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Features & Controls
By Josh Fate
Ricoh's 10.7x optical zoom lens has a 35mm equivalent of 28-300mm and is 1/3 of their Pure Image Quality Technology. The lens itself is made up of 10 elements in 7 groups. It retracts when the camera is powered down for protection. To assist in your handheld shooting, Ricoh has included a sensor-shift image stabilization with the equivalent of 3.7 shutter speed stops.
Focus Range:
The small built-in flash is useful in close quarters, but with a maximum range of up to approx. 13ft. at ISO 1600, it will not do you much good over a large open area. When it is useful, the flash operates in Auto, Anti Red Eye, On, Off and Slow Synchro modes.
Focus Range:
Normal: 30 cm - infinity (Wide), approx. 1.5 m - infinity (Telephoto)
Macro: 1 cm - infinity (Wide), approx. 28 cm - infinity (Telephoto), approx. 1 cm - infinity (Zoom Macro)
The small built-in flash is useful in close quarters, but with a maximum range of up to approx. 13ft. at ISO 1600, it will not do you much good over a large open area. When it is useful, the flash operates in Auto, Anti Red Eye, On, Off and Slow Synchro modes.
Framing and viewing your images is done on the 3.0-inch, 920,000 dot LCD screen. This high of a resolution screen is great for showing you all of the fine details and gradients of your image. Normally this quality of LCD is found on much more expensive interchangeable lens cameras and dSLRs. Ricoh has included several special coatings on the screen to prevent dirt, scratches and glare, making it a pleasure to look at in all lighting conditions. 
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 CX4 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 CX4 is capable of storing its images on any SD/SDHC memory card up to 32GB. There is also an internal storage of approx. 85MB, which isn't much but could save you in a jam. With the camera's burst and HD video capture capabilites, we recomend that you use at least a class 4 card to get the most from these features. The camera is shown here with a class 6, 16GB ADATA SDHC card.Approx. Storage Capacities:
| Mode | Image Size |
Internal
Memory (86MB) |
1GB | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still | 10M 4:3F | 22 | 242 | 491 | 965 | 1973 | 3953 | 7930 |
| 10M 4:3N | 37 | 414 | 842 | 1653 | 3379 | 6769 | 13579 | |
| 9M 3:2F | 24 | 272 | 553 | 1087 | 2222 | 4452 | 8930 | |
| 7M 1:1F | 29 | 321 | 653 | 1284 | 2624 | 5257 | 10546 | |
| 7M 16:9F | 29 | 323 | 653 | 1284 | 2624 | 5257 | 10546 | |
| 5M 4:3F | 34 | 373 | 758 | 1490 | 3045 | 6101 | 12238 | |
| 3M 4:3F | 53 | 581 | 1182 | 2321 | 4744 | 9503 | 19063 | |
| 1M 4:3F | 96 | 1059 | 2118 | 4160 | 8505 | 17039 | 34181 | |
| VGA 4:3F | 394 | 4316 | 8778 | 17237 | 35231 | 70579 | 141581 | |
|
Still
(When [Focus] is set to [Multi-target AF]) |
10M 4:3F | 22 | 240 | 487 | 957 | 1957 | 3922 | 7867 |
| 10M 4:3N | 37 | 408 | 830 | 1631 | 3333 | 6678 | 13396 | |
| 9M 3:2F | 24 | 269 | 548 | 1077 | 2202 | 4412 | 8851 | |
| 7M 1:1F | 29 | 318 | 647 | 1270 | 2596 | 5202 | 10435 | |
| 7M 16:9F | 29 | 319 | 647 | 1270 | 2596 | 5202 | 10435 | |
| 5M 4:3F | 33 | 368 | 749 | 1471 | 3008 | 6026 | 12089 | |
| 3M 4:3F | 52 | 570 | 1159 | 2277 | 4654 | 9324 | 18704 | |
| 1M 4:3F | 92 | 1023 | 2047 | 4022 | 8221 | 16471 | 33042 | |
| VGA 4:3F | 345 | 3776 | 7681 | 15082 | 30828 | 61759 | 123888 | |
| Text | 10M 4:3 | 37 | 414 | 842 | 1653 | 3379 | 6769 | 13579 |
| 3M 4:3 | 97 | 1078 | 2194 | 4309 | 8809 | 17647 | 35402 | |
| Movie | HD 1280 | 16sec. |
3min.
3sec. |
6min.
14sec. |
12min.
14sec. |
25min.
1sec. |
50min.
7sec. |
100min.
33sec. |
| VGA 640 | 49sec. |
8min.
55sec. |
18min.
8sec. |
35min.
38sec. |
72min.
50sec. |
145min.
54sec. |
292min.
41sec. |
|
| QVGA 320 |
1min.
59sec. |
21min.
39sec. |
44min.
2sec. |
86min.
28sec. |
176min.
44sec. |
354min.
3sec. |
710min.
13sec. |
|
| M-Cont Plus | 10M 4:3N | 37 | 414 | 842 | 1653 | 3379 | 6769 | 13579 |
| 2M 4:3N | 127 | 1404 | 2792 | 5484 | 11211 | 22460 | 45056 | |
| Speed Cont | VGA 4:3N | 691 | 7553 | 15359 | 30159 | 61643 | 123489 | 247716 |
Powering the CX4 is a 3.7V, 950mAh rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Ricoh claims that the battery is able to supply enough power to capture up to 330 images on a single charge (CIPA), when the LCD Dim feature is on. Above you can see the compact, portable quick charger that allows you to charge anywhere. It is also great for keeping a spare battery charged and on hand at all times.Visitors of Steves can visit the stores below for real-time pricing and availability. You can also find hot, soon to expire online offers on a variety of cameras and accessories at our very own Camera Deals page.
