Just in time for the summer holidays

Jun 24, 2008 12:34 GMT  ·  By

Ricoh's Caplio GX100 digital camera was never a simple "point and shoot" device, as it incorporated a few features that really differentiated it from the rest of consumer-level digital cameras. And since this model was getting kinda old (it was launched around 1 year ago), the company has decided that it was about time to unleash its improved version, the GX200.

As you might have imagined, the GX200 is the direct descendant of the company's previous GX100 model, so it shares some of its most impressive features. For example, the GX200 also sports a 24 to 72 mm (35 mm film equivalent focal length) high-performance wide-angle optical zoom lens, as well as a wide variety of manual shooting functions and a removable tilting electronic viewfinder.

Additionally, the GX200 is supposed to achieve greater image quality than its predecessors by employing a 12-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch CCD sensor. The new Caplio model has also been equipped with a new image processing engine, the Smooth Imaging Engine III, which should, according to the company, provide greater control over the noise reduction process without any adverse effects on either image resolution or color saturation.

Some special attention should be paid to the lens installed on the GX200, which has a very special configuration, of 11 elements in 7 groups, including superior aspheric surface lenses and high-refractive-index, low-dispersion lenses. According to Ricoh's own statement, this configuration is supposed to restrict distortion, chromatic aberration and light falloff at edges for wide-angle operation while delivering aperture light settings from F2.5 (wide) to F4.4 (tele-photo). In addition, ghosting has been further reduced through the improvements made to the lens unit.

The camera supports a 3x optical zoom level (35mm film equivalent focal length 24 to 72 mm), a 4x digital zoom level (up to 12x (288 mm equivalent) in combination with optical zoom), as well as several focus modes: Multi AF (CCD method) / Spot AF (CCD method) / Manual Focus / Snap / Infinity (with focus lock and AF aux. Light).

The shutter speed can also be adjusted (180, 120, 60, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2, 1 to 1/2000 sec. / Movie: 1/30 - 1/2000 sec.) and photographers can also experiment with the relatively numerous exposure metering adjustment options (Multi Light Metering (256 segments) / Centre-weighted / Spot (TTL-CCD metering, AE lock available) and various exposure modes. The ISO level can vary between 64 and 1600.

The new Caplio also sports an electronic level that uses an acceleration sensor to help keep the camera body horizontally or vertically leveled. It has also been equipped with an expanded buffer memory, which makes possible continuous shooting of up to five images in RAW mode and it is also now possible to use the bracketing function to automatically change exposure settings when shooting in RAW mode. Other expanded RAW shooting capabilities include the ability to shoot 1:1 aspect ratio (vertical/horizontal ratio) format photography in RAW mode.

The GX200 with electronic viewfinder included is slated to hit the shelves sometime in July, with the price tags revolving around 400 pounds sterling (785 US dollars). However, users will also be able to get the standard version for a bit less (350 pounds sterling - 687 US dollars).

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