The Ricoh R7 is an 8.1 megapixel compact digital camera with a 7.1x wide zoom lens (28-200mm). The new R7 model replaces the previous R6 (which was only launched on March 23, 2007), adding an extra megapixel and the Smooth Imaging Engine III processing engine. This engine promises reduced noise levels at higher ISOs, at least according to Ricoh. The Ricoh R7 will be available in three colours - Silver, Black and Orange - in September 2007 at £199.99 inc vat.

Ricoh UK Press Release

London, 28th August 2007

7.1x Wide-Angle Digital Camera Features Low Noise in High-Sensitivity Photography

Tokyo, Japan – August 28, 2007 – Ricoh Co., Ltd. (president and CEO: Shiro Kondo) has developed and introduced the new Caplio R7 digital camera. With a new image processing engine and a 7.1x optical wide zoom lens (28–200 mm in 35 mm camera format) mounted on a slim body only 20.6 mm at its thinnest point, the Caplio R7 takes digital photography to an even higher level of image quality.

The new Caplio R7 is the successor to the award winning Caplio R6 (launched March 23, 2007), which earned high recognition for its slim body, wide-angle zoom lens, vibration correction, and face recognition mode.

Retaining the best features of earlier models, the Caplio R7 further enhances the line’s established reputation for high image quality with the introduction of: (1) Smooth Imaging Engine III, a new image processing engine capable of even more sophisticated image processing, and (2) an effective 8.15 megapixel CCD for outstanding results.

In addition, the Caplio R7 achieves a variety of other evolutionary advances in fun and easy photography with enhanced usability for its unique ADJ. (Adjust) button function, which makes it easy to set exposure compensation and white balance. The introduction of brightness and colour-tone functions allows still image brightness and colour-tone to be adjusted in the camera after the picture is taken.

Main features of the new Caplio R7

1. The introduction of the new image processing engine Smooth Imaging Engine III makes higher-picture-quality photography possible.
• Smooth Imaging Engine III reduces the noise that can occur in high-sensitivity photography, without loss of resolution. As a result, even with high-sensitivity photography, crisp outlines are preserved and clear, non-grainy images are possible.
• Through sophisticated brightness and colour-tone adjustment, natural colours are reproduced that are closer to those seen by the naked eye.

2. The Caplio R7 comes equipped with a new high-resolution 8.15 megapixel CCD.
• An effective 8.15 megapixel CCD has been included. Working together with the new image processing engine Smooth Imaging Engine III, this new CCD achieves high-quality photography.

3. The Caplio 7 features a 7.1x wide angle zoom lens on a body measuring only 20.6mm at the thinnest point - the slimmest in its class.*
*As of August 27, among compact digital cameras with 28 mm (35 mm camera format) 5X or greater optical wide zoom lenses.
• As a result of the adoption of miniaturized components and the original double retracting lens system, Ricoh was able to equip the Caplio R7 with a 28-200mm 7.1x wide-angle zoom lens in a slim 20.6 mm body.
• A wide range of photographic options are supported, from wide-angle photography – for panoramic landscapes and indoor shooting near the subject – all the way to impressive telephoto photography.

4. Enhanced usability when shooting
(1) ADJ. (Adjust) button increases usability
• A cross-key function has been added to the ADJ. (Adjust) button, which makes it easy to switch exposure compensation, white balance, ISO sensitivity, and other settings to re?ect the preferences of the photographer. As a result, menu operations can be operated quickly and easily with one hand.
(2) New on screen display
• The elegant and functional style of the new on screen display gives a high-quality feel of the Caplio R7 operation. The adoption of a highly readable font and clearer menu tabs makes the Caplio R7 even easier to use.
(3) Two zoom speed levels
• Zoom speed can be switched between the two levels of high speed and low speed to enable the photographer to move quickly and accurately to the desired zoom position.

5. Image editing functions allow for a variety of changes to images after shooting in the camera
(1) Brightness correction for adjusting image brightness and contrast
• With the brightness correction function it is possible to adjust (on a ?ve-level scale) the brightness and contrast of a still image in the camera and then record the resulting image. In this way, the image as it was intended by the photographer can be recreated in the camera without unwanted black or white saturation.
(2) Colour tone correction for adjusting image colour tone
• With the colour tone correction function it is possible to adjust colour tone by strengthening red or blue tones (on a ?ve-level scale) of a still image in the camera and then record the resulting image. In this way, the original image shot can be adjusted to better re?ect the colour tone desired by the photographer.
(3) Image rotation
• Still images in the camera can be rotated 90 degrees and then recorded. (The rotation is only re?ected when the image is viewed in the camera.)

6. Popular vibration correction function and face recognition mode
• The Caplio R7 contains Ricoh’s original CCD-shift vibration correction function which compensates for camera shake when it is detected.
• Face recognition mode automatically identi?es faces in a scene and automatically adjusts the focus, exposure, and white balance for best results.

7. Wide viewing angle, high contrast 2.7-inch LCD
• The Caplio R7 has an easy-to-see 2.7-inch LCD with 230,000 pixels. In addition to having a wide viewing angle and high contrast, its colour reproduction is excellent, making it easy to view images during shooting and playback.

8. Powerful macro functions, a Ricoh specialty
• Ricoh’s original macro mode allows close-in shooting of objects as close as 1 cm with wide macro and as close as 25 cm with telemacro. A zoom macro function enables the use of digital zooming from the optical zoom position where subjects can be captured at their largest.

9. Three types of bracketing functions
• The Caplio R7 has three different types of bracketing functions: auto bracketing automatically shoots consecutive shots changing the exposure each time, white balance bracketing automatically shoots consecutive shots changing the white balance each time, and colour bracketing automatically shoots three consecutive shots, a black and white image, a colour image, and a sepia image.

Accessories included:
Rechargeable Battery DB-70 / Battery Charger BJ-7 / USB Cable / AV Cable / Handstrap / Software CD-ROM / Instruction Manuals

Available: September 2007
Available colours: Silver, Black and Orange
Available: September 2007 at £229.99 inc vat.

Ricoh Caplio R7 – Major Speci?cations

CCD:
Effective 8.15 million pixels (total 8.29 million pixels), 1/2.5-inch primary colour CCD
Lens:
Focal length: f=4.6-33 mm (equivalent to 28-200 mm for 35 mm ?lm cameras. With Step Zoom set, option of seven ?xed lengths: 28 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm, 105 mm, 135 mm, and 200 mm)
Vibration Correction Function:
CCD shift method
Zoom:
Optical 7.1x zoom (equivalent to 28-200 mm for 35 mm ? lm cameras), Digital zoom: 4.8x, Maximum: 34.1x (equivalent to 960 mm) when used with optical zoom Auto Resize Zoom: 5.1x*1, Maximum: 36.2x*1 (equivalent to 1010 mm) when used with optical zoom
Object Distance:
Approx. 30 cm - in?nity (Wide), approx. 1.0 m - in?nity (Telephoto) (From lens tip)
Macro Shooting Distance:
Approx. 0.01 m -? (Wide), approx. 0.25 m -? (Telephoto) (From lens tip)
Shutter:
Still image: 8, 4, 2, 1 - 1/2000 sec. / Movie: 1/30 - 1/2000 sec.
Resolution (pixels):
Still image: 3264x2448, 3264x2176, 2592x1944, 2048x1536, 1280x960, 640x480
Text: 3264x2448, 2048x1536
Movie: 640x480, 320x240
Picture Mode*2:
F (Fine) / N (Normal)
ISO Sensitivity (Standard Output Sensitivity:
AUTO / AUTO-HI / 64 / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600
Flash:
Flash Off, Auto, Red-eye Flash, Flash on, Flash Synchro, Soft Flash
Flash Range*³: approx. 0. 2 m - 3.0 m (Wide-angle), approx. 0.25m - 2.0 m (Telephoto)
Focus:
Auto Focus / Manual Focus / Snap / ? (AF auxiliary light)
Exposure Adjustment:
TTL-CCD Metering Method: Multi Light Metering (256 segments) / Centre-weighted Light Metering / Spot Metering
Exposure Compensation:
Manual exposure compensation +/-2.0EV (1/3EV Steps), Auto Bracket Function (-0.5EV, ±0, +0.5EV)
White Balance:
AUTO/ Fixed: (Outdoors / Cloudy / Incand. / Incand 2 / Fluores. / Manual) / White Balance Bracket
Memory Type:
SD memory card (3.3V: 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 MB, 1GB, 2GB), SDHC memory card (4GB), Multi media card, Internal memory (24 MB)
Storage Capacity*4 (No. of Pictures) (on internal 24 MB Memory):
Still image: 3264x2448 (F: 7, N: 13) / 3264x2176 (F: 8) / 2592x1944 (N: 21) / 2048x1536 (N: 31) /
1280x960 (N: 58) / 640 x 480 (N: 219)
Storage Capacity*5 (time) (on internal 24 MB Memory):
Movie: 640x480 15 frames/sec. (36 sec.) / 320x240 15 frames/sec. (1 min. 10 sec.) /
640x480 30 frames/sec. (18 sec.) / 320×240 30 frames/sec. (36 sec.) /
Storage Capacity (? le sizes):
Still image: 3264x2448 (F: 2.90 MB, N: 1.67 MB) / 3264x2176 (F: 2.58 MB), 2592x1944 (N: 1.07 MB) /
2048x1536 (N: 680 KB) / 1280x960 (N: 365 KB) / 640x480 (N: 95 KB) (Sizes are approximate.)
Recording Mode:
Still Image: (Still Image, CONT., S-CONT, M-CONT) / Scene Modes (Portrait, Face, Sports, Landscape, Nightscape, High Sensitivity, Zoom Macro, B&W, Sepia, Skew correction, Text, Movie), My Setting 1+2
Recording Format:
Still Image: JPEG (Exif ver. 2.21) DCF*6 compliant DPOF support
Text: JPEG (Exif ver. 2.21) DCF*6 compliant DPOF support
Movie: AVI (Open DML Motion JPEG Format compliant)
LCD Monitor Display:
2.7 inch Transparent Amorphous Silicon TFT LCD (approx. 230,000 pixels)
Self-timer:
Operation time: approx. 10 sec./approx. 2 sec.
Interval Timer:
Shooting interval: 5 sec. - 3 hours (5 sec. steps)*7
Other functions:
Correct Contrast / Correct Tone / Colour Bracket (CL-Bkt) / Record Dual Size
PC Interface:
USB2.0 Hi-Speed: Mini B cable (Certi?cation pending). mass storage device compatible*8
AV Interface:
Audio Out/ Video Out
Video Signal Format:
NTSC/PAL switchable
External Dimensions:
99.6 mm (W) x 55.0 mm (H) x 23.3 mm (20.6 at the thinnest part) (D) (excluding projecting parts)
Weight:
Approx. 135 g (excluding battery, SD memory card, strap), Accessories approx. 26 g (battery, strap)
Battery:
Rechargeable battery (DB-70) x1
Shooting Capacity:*9 Based on CIPA Standard: using the DB-70, approx. 300 pictures
Operating Temperature Range:
0ºC-40ºC

*1: VGA image size
*2: Only F (Fine) is available for 3264x2448 size. Only N (Normal) is available for 2592x1944,
2048x1536, 1280x960, 640×480 size
*3: When the ?ash range is set for ISO AUTO
*4: Estimated number of still images it is possible to record
*5:The maximum recording time for one instance of movie recording is 90 minutes, or the ?le size up
per limit is 4 GB. *6: DCF is the abbreviation of JEITA standard “Design rule for Camera File system”.
(It does not guarantee perfect inter-camera compatibility.)
*7: With ?ash off
*8: Mass Storage driver is compatible with Windows Me/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, and Mac
OSX10.1.2-10.4.9.
*9: Shooting capacity was measured using CIPA-standard parameters. This is only an estimate, and performance may vary according to usage conditions.
• * Windows is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries.
• * Mac OS is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries.

Your Comments