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PhotographyBLOG Review: Ricoh Caplio G4
 Ricoh claims that the 3.24-megapixel Caplio G4 has a shutter response time of just 0.14 seconds, exceeding the speed of a conventional 35mm camera and making it the world’s fastest in its class in terms of shutter response time. In addition, the Caplio G4 has a very fast start-up time of 1.9 seconds, which allows you to capture the desired shot with a minimum of delay. Does the sheer speed of the Ricoh Caplio G4 make it stand out from the crowd? Read on to find out.
Website: Ricoh Caplio G4 Review
Published:
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
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Reader Comments
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On behalf of JD (whose post originally appeared in the wrong place)...
Many good features but the G4 left me less impressed in some respects. You have to add to the price an SD memory card as it comes with only 8MB built in, plus you'll need to buy rechargeable AAs and a charger. How much would that add? Perhaps up to £50. It is also not (contrary to advertising) an aluminium camera as rear half is actually covered in carefully-disguised silver plastic.
On the other hand, the macros function is fantastic and the 28mm lens is inspiring at times.
Mark Goldstein at 04:47pm on Friday, January 30, 2004
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A fair review - I have owned my G4 Wide a couple of months now and it is a fine camera for my average requirements.
One thing missed from the review is the excellent power source in the new generation lithium rechargeable battery - which gives hours of power, and the adaptability to also use standard AA size batteries.
Things I like -
- ease of use
- battery
- non-proprietary card support
- the 28mm wide lens (grat for room shots)
- great macro ability
Things bad -
mark at 05:45am on Friday, February 13, 2004
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Very nice review. I've had my G4 (wide) for about 6 months and I think you've hit on the major issue with the camera ... the image quality. You really have to learn the manual settings to get the most out of this one (although, as you've said, the purple-ness of the outdoor shots can't be overcome without post-processing). Still, this has been my first digital camera so being forced to learn the settings has probably made me a better photographer. At least I hope it has. Good value for money but my next camera will most likely not be a Ricoh.
Steve at 04:07pm on Monday, June 07, 2004
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No quarrel with the review, just a supplementary comment:-)
I bought it for its macro capability (the 1cm range is useable with careful lighting) because I have to take photographs of small objects, or details on large objects, in less than ideal conditions. If you've got this sort of requirement and (like me) can't aford a more expensive camera with a macro lens then try the G4 (£120 from Jessops).
Fred at 06:05pm on Tuesday, June 08, 2004
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Only £120? Sounds like a bit of a bargain to me...
Mark Goldstein at 04:49pm on Thursday, June 10, 2004
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Hi
I live at Westville,Durban(KwaZulu Natal),South Africa.
I bought a camera caplio G4 only,&then;later i bought a usb cable to transfer pictures from my camera to PC.
But it is not working,it wants me to install it then i'll do whatever i want to do.
I would like to know if i need to buy a software as well,and where can i buy it,with how much? or Is there a way for me to download an installation file on the Internet?
And i'm a student i only access Internet when i'm at school,at home i don't have Internet.
thabani:felixtp@webmail.co.za,Tel:+27722459212.
thank you
Please help.!i'm looking to hear as soon as possible from you.
thabani at 06:58am on Thursday, October 28, 2004
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Frankly ? I owned my Caplio G4 about 1 year ago now, and for the price, this piece of hardware just rocks ! OK, there is 'only' 3.24 MPixels, but these are very well managed... You saws purple striples ? I can't see none on mine :/
What you still have to take into consideration : This is definitively NOT a Nikon D70, this is JUST a Ricoh Caplio G4 ! And for its range of product, this one is incredible !
OK, the noise at ISO 400+ is very high, but hell, there is even no support for an external flash :/ Don't expect too much from it...
What pleased me VERY much :
+ Once focused, it grabs the picture in NO time (the 0.12s shutter response is EFFECTIVE)
+ The 1 cm macro is REAL, I would even say the 0.5 cm macro (provided you strongly enlight the scene, as the autofocus needs several lux, otherwise you can always do manual macro focus)
+ Non proprietary battery, just simple AA battery are enough
+ Image quality is outstanding for this range of camera (the N2048 at the average of 650KB per picture is far enough)
Kochise at 03:08pm on Friday, December 03, 2004
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.../...
What displeased me alot also :
- Only 30s of video shot, then almost the same time to save the movie. No movie streaming depending on the size of the memory card !!!
- The movie format is an AVI bastardized, readable in Windows Media Player or VirtualDub, but not IrfanView or else. They should have used the well known and well supported MPEG (.mpg) format instead.
- There is no 1600*1200 picture size capability. Only 640*480, 1280*1024 or 2048*1536 format.
- Once linked to a PC with the USB cable, it is not recognized as a USB memory storage, like a USB memory key. You need to install the annoying Ricoh Gate if you don't have a SD card reader on your computer
- The Ricoh Caplio G4 EATS battery ! I always have two loads of 2300mA NiMH battery in my pockets. With so much power, I'm ready to shot almost 200 photo with flash ! Just reduce the LCD screen luminosity to its minimum, its enough in low light...
- When there is no more/enough power left, the Caplio just freeze, leaving the lens outside. Change the batteries and everything will go fine. Strangely, the Caplio freeze when batteries are reach 1.2v on the 1.5v requested (80%). The Caplio is definitively voracious =:(
- The flash takes some seconds to load when the batteries are not strong enough (not NiMH) or not fully loaded. It slow down the frequency of shots, and that's a shame for a camera with such a fast shutter response, with obvious ease for sport and moving subjects.
What to keep in mind and what to do to get the best living with the (great) Ricoh Caplio G4 :
* Buy several NiMH batteries, the strongest possible. Your flash will load faster, you'll change them less often.
* Buy a SD card reader for your computer, prefer a USB 2.0 one, as there are definitively faster to upload pictures from the SD card. You won't need to use the Ricoh Gate software.
* Decrease the luminosity level down to -1.0 to get even faster shutter time (on an average luminosity, from 1/28s to 1/42s; in low light, from 1/3s to 1/6s with no flash). The image quality don't suffer much, just a bit darkest.
* Don't use the Caplio G4 to make long time movies, as you won't be able to chain the movies, because you have to wait quite a long time between two shots :/
Kochise at 03:09pm on Friday, December 03, 2004
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.../...
With all of this, I still strongly recommand the whole Ricoh Caplio brand of digital camera, because for their price, these are definitively a must to have. But keep in mind they have all the same defects (movie lenght, CCD noise, power comsumption, ...). Now you know ! And I will buy another Caplio camera once this one will die (provided the new models take longer movies than just 30 seconds in 320*240)...
Kochise
Kochise at 03:09pm on Friday, December 03, 2004
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.../...
With all of this, I still strongly recommand the whole Ricoh Caplio brand of digital camera, because for their price, these are definitively a must to have. But keep in mind they have all the same defects (movie lenght, CCD noise, power comsumption, ...). Now you know ! And I will buy another Caplio camera once this one will die (provided the new models take longer movies than just 30 seconds in 320*240)...
Kochise
Kochise at 03:10pm on Friday, December 03, 2004
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