Ricoh CX1 Review

Ricoh has equipped the CX1 with a 7.1x wide view optical zoom lens that covers and equivalent focal range of 28 - 200mm. This double retracting lens makes it made up of 10 elements in 7 groups with 4 aspherical elements and 5 surfaces. The maximum aperture is F3.3 (Wide) - F5.2 (Telephoto).

The contrast detection AF system has a focus range of:

• Normal - Approx. 11.8 in. (30 cm) - infinity (Wide), approx. 3.28 ft. (1.0 m) - infinity (Telephoto) (from the front of the lens)
• Macro - Approx. 0.39 in. (1 cm) - infinity (Wide), approx. 9.84 in. (25 cm) - infinity (Telephoto), approx. 0.39 in. (1 cm) - infinity (Zoom Macro) (from the front of the lens)

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. wide or 9.8 in. to 6.6 ft. telephoto (20cm to 3.0m wide-angle and 25cm to 2.0m telephoto).

On the top you'll find the Power On/Off button, Shutter release with the Zoom controls mounted around it as well as the Mode Dial with positions for: DR (Dynamic Range Double Shot), Burst, Easy, Scene, Movie, My2, My1, and Auto (Program AE). The Zoom controls also serve as the index and magnify options in playback mode.

On the back is a large 3.0-inch wide LCD screen. This is the only viewfinder on the camera, and luckily it's a very high-quality display with approx. 920,000 dots of resolution.

Controls on the back: At the top is the 4-way 'joystick' controller. Pressing the stick to the 'Right' in record mode changes the flash settings, and 'left' to enable/disable Macro focus. Pressing the stick inward (ADJ./OK) accepts menu selections as well as calls up the function shortcut menu. Next is the play button, allowing you to enter playback to view your images/movies. There are then 4 buttons along the side of the LCD. First is the menu button, allowing you to change the camera's settings and access its various functions. The second button is the Fn button, which in auto shooting mode allows you to set your point of focus, and in playback mode allows you to view your flagged images. Next is the Self Timer/Delete button. Finally the DISP. button controls the amount of information that is overlaid on the LCD as well as turns the display off. You can also see the built-in speaker.

The I/O ports are on the right hand side: The USB 2.0 (high-speed) port connects the camera to a computer to download the images and movies. The CX1 is High-Speed USB, Mass storage compliant. The Audio-Video Out port lets you connect to a TV set with the supplied cable. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL standard

The CX1 is equipped with ~88MB of internal memory and also features a SD/SDHC memory card slot. Ricoh claims the camera is compatible with SD/SDHC cards up to 32GB. Shown here with our speedy SanDisk Extreme III 1GB SD card.

Storage Capacities (approximate)

The CX1 is powered by the included DB-70 3.6V 1000 mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion battery pack. Ricoh claims you can capture up to 270 shots using this pack with the LCD Dim function enabled. With LCD Dim off, they claim about 250 frames. The pack is charged in the handy BJ-7 AC charger, which features fold-away prongs for great portability.