Ricoh’s 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 Review Roundup includes summaries from all main digital camera expert reviewers, company specification sheet, owners manual and sample photos taken with the Ricoh Caplio R5.
Features Include:
- 7.1x optical zoom
- Vibration reduction
- ISO 1600
- 2.5 inch LCD
Ricoh Caplio R5 Reviewer - Opinion Thermometer
| TrustedReviews |  |
| PCW |  |
| Digital Camera Shopper Mag |  |
| RegHardware | |
| Digicamreview | |
| PhotographyBLOG | |
| Computer Active | |
| * Ricoh Caplio R5 Review Roundup | |
| Digital Lifestyles | |
| Pocket-lint | |
| Think Camera | |
| Ricoh Caplio R5 Press Release | |
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Ricoh Caplio R5 Spec Sheet
[Ricoh Caplio R5 Spec Sheet at Ricoh]
Ricoh Caplio R5 Owners Manual
[Ricoh Caplio R5 Owners Manual]
Ricoh Caplio R5 Sample Photos
[Sample Photos at TrustedReviews]
[Sample Photos at Digicamreview]
[Sample Photos at PhotogrpahyBLOG]
[Sample Photos at Pocket-lint]
Read More Ricoh Caplio R5 Reviews
TrustedReviews - 11/30/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and here’s the verdict - “Ricoh proves once again that it can match and often exceed anything its rivals can produce. The Caplio R5 has a unique specification, combining wide angle and long telephoto abilities, effective image stabilisation and a usable high ISO setting, with good image quality and outstanding performance. Its only weak point is its poor low light focusing ability.”
PCW - 10/21/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “Somewhat more useful than an ISO 1600 setting is the Caplio R5’s anti-vibration system. When activated, we found it transformed what would otherwise be an unusable blurry shot into a perfectly crisp photo. This was especially effective when using the full extent of the camera’s 7.1x zoom.
Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with most of what this camera has to offer – it’s just a shame the look and feel isn’t as impressive as the pictures it produces.”
Digital Camera Shopper Mag - 10/15/2006 - (September 2006 issue) has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “Throughout our tests, we were looking for some sort of ‘killer’ performance that would demonstrate just how much better this ‘pro-level’ compact was than more consumer-friendly cameras. In the end we have to say that, good as the image quality is in almost every area, we wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from the likes of the Pentax or Canon camera in the group if we didn’t already know which shots were which.”
RegHardware - 10/11/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “Along with its good quality lens and flexible zoom the highlight of the R5 must be its macro capability. With the ability to focus down to 1cm you can capture some really stunning close-ups, though getting this close without the lens casting a shadow on your subject can be tricky. This is where a circular, lens-mounted ring light comes in handy but as the R5 has no filter thread on the lens it’s not really an option. Flash is disabled in macro mode and this, combined with the R5’s poor low-light focusing may mean you do most of your macro photography outdoors in daylight.
The long zoom, 7.24 megapixel CCD, stunning macro, compact size and image stabilization all help the R5 to justify £250 asking price, but as a package there’s just not enough it excels at to make it easy to recommend without reservations. Good but not great.”
Digicamreview - 9/24/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “The Ricoh Caplio R5 has improved on the Ricoh Caplio R4 in a number of ways, most noticable is the camera’s improved image quality, improved shot to shot time, and improved battery life. Noise levels are slightly better than the R4 with less noise at the lower ISO settings. Image quality is very good, especially outdoors and the camera has rich colours and good exposure. The Ricoh Caplio R5 is the smallest digital camera to feature a wide-angle 7.1x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation. * I would definitely recommend this camera, with some reservations, as the camera can struggle indoors with noise and occassionally focusing. The camera occassionally has some flash problems (overexposure), so this camera would be best suited, and definitely recommended for mainly outdoor use and for those people happy to take a number of shots to get the best results. There are some design aspects that I’m not keen on such as the shutter release, and plastic battery cover, but if you are willing to overlook these shortcomings, then you will find an extremely capable pocket camera that can produce excellent results.”
PhotographyBLOG - 9/22/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “Ricoh have introduced some significant improvements to the Caplio R5, principally a great continuous shooting mode which allows unlimited shooting at 2.5fps, and the ability to take consecutive flash shots without having to wait for the flash to recharge. In addition there’s even longer batter life (around 350 shots), a much improved movie mode and higher resolution LCD screen, bringing the Ricoh R5 in line with other cameras in this class. However, Ricoh have also made some curious design decisions that make the R5 worse in some respects, namely the much smaller power and zoom buttons which make the camera more awkward to use, the flash unit which protrudes from the front of the camera, and the flimsy battery compartment cover.”
Computer Active - 9/18/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “While evenly exposed results can be achieved with the R5, images taken at extreme telephoto were occasionally soft, despite the vibration correction feature, with performance obviously best in bright conditions - and the former corrected with use of a tripod.
However the camera’s noisy lens, buttons that are too small with a plastic feel all mean it falls short of the high standards set by its forebears. Still, if you shoot a mix of close-ups and wide angles, the R5’s keen pricing could make it worth a look.”
Digital Lifestyles - 8/6/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and writes - “After encountering so many problems during the review, we’re finding it hard to recommend the R5 outright, although our previous positive experiences with Ricoh products make us inclined to put the glitches down to early production teething problems. Let’s hope we’re right.”
Pocket-lint - 9/6/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and rate it 7 out of 10 - “I wanted to heartily recommend this camera to you but on balance, I can’t. The Ricoh Caplio R5 straddles the gap between full control and automation nicely, its feature set and build quality almost perfect for the market it’s aimed at – and as the price has just dropped by almost £30, it looks a bargain at £249. But a camera that crashes and its issues around noise mean it cannot glean top marks in this test.”
Think Camera - 9/5/2006 - has reviewed the 7.24 megapixel Ricoh Caplio R5 and here’s the verdict - “This isn’t the smallest camera or the best looking or the easiest to use but the pictures are some of the best we’ve seen from a compact. Don’t let the short feature list put you off, this has everything you need. In the marks below, picture quality has a point docked for the odd shots that came out very badly, the general quality was excellent.”
Ricoh Caplio R5 Press Release
A compact digital camera with 7.1x wide-angle zoom, vibration correction function, and effective 7.24 megapixel CCD
High-sensitivity performance with low noise achieved through a new image processing engine at full resolution. Tokyo, Japan — August 24, 2006 — Ricoh Co., Ltd. (president and CEO: Masamitsu Sakurai) has announced the release of the new Caplio R5 digital camera featuring a 7.1x optical wide zoom lens (28–200 mm in 35 mm camera format), the highest zoom in the compact class*. Combining the Caplio R5’s Ricoh-original CCD-shift vibration correction method and brand new image processing engine greatly expands the range of shooting in low light areas producing high quality images at even higher ISO settings with low noise.
- among compact digital cameras less than 150g as of August 23
The new Caplio R5 succeeds the standard setting Caplio R4 with wide angle / high-magnification zoom (open priced, launched March 17, 2006, featuring effective 6.04 megapixel CCD). With its roots based in the solid features of it’s predecessor, the Caplio R5 has been designed to give even more fun and easy photography. Improvements include employing an effective 7.24 megapixel CCD, and achievement of high-sensitivity photography with low noise and edge to edge picture clarity through the New Smooth Imaging Engine II image processing engine（SEⅡ）
Ricoh has traditionally created feature-rich products under a concept of “broadening the range of photography†and the new Caplio R5 is a product that provides enhanced image quality while taking that concept to a higher level through image processing engine innovations and numerous newly developed functions.
Main features of the new Caplio R5:
- Photography at even higher image quality and zoom magnification. (a) High image quality CCD with effective 7.24 million pixels.
The improved CCD enables even higher quality photographs. (b) Reduced noise through the new Smooth Imaging Engine II image processing engine.
High-level image processing is enabled and images with low noise are produced through the development of a new image processing engine that achieves high-speed processing and a new algorithm that makes the most of the image engine. Further noise reduction is achieved with the design of new peripheral CCD circuitry. ISO 1600 sensitivity at full resolution is achieved. Superior edge to edge picture clarity. Improvements in auto-focus, automatic-exposure and AWB. 2. 7.1x wide-angle zoom lens (the largest in the compact class) and vibration correction function in a body only 26 mm thick and weighing approx. 140 grams.
The well-received 28-200 mm 7.1x wide-angle zoom lens from the preceding model has been fitted into a body of just 26 mm. The lens supports a wide range of photographic options from panoramic landscapes to wide-angle photography and indoor shooting under low light close to the subject to impressive telephoto photography. Furthermore, the Caplio R5 includes an Auto Resize function that automatically changes the image size when shooting at 7M size and zooming in excess of 200 mm optical. This enables high zoom photography of up to 34.1×1 (equivalent to 960 mm) at high image quality without image correction processing.
at VGA image size (E-mail size) Also equipped with general digital zoom. Whenever it detects excessive camera motion, the vibration correction system, based on Ricoh’s own CCD shift method, moves the CCD in the opposite direction to counterbalance camera shake. This results in the ability to take clear telephoto shots at high zoom magnification, macro shots, and indoor shots.
Further improvements to stress-free response. Release time lag (the time from the instant the shutter button is fully pressed—without using focus lock—until exposure actually starts) is as short as approx. 0.09 seconds* (with vibration correction off). Quick responses are essential in order to capture picture-perfect and near-instantaneous moments such as the expressions and movement of children or pets. Thus the short time lag means stress-free, near-instantaneous shots. Time from depressing the shutter button with focus locked (half-press) until exposure actually starts is a speedy 0.007 seconds. Shooting interval (with vibration correction off) and start time are both rapid, at approx. 0.5 and 1.2 seconds, respectively. Continuous shooting speed is improved to 2.8 frames/second*. In addition, shots can be taken at best image quality until memory is full. Furthermore, those images shot can be displayed on the LCD while shooting. *measured while the flash is off
Large, high-resolution high angle shooting LCD. The Caplio R5 has a 2.5-inch LCD with 230,000 pixels compared to 150,000 pixels for the Caplio R4. The brightness of the LCD makes it easier to see outdoors even on sunny days from greater viewing angles.
Long-life rechargeable battery for approx. 380 shots (standard accessory).
Thanks to the power-saving features of the internal circuit, the battery has a longer life. This makes it possible to capture approx. 380 images under CIPA standards (approx. 330 pictures for the Caplio R4).
Powerful macro function—a Ricoh specialty. The camera’s macro mode allows close in shooting of objects from a wide macro 1 cm to tele macro 14 cm. A Zoom Macro function is included to allow use of digital zooming from the optical zoom position where subjects can be captured at their largest.
Your favourite settings in scene modes. Up to two setting conditions of your choice can be saved to scene modes with the Personalized Setting function. That allows you to apply your own settings to scene modes to enable easier photography at your favourite settings.
- Enhanced Skew Correction function.
Through an original algorithm that automatically detects trapezoids in images based on composition when shooting and corrects them to rectangles, images can be corrected to look as though they were shot from the front. The function is most effective in business environments where subjects such as blackboards, overhead projector images, time schedules, and signs cannot be shot from the front.
The improved function now allows for correction after the image has been taken in play back mode.
- A portable and beautiful design with an eye to robustness and quality. The design combines functionality and texture with such features as a comfortable grip, easy-to-use controls, high-grade materials, and surface finishing in a compact body of 96 mm (W) x 55 mm (H) x 26 mm (D). With emphasis on robustness and quality, the camera embodies reliability and functionality.
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