Ricoh launches its new generation of “R” compact cameras.  The R8 has some interesting characteristics such as a 7.1x zoom, wide angle (28-200 mm), mechanical stabilization, an excellent interface and an LCD capable of displaying 460,000 pixels.

Handling

Compared to previous “R’s”, the R8 appears to be better.  Construction seems more solid and the end product inspires confidence.  The R8 comes in silver or black, the latter having a nice mat finish with a retro look that is both sober and quite stylish.  The interface also underwent a slight “face-lift” and while buttons are still a bit small for truly easy use, they are now more comfortable.

With the Olympics in full swing, of course the Ricoh R8 could not escape our stopwatch.  It does reasonably well at roughly 2 seconds for startup, 1.4 seconds between two shots and autofocus is rather reactive in good lighting.  In our test studio, conditions are not that easy (little lighting and low contrast) and the R8’s autofocus system quickly shows its limits: 1.56 seconds in wide angle and a bit less than 2 seconds in tele.  All of this could be better especially given that the face recognition system is not the greatest. Moreover, the rather slow 1.7 i/s in burst mode does not give the R8 a gold medal for this category.

The Ricoh R8 only has a few manual options and unfortunately it’s not possible to play with shooting parameters such as the aperture or speed.  Otherwise, on the back the joystick allows access to five other settings (sensitivity, white balance, focus, image size, etc.) that can be personalized.  It’s simple and very practical.   Otherwise, amongst the functions specific to the Ricoh R8, there is notably a square format mode, the possibility of photographing and then straightening out business cards, as well as the option of modifying white balance after the shot. We also liked the ability to save two configurations in My1 and My2 modes which are accessible via the dial.

The LCD screen is of good quality with excellent definition, a fluid display (with noise in poorly lit conditions) and wide viewing angles.  The zoom is quite fast and still a bit noisy.  Unfortunately, it isn’t activated during the shooting of video just like stabilization, something that strongly penalizes recording at 200 mm.



Quality of images

Noise control is rather mediocre and has been a recurrent problem since the first Ricoh models.  And again, the minuscule 1/2.3 inch sensor does not work miracles for the R8.   At 100% on a monitor, billowing is visible starting at the lowest sensitivity.  This is nothing dramatic and it’s indiscernible on an A4 print although smoothing starts to affect the level of detail.  Starting at 200 ISO images lose a bit of sharpness and there is a degradation of quality as we increase in sensitivity.  However, these results should be put into perspective.  With 10x15 cm prints, all settings can be used.  Otherwise, A4s can be used up to 400 or even 800 ISO depending on the situation.  It goes the same for presentation on a 24" screen but we are still behind the Panasonic TZ5 or Fujifilm F100fd.


The sensor’s dynamic is also rather limited.  On sunny days, the R8 had the bad habit of “burning out" bright zones.  On the other hand, automatic white balance was correct outdoors and often barely sufficient under artificial lighting.  One good point is that the lens shows limited deformation in wide angle and proper homogeneity of rendering throughout the entire focal range.  In addition, chromatic aberrations were well controlled and purple fringes are slightly visible on contrasted areas on the edges of images.

Otherwise, there is a high performance macro mode and the flash is effective.  Video is rather classic with definition in 640 x 480 pixels although compression is quite significant and sound somewhat metallic.  Finally, mechanical stabilization functions well (1/3 seconds without a tripod) even if noise is a bit too visible on our test Barbie at 800 ISO.