The GR Digital II features a wide angle 28mm equivalent fixed lens. This is an all-glass optic comprised of 6 elements in 5 groups (two aspherical lenses and three aspherical surfaces). The aperture range is F2.4 - F11. When powered down the lens retracts into the camera and is protected by an automatic lens barrier, no lens cap is required.

The contrast detection AF system has a focus range of 30cm (11.8 in.) to infinity in normal mode. Macro focus mode coverage is from 1.5cm (0.6 in.) to infinity.

The GR Digital II features two optional conversion lenses to choose from, the 1.43x Tele Conversion lens GT-1 and the 0.75x Wide conversion lens GW-1. To use these lenses, the Hood and Lens Adapter GH-1 is required.

The built in flash offers Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye Reduction and Slow Synchro modes. Flash range is 7.9 in. to 9.8 ft. (20cm to 3.0m). Using the optional conversion lenses with change the effective flash coverage. You can also see the flash release on the side.

Ricoh also offers two optional optical viewfinders that attach to the flash hot shoe. These are great to use when wanting to conserve precious battery life, or when following fast moving subjects in Burst mode. However, remember that these viewfinders only cover approx 80-85% of the captured image; so, the image you captured may not look like the one you framed in the viewfinder.

On the top you'll find the Power On/Off button, and Mode Dial which has positions for: Scene (Movie, Skew Correct, Text), Manual, Aperture priority, Program, Auto and My Mode 1 & 2. To rotate the dial, you first have to press the release button at the top. Next to that is the shutter release, and out on the front edge is the Sub command dial.

In the upper right is the zoom control which also functions as the Index / Magnify controls in play mode. Over to the left is the ADJust button/rocker switch, which gives you quick access to exposure compensation, white balance or ISO speeds. The Green Play button enters review or playback mode. Next we have the 4-way controller. It lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record mode you press "Up" to change the Mode when the mode dial is on the Scene position, "Right" to change flash mode, and press "Down" to enable Macro focus mode. The Fn or "Left" button can be set to a variety of functions (AF/MF, AE Lock, etc.) via the setup menu. The MENU/Ok button calls up and dismisses the menus, and accepts menu selections. Next is the Self-timer button (10 or 2 seconds), which also acts as the Delete button in playback mode. Lastly we have the DISPlay button, it controls the amount of overlay information on the LCD as well as activates the live histogram and grid lines.

The I/O ports are on the side: The Audio-Video Out lets you connect to a TV set with the supplied cable. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL standard. The USB 2.0 (high-speed) port connects the camera to a computer to download the images and movies. The GR Digital II is PictBridge compatible so you can also plug the USB cable into any PictBridge compatible printer for direct printing.

The GR Digital II is equipped with 54MB of internal memory and also features a SD/MMC card slot. Ricoh does not specify the maximum card size allowed, however we had no problems using this OCZ (Class 6) 4GB SDHC card.

The GR Digital II can be powered by either the included DB-60 3.7V 1150 mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion battery pack or three standard AAA-type batteries (alkaline, Qxyride, Nickel-Hydrogen cells). Ricoh claims approx. 370 shots using the included Li-ion battery pack and up to 45 shots using the optional AAA cells.