As usual, without making too much noise about it, Ricoh is upgrading its GR Digital model with none other than the GR Digital II. Not a very inspired name, but heck, at least you'll know exactly which one to purchase.

The differences between the two models are subtle, maybe too subtle after two years, but if you are a Ricoh fan (fanatic) it might be enough to make the purchase.

First of all, there's a new 1/1.75-inch CCD sensor with 10 million effective pixels, two megapixels more compared to the previous model. Another welcome improvement is the new GR Engine II image processing engine that supposedly does a better job at dealing with details, saturation and noise.

Also, the GR Digital II's LCD is 0.2 inches larger compared to the GR Digital's, but it's not enough to actually make a difference. Another new feature worth mentioning is the ability to choose a 1:1 aspect ratio (vertical/horizontal ratio) image size that allows the recording of square format images. Ricoh mentions that this feature is inspired from the 6x6 medium format.

With the addition of an acceleration sensor, the GR DIGITAL II could be equipped with an electronic level function that allows users to know if the camera is level while looking at the LCD monitor.

The GR Digital II will ship in Japan at the end of November and will be available for around 700 US dollars.

Check out some more features boasted by the new Ricoh:

• The function button allows for one-push mode switching. Settings can be registered to switch from "JPEG to RAW," "color to black & white," between "Snap and AF," and others for quick switching of modes when sudden photo opportunities present themselves.
• Functions registered to the Fn button can be saved to the My Settings Mode.
• By displaying the depth of field in the focus bar, the distance range of the depth of field can be confirmed in advance.
• The 2.7-inch, 230,000-pixel display with a high 160º viewing angle is easy to view from both low and high angles.
• Writing time for RAW mode has been reduced and shooting during RAW image writing has been achieved.
• Image writing time in RAW mode has been reduced to as short as approx. 3.8 sec. And with boosted buffer memory, the next shot can be taken while the first is still being written. (RAW writing time for GR DIGITAL was approx. 11 sec., and continuous shooting was not possible.)
• A manual pop-up flash operated by a sliding switch is employed to prevent accidental flash operation. The camera is equipped with a flash exposure compensation function that can compensate light intensity from +2.0 EV to -2.0 EV.
• An information display mode shows specific information of your choice on the screen even when the LCD monitor is turned off thereby increasing its ease of use when using the external viewfinder.
• The mode dial is equipped with two My Setting modes. Just aligning the mode dial to a My Setting allows the user to switch to a preregistered shooting setting of choice.
• The GR DIGITAL II has been equipped with an ADJ. lever to assign functions with a push after setting values are chosen from the operation menu in ADJ. mode.
• Automatic horizontal or vertical rotation of images according to the camera position has been achieved and can be viewed during playback on the LCD monitor.
• Approx. 370 shots can be taken with one charge of the included rechargeable battery (DB-60). (The GR DIGITAL could take approx. 250 shots.)
• A thin, compact size was achieved, measuring 107.0 × 59.0 × 25.0 (W x H x D) and weighing 168 g, while ease of use was improved.

Click here to see the full specification list.

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