Ricoh GR Digital II Reviews

May.16, 2008 in Richo Caplio

The 10-megapixel Ricoh GR Digital II sports an f/2.4, 28mm (35mm equivalent) lens and a 2.7-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD with a 160-degree viewing angle. Like its predecessor, the magnesium-alloy GR Digital II is designed for serious photographers and features Ricoh’s GR Engine II processor. It’s equipped with a hotshoe for mounting a flash to supplement the camera’s pop-up unit or to attach an external optical viewfinder. The LCD can be switched to an information display mode when the optical viewfinder is being used. Ricoh says that the RAW image write time has been reduced to 3.8 seconds in the GR Digital II, and that its buffer memory has been improved to allow the camera to take another shot while saving a RAW file. The GR Digital II offers manual and aperture-priority exposure modes, in addition to automatic settings.

The first Ricoh camera I’m looking at is the GR Digital II ($699). It packs a 10 Megapixel CCD, a fast 28 mm lens, manual controls, support for the RAW image format, and a 2.7″ LCD display. Two unique features include a 1:1 ratio mode (which simulates medium format cameras), and a “leveling meter”, which helps prevent crooked photos (and boy, do I need that). The GR II is expandable as well, offering conversion lenses, optical viewfinders, and a remote shutter release cable.

Technical Details
* The 10.0 effective Megapixel GR Digital II camera
* DB-60 lithium-ion rechargeable battery
* Battery charger
* Hand strap
* USB cable
* A/V cable
* CD-ROM featuring Caplio software
* 238 page camera manual (printed)

Ricoh GR Digital II Review From photoreview

* Build: 9/10
* Ease of use: 8.5/10
* Image quality: 9/10
* OVERALL: 8.8/10

Ricoh GR Digital II Review From cnet

The good: Solid construction; nice wide-angle lens; hot shoe.

The bad: No zoom lens; no built-in optical viewfinder; slow start-up; clunky converter lens design.

The bottom line: The GR Digital II is a cute compact camera that might appeal to street photographers looking to step away from a rangefinder and into digital, but it doesn’t deliver the features, performance, or image quality it should given its steep price tag.