Ricoh Caplio GX Review

The GX features a wide angle 3x optical zoom lens with an equivalent coverage of 28 - 85mm in 35mm format. This is an all-glass optic comprised of 9 elements in 7 groups. The maximum aperture is F2.5 - F4.3.

The focus range is from 30cm (11.8 in.) to infinity in normal mode. Macro focus mode coverage is from 1cm (0.4 in.) to infinity in Wide angle or from 8cm (3.2 in.) to infinity in Telephoto.

The GX uses a hybrid focusing system that combines the usual contrast- detection method along with a passive infrared ranging system. When powered down the lens retracts into the camera and is protected by an automatic lens barrier, no lens cap is required.

The built in flash offers Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye Reduction and Slow Synchro modes. Flash range is 0.2 to 5m in wide angle, 0.15 to 2.9m in telephoto (ISO Auto or 400).

You can frame your pictures with the color LCD or to save precious battery power you can use the optical eyelevel finder. This is a coupled viewfinder with approx. 82% coverage. It has no dioptric adjustment. The two LEDs indicate the flash and focus status.

On the top you'll find the Mode Dial which has positions for: Setup, Sound, Movie, Scene, Aperture-Manual, Record and Play. Next to that is the shutter release. 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 Power on/off button, the ADJust button gives you quick access to exposure compensation, white balance or ISO speeds. The MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus. The OK button accepts menu selections. The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record mode you press "Right" to change flash mode, press "Down" to enable Macro focus mode and press "Left" to activate the Quick Review mode. The DELETE (Trashcan) button is for erasing images in playback or enabling self-timer in record modes. The DISPLAY button turns the color LCD on/off and controls the amount of data displayed on it.

The I/O ports are on the side: The USB 1.1 port connects the camera to a computer to download the images and movies. The GX is PictBridge compatible so you can also plug the USB cable into any PictBridge compatible printer for direct printing. 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 GX is equipped with 16MB of internal memory and a SD / MMC card slot. Any size SD or MMC card up to 512MB may be used.

Storage Capacity (approximate)

The GX can be powered by two standard AA-type batteries, alkaline, NiMH or lithium cells or the optional high-capacity DB-43 lithium rechargeable battery pack. Ricoh claims approx. 120 shots using alkaline batteries and up to 400 shots using the optional DB-43.

If using AA type batteries we highly recommend the use of high-capacity NiMH rechargeable cells, they're reusable and pack 2-3x the power of alkalines.

The optional Ricoh DB-43 lithium rechargeable battery pack.