BIOS: Technology Means Business

Ricoh has announced the release of the new Caplio R4 compact digital camera. The neatest feature of this bad boy is that it sports a compact body (95x26x53mm, 135g) yet packs a 7.1x optical wide zoom (28- to 200mm equivalent) - the largest in the compact class.

And if that’s not enough to get you salivating, the model includes vibration correction. Building on the Caplio R3, the Caplio R4 boasts 6-Megapixels, longer battery life and a high resolution LCD. It will be available in both Black and Silver next month for £249.

The brightness of the LCD can be increased to maximum with a single touch and visibility can be adjusted to suit well-lighted areas. The CCD is effective up to 6.04 million square pixels with the Smooth Imaging Engine image processing system. Combined with the vibration correction function, representative, superior, high-definition images can be created, claims Ricoh. It is also possible to select a 35mm aspect ratio (the horizontal to vertical ratio of the image) of 3:2.

The long-life rechargeable battery, a standard accessory, lets you shoot approximately 330 pictures and thanks to the power-saving features of the internal circuit, it is possible to capture up to 330 separate images under CIPA standards using the standard accessory rechargeable battery even while using the large LCD display (310 pictures for the Caplio R3).

The improved 2.5-inch LCD has an improved resolution of 150,000 pixels, compared to 110,000 on the Caplio R3. During playback, 12 pictures can be displayed simultaneously on the screen. While checking previous and subsequent pictures, the screen can be separated into three parts to allow fast forwarding and rewinding.

The newly developed Double Retracting Lens System allows part of the lens assembly to protrude from the camera body during lens storage. This enables the body, a mere 26mm, to have a 28- to 200mm 7.1x wide zoom lens. The highly versatile Caplio R4 promises ‘outstanding’ results in practically any photographic situation, whether it’s capturing a panoramic landscape in one shot, wide-angle images in a room where everything is very close, or the fine details of distant objects.

Whenever the camera detects excessive camera motion, the vibration correction system, based on a newly developed CCD shift method, moves the CCD in the opposite direction to counterbalance camera shake, resulting in sharp pictures that would have been blurred otherwise. As it is not necessary to incorporate the vibration correction system into the lens, many lens design options, were available, facilitating the design of a slim body and a wide to long telephoto range lens.

The macro function, a Ricoh specialty, has been further strengthened. The camera’s macro mode, can take a macro shot of an object from just 1cm away. The zoom macro function automatically sets the focal distance of the lens at the optimum distance for capturing an image of each object as large and close as possible. If AF Target Selection is used, it is even possible to focus on objects within the frame without moving the camera. By determining the optimum field of view, taking into consideration such information as the size or contrast of the object, focusing accuracy becomes that much higher when shooting in macro.

Release time lag (the time from the instant the shutter button is fully pressed - without using focus lock - until exposure actually starts) is as fast as approximately 0.09 seconds on average. Quick responses are essential in order to capture picture-perfect but near-instantaneous moments such as the expressions and movement of children or pets. Now stress-free, near-instantaneous shots are possible. Shooting interval and start time are both rapid at about 0.5 and 1.1 seconds, respectively (measured while the flash is off).

Through an original algorithm, which automatically detects trapezoids in images and corrects them to rectangles, images of such things as blackboards, documents, or time schedules shot at any angle can be corrected so that the image looks as though it were shot from the front. The camera is most effective in business environments where blackboards, overhead projector, OHPs, time schedules, signs, etc. cannot be shot from the front.

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