile with only one clip / hook holding it in place when closed. The layout of the buttons mean they can be used with one hand. The camera is on the small size, but can still be held with two hands should you feel like supporting the camera with both hands.

Image Quality: Here are some sample photos taken in various settings, such as Inside, Noise, Outside, Zoom, Macro, to demonstrate the quality of pictures taken and also show different features of the camera. Larger versions of these photos, plus more photos are available in the Ricoh Caplio R6 Sample Photo Gallery!

Inside:

Heather and Flower (ISO100)	Group photo (ISO271)

Inside: The camera has very good colour - It took a good "Heather and Flower" photo - there is no red-eye in the photo, although there is some red-eye in group photos. It has a fairly decent flash (despite its small size), and copes fairly well with group photos, although on AUTO ISO, the ISO setting is often increased, which in turn increases noise to quite a high level. The flash occassionally over exposed the subject meaning that I had to take a couple of shots before I was happy with the result. The camera did a good job at focusing most of the time.

ISO Noise Test: Noise is generally a bad thing - it removes detail, and gives a grainy effect over the image. With digital cameras noise can be a real problem as digital camera noise is often made out of blue, red, green or black dots. As the ISO setting increases, pictures tend to have more noise. Noise is most noticeable in dark areas of photos. The camera has an Automatic mode for ISO levels, and manual ISO settings (ISO: 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, ISO1600).

Below you'll find the noise test image, plus actual pixel crops from the image taken at different ISO settings, compared with the 7 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5, and the 7 megapixel, Canon Powershot A550 - chosen for it's ISO range of ISO64 - ISO800. Any colour difference is due to automatic white balance / lighting etc.

Ricoh Caplio R5 (7mp)	Ricoh Caplio R6 (7mp)	Canon Powershot A550 (7.1mp)

Ricoh Caplio R5 (7mp)	Ricoh Caplio R6 (7mp)	Canon A550 (7.1mp)
ISO64 - Actual Pixels	ISO64 - Actual Pixels	ISO80 - Actual Pixels
ISO100 - Actual Pixels	ISO100 - Actual Pixels	ISO100 - Actual Pixels
ISO200 - Actual Pixels	ISO200 - Actual Pixels	ISO200 - Actual Pixels
ISO400 - Actual Pixels	ISO400 - Actual Pixels	ISO400 - Actual Pixels
ISO800 - Actual Pixels	ISO800 - Actual Pixels	ISO800 - Actual Pixels
ISO1600 - Actual Pixels	ISO1600 - Actual Pixels	ISO1600 - N/A

The Ricoh Caplio R6 has low noise at ISO64 and ISO100. At ISO200, and 400 noise is quite high, and at ISO800 noise is very high. I would recommend using ISO200 or lower. Compared to the Canon Powershot A550 - a 7 megapixel digital camera, noise at most ISO settings is quite similar, with only slightly more noise noticable on the R6. Detail from both cameras remains good regardless of the ISO setting, except at ISO800 and above. As long as you stick to the lowest ISO settings, good results should be achieved from both cameras, however, if the ISO setting is left on automatic then you may end up with a number of photos taken at the higher ISO settings resulting in higher noise - It may be best to try and manually set ISO to ISO64 or ISO100, and avoid AUTO ISO and the higher ISO settings for best results. There appears to be little noise difference between the R6, and the R5, which is par for the course, as they are both using the same sensor.

Anti-shake / Optical Image Stabilisation effectiveness: Here are some test photos taken with Vibration Correction on and off - these photos were taken without flash in low light. The Ricoh Caplio R6's anti-shake system moves the CCD sensor to counter any camera shake. These photos were taken at full optical zoom.

Vibration Correction On	Vibration Correction Off
1/9 second, f5.2, ISO100, 200mm	1/9 second, f5.2, ISO100, 200mm

As you can see - image stabilisation is effective for low-light / high zoom, slow shutter speed photography helping acheive blur free photos.

Outside:

Shops (ISO100)	Super Lamb Banana (ISO100)

Outside, the camera had very good colour, with good contrast, saturation and exposure. There was good detail although images did seem slightly soft. There seemed to be good dynamic range. Noise seemed fairly low, especially on sunny days when set to ISO64 or ISO100. I didn't notice jpeg artefacts in the images.

Zoom: The camera has a 7.1x optical zoom lens, and a 3.6x digital zoom - I've included examples below to show what the zoom range of the camera is. Using the digital zoom degrades image quality and is best avoided - digital zoom will also make any slight camera shake more obvious. The camera adds a new zoom feature, it lets you zoom further than the 7.1x optical zoom lens when using a lower image size.

Wide-angle	7.1x optical zoom	Full optical and digital Zoom

Exposure / Metering on the photos of the clock tower seems good, with the dark areas of the photo not too dark, and the bright areas of the photo still visible (although there is some over-exposure on the wide-angle shot). There is some purple fringing on the clock tower. The wide angle photo has impressive depth of field.

Lens noise and zoom: The lens is quite noisy, slightly louder than average. The shutter is very quiet. There are roughly 27 steps between wide and telephoto giving you very good control on how you frame your subject. Step zoom can be switched on to make the camera lens usable at the following settings, which are displayed on screen, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm, 135mm and 200mm.

Other Image Quality issues: Purple fringing seemed slightly higher than average - especially noticable when the clock tower photos were viewed at full size - it's also visible in the macro shot below.

Macro: You can use the flash in macro mode, although this has a tendancy to wash out the picture when the subject is too close. The camera can be roughly as close as 1cm away from the subject from the front of the lens in wide setting, when set to macro mode. You can also zoom in and use the macro mode.

Macro Timex Watch	Actual Pixels (ISO200)

The macro mode is VERY good - colour and detail is very good, although noise is visible and removes detail when higher ISO settings are used. Images did seem a bit soft - and may benefit from sharpening. You'll need to be careful when / if using the flash, to ensure the picture is correctly exposed. Custom white balance helps acheive better colour accuracy under artificial (and natural) lighting. Purple fringing was noticable in areas of high contrast.

Movie: The movie mode on this camera is the same as the R5, improved when compared to the previous R4 and R3, and features a 640 x 480 video mode at 30 fps with sound. The camera did well even in low light. Videos are recorded as .AVI files. Optical zoom is not available while recording, only digital zoom.

Conclusion

Summary: The Ricoh Caplio R6 has improved on the Ricoh Caplio R5 in a number of ways, most noticable is the camera's smaller, more stylish body, and larger screen, the improved zoom control is also a very welcome addition. Image quality is very good, especially outdoors and the camera has rich colours and good exposure. The Ricoh Caplio R6 is the smallest digital camera to feature a wide-angle 7.1x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation. The camera is very good value for money and I would recommend this camera. The Ricoh Caplio R6 is an extremely capable pocket camera that can produce excellent results.

What I like:

• Very compact and stylish with a solid metal body (will easily fit in pockets) - smaller than previous models
• Built in Vibration Reduction image stabilisation helps acheive blur free low-light / zoom photos.
• Larger 2.7" screen, with 230,000 pixels
• Wide angle 7.1x optical zoom lens
• Very fast focusing (Spot AF) and shutter response,
• Fast continuous shooting mode (3fps)
• Rich, accurate colours
• Full printed manual
• Adjust button gives quick access to WB, ISO, Exposure compensation, Focus etc
• Excellent macro mode
• Improved zoom control
• Good battery life (310 shots)

What I don't like:

• Flash position, easy to put finger in front of it
  
• Flash occassionally overexposes images if the subject is too close
  
• Battery pops out even though there's a clip when compartment opened.
• Red eye occassionally a problem
• Slightly higher than average purple fringing

Remember to have a look at the test photos in the Ricoh Caplio R6 Sample Photo Gallery.
Read the Ricoh Caplio R5 R6 Blog for additional images, updates and discussion.