Ricoh Caplio GX8

Opinion: The camera is well built with a nice rugged surface and a grip wich makes it easy to hold steady. It is still very compact and pocketable. The inclusion of a hotshoe is a big advantage.

The camera handles very well. Menus are minimal, simple and fast to use. Most common adjustments, in a separate adjustment button. You can add one of your own settings to that button. Aperture priority setting with three apertures available. The camera is fast to work with using aperture priority and exposure compensation.

The camera (with the right batteries, avoid alkaline) is very fast to turn on, has no noticeable shutterlag, and despite what some reviews say, works fast even with flash turned on.

Image quality is very good when you expose well. It is a small sensor compact camera, so I see some blown highlights and noise gets to be an issue already at lower ISOs. I am used to my Canon 20D, so it is a bit frustrating to see the results at ISO 200. Generally I only use it at ISO 64 and 100. The built in flash works pretty good at close distance. Much better than I had expected, and better than some other digicams that I've tried. Colours are very nice and natural in the neutral setting, much better than my Canons actually. The lens can produce very sharp pictures, and the macro function is fantastic with a 1cm focusing distance at 28mm!

The negative things are the noise at higher ISOs and some vignetting at 28mm. But those things don't bother me much, and shouldn't deter one who wants a good pocket camera that feels good and handles well. The opportunity to use external flash also makes it possible to use it as a party camera at low ISO.

Another thing I come to think of is that it doesn't have RAW as an option. That could have been useful in some situations. It does have TIFF, but the files get very large and slows the camera down so I rarely use it.

Having 28mm at the wide end is great! I find it much more useful in a pocket camera with wideangle than a long (shaky) zoom.

Opinion: bad image quality

Opinion: Good solid construction and relatively simple to use. Lens is sharp and has a wide angle equivalent of 28mm - very useful.

Image quality is very good at low ISO levels - 100 and 64. Noise is evident at 200 and above - but can be reduced using post processing to acceptable levels.

NiMH AAs are OK - but the camera performance is far better when using the optional lithium battery - available on ebay for less than £10 - but you will need a charger.

Opinion: It's my first digital camera, so I thought long and hard before buying the GX8.
It's a great camera. I enjoy the tough, black metal body and finger grip. I locked the ASA on 100 and the image quality has been excellent - even with (small) 1MB files.
I copied 50mb of pics onto my PC in a few seconds thanks to the USB 2.0. connection
The much advertised fast start-up and low shutter lag is for real and makes picture taking more spontaneous. Nice shutter control with clear half-way mark for focus and AE lock.
I enjoy the wide-angle and find that I take nearly all pics at 28mm.
Two Gripes:
I feel Ricoh could have supplied a rechargable battery and a charger. The camera really chews up alkalines, I specifically bought the camera for its AA battery compatability, so this option is useful only for emergencies.
I find the zoom control sensitive and finding a mid-point can require some fiddling.
So long to my 35mm Nikons! We had great fun for many years but things have moved on.