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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly thought out, 20 Feb 2008
If you want a pretty small camera with a very wide-angle lens and SLR-like level of control, this could be the camera for you.
But if you want a camera you can leave on auto and snap away, it probably isn't for you.
You can probably tell from looking at it whether it's your kind of camera. If you already own an SLR, and like that sort of thing, you'll feel at home with the GX100. It's very solid, metal, quite heavy, with rubber pads in just the right places, and every control falls perfectly to hand. It's also very nicely constructed (so much so that most other small cameras look like toys in comparison).
In fact, I'd say that as far as ergonomics go, the GX100 is superior to my Canon 400D SLR. The best bit is the two `thumbwheels'. Actually one is just in front of the shutter for your finger. The one under your thumb is a rocker switch. In manual exposure mode, one sets the aperture, the other the shutter speed.
Press the thumb controller and you get instant access to things like exposure compensation, white balance etc. This is all customisable, so you can decide what's in the menu that pops up and even what comes first when you access it.
You can customise the Function button too (I set mine to exposure lock) and that button is right under your left forefinger if you hold the camera with two hands.
I could go on about the usability and controls, but suffice it to say that I doubt you'll find a camera that does it better than this.
It's so obvious when you start using the GX100 that somebody has really thought about the user.
For instance, if you change, say, white balance to something different, the camera warns you next time you switch it on. So that should be an end to shooting with weird settings that you forgot to return to default.
All the important controls are present, including a live histogram, different metering modes and focus modes, exposure bracketing, manual focus etc. One of the few omissions I noticed from an SLR feature-set was the ability to use 2nd curtain flash, but that's a very small thing. Really, the feature set is all you could want.
Oh, and did I mention the lens cap is tethered to the body (why doesn't everyone do this?) and you can, in a pinch, use AAA batteries instead of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery that comes with the camera (though two alkalines are only good for a measly 30 photos, compared with 340 for the lithium battery). The lithium battery, incidentally, is exactly the same one Panasonic use in their ultra-compact models, so if you have one of those, like I do, you don't need to buy a spare.
In addition, the LCD is sharp, with a very wide viewing angle that helps if you hold the camera high up or low down. The image stabiliser seems to work okay too, but not in movie mode.
The GX100 does macro better than most. You can focus as close as 1cm, or 4cm at full zoom. Full zoom macro gives you very nice background blur incidentally. You can use macro in movie mode.
There are some unusual features, like snap focus mode that lets you take instant in-focus photos from a few feet away to infinity, and step zoom mode that moves the zoom lens in steps equivalent to classic 35mm lenses.
Anyway, it's easy to get carried away by the build quality and the features, but what about the performance and the photos it takes?
The lens is really excellent: very sharp and high resolution, making the most of the 10MP. Most compact cameras have lenses that give you soft corners but not the GX100. Like an SLR, you have some leeway for extra sharpening if you shoot in RAW mode. it's nice to see so little purple fringing too. You expect some distortion at 24mm, but it's not terrible and easily fixed in software.
It's mostly a fast little camera - as fast as any other compact I've used, though nowhere near as fast as an SLR of course. Focus occasionally struggles in awkward light, but not often (there's a focus assist light). If you shoot in RAW mode things slow down a bit. It takes 5 or 6 seconds to write a file and you just have to wait. Make sure you get a fast (and big) SD or SDHC card if you intend to use the RAW mode. Each photo is about 15MB in this mode!
To get the best images, you should use RAW mode. You can correct problems with exposure, white balance etc before converting to jpeg for printing and this helps photo quality no end. The images I've got from my GX100 so far have exceeded my expectations. They are very smooth, natural and detailed, easily good enough for large prints. But only after a bit of work (which I enjoy) in the RAW converter and Photoshop.
Any downsides to this camera?
I guess you won't like it if you take a lot of indoor shots because image quality is not great when you increase ISO above 200 (great for arty black and white work though). And the GX100 makes some odd grinding noises as it focuses and moves its lens - all quite normal apparently and something you soon accept.
The positives far outweigh the slight negatives. The Ricoh GX100 is an esoteric little camera that's beautifully made, a pleasure to own and use, and capable of some great images, as long as you're capable of taking a bit of care and trouble with your photography and - crucially - post processing.
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