Review: Ricoh GX200 digital camera

Serious photographers demand serious cameras. It’s in this market that Ricoh has carved itself a niche, producing uncompromisingly high-quality cameras without gimmicks.

An improved version of the wide-angle lens found in its predecessor, the GX100, provides a 35mm equivalent range of 24-72mm. That’s just about the widest angle lens you can get in a compact camera and is ideal for landscapes or capturing a whole room in a single shot.

Optional wide and tele conversion lenses take this still further to 19mm and 135mm respectively. You can take macro shots from as close as 1cm and mechanical image stabilisation helps minimise camera shake.
Like the GX100, the new model supports the optional VF-1 digital viewfinder. This fits into the camera’s flash hotshoe and can tilt through 90°, allowing you to take shots which would be impractical using the main LCD.

The sensor resolution has also been increased to 12 megapixels and we were impressed with the GX200’s image quality. Its ISO 400 setting is very usable while shooting at ISO 64 produces very clean, sharp results with plenty of colour. It can’t match the quality and flexibility of an SLR, but it does very well for its size.

At first, the GX200 may appear tricky to use as it has a number of additional controls whose functions won’t be immediately obvious. A little time spent reading the manual is definitely recommended, as once you have mastered the controls you’ll find its highly customisable interface can place all your most frequently used settings right at your fingertips.

Greater control and the ability to shoot in Raw mode make this an excellent, albeit rather pricey, camera for the creative photographer.