BIOS: Technology Means Business

Ricoh's Caplio GX8 is a slim and compact 8.2-Megapixel digital camera that commands one of the world's fastest shutter response time, super-close macro mode and a fast start-up time of 1.3 seconds. The wholly-black camera is quicker, lighter and even easier to use than its wide-angle lens predecessor, the Caplio GX, but only offers a 3x optical zoom lens. Nevertheless, it can easily slip into a jacket pocket, is a snap to use and produces excellent quality images. You'll struggle to find a camera in this price bracket that offers so much functionality or that produces such good images.

Pros: Compact, robust design; excellent lens; high sensitivity
Cons: No RAW mode; only 3x optical zoom

The top-of-the-range Caplio GX8 succeeds the 5-Megapixel Caplio GX, which was launched just over a year ago. The first thing that strikes you about the camera is that it's really small and light (114x29x58mm, 205g) for an 8-Megapixel model. Its robust, no-nonsense aluminium die-cast black casing also looks unusual for a consumer electronics product, giving it more of a business look and feel.

The camera features Ricoh's signature hardened rubber handgrip and can be connected to a relatively wide array of accessories and instruments, such as wide conversion lens, external shutter release, and even a telescope. It is also equipped with a high-quality 8.24-Megapixel CCD (captures up to 3264x2448 pixels) that delivers excellent clarity and resolution for prints up to A3 size, and Ricoh's proprietary image processor 'Smooth Imaging Engine' helps to ensure accurate colours, quick response and low noise levels (at low ISO levels at least).

The Caplio GX8 also includes a 28-85mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens which is ideal for capturing landscapes, although the optical zoom is limited to just 3x (12x digital). Most competitors offer a lot less wide angle, making the Caplio GX8 an interesting camera for the street or landscape photographer.

Thanks a fast response time of just 1.3 seconds (with flash off), the Caplio GX8 is a perfect camera to have at hand for capturing impulsive shots where speed is of the essence. By comparison, speed and set-up are some of the main limitations of digital SLRs, excluding the fact that you may not even have the correct lens attached. Thanks to a hybrid auto-focus system, the shutter also almost instantly focuses on the object and shoots in around 0.10 seconds.

Moreover, the Caplio GX8 is ready to take the next shot in 1.7 second intervals (used in fine mode at a resolution of 3264x2448 pixels) until the memory card is full. In continuous shooting mode, the Caplio GX8 can shoot 16 consecutive images in roughly 2 seconds with one press of the shutter. This feature should come in handy for checking a golf swing frame by frame, or for creating a slideshow of a toddler's precious first steps.

For a little more control, aperture priority and manual exposure modes allow you to explore creative possibilities. For instance, aperture priority mode allows control of depth of field, which is vital for good portraits. Exposure compensation is also possible in 1/3EV steps over a range of ±2.0EV. Shutter speed can be adjusted manually from a very fast 1/2000 seconds to 30 seconds for night exposures, and the 1.8in. LCD monitor (130,000 pixels) provides 'live' feedback of current exposure levels with a histogram, so the necessary adjustments can be made before taking a shot.

In especially difficult lighting, the Auto Bracket function automatically takes three consecutive shots at three different exposure levels so that the best shot can be selected without re-shooting. A really neat feature of the macro mode is that even with the camera on a tripod, the focus point can be freely shifted within the frame without moving the camera using AF Target Selection.

Additionally, the Caplio GX8 is outfitted with a special flash capable of illuminating objects 15cm away without producing any of the washed out effects present with regular flash. ISO sensitivity levels supported range from ISO 64 to ISO 1600 and there are a number of white balance modes: Auto/Fixed, Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten Light, Fluorescent Light, One Push, and White Balance bracket.

Although the camera supports ISO levels up to an outstanding 1600, you'll notice that images captured at the highest sensitivity level exhibit high levels of noise. Here's no built-in AF illuminator either, so you may have difficulty focusing in low-light situations.

If you're not the sort of photographer that likes to get bogged down in the complexities of image composition, you'll appreciated the Caplio GX8's six scene modes. Quickly accessible from the rotary dial at the top of the camera, in addition to using the on-screen menu system, you can choose from Portrait (shooting people outdoors), Sports (recording moving objects), Landscape (large scenes), Night Scene (shooting people at night), Text (text is sharper and easier to read), and High-Sensitivity (recording in dark places). Of course, you can also shoot short video clips (320x240 or 160x120 pixels) in AVI format and audio in WAV format.

Those who like the connectivity options of a single-lens reflex camera should welcome the Caplio GX8's support for a relatively wide array of both Ricoh and non-Ricoh brand accessories and instruments. By attaching an optional Ricoh wide conversion lens (with adapter), the wide-angle capability of the Caplio GX8 further expands to 22mm.

An external USB equipped cable release allows for self-portraits as well as preventing camera shake during long exposures, and the interval time between shots can be shortened significantly by using an external strobe mounted to the camera's dedicated hot shoe instead of the built-in flash. Furthermore, the Caplio GX8 is compatible with a range of external finders, field scopes, microscopes, and even telescopes, for astrophotography.

Naturally, the Caplio GX8 connects directly to a computer or a PictBridge printer with the included USB connector, so pictures stored on an SD card (or the camera's 26MB built-in memory) can be transferred for edited or printed independently of your computer. Power is provided by two AA alkaline batteries.

The Caplio GX8 manages to capture colours great and its automatic white balance offers the correct result in most cases. The quality of the lens is excellent for a camera in this price bracket and the wide angle capabilities will be greatly appreciated by creative photographers. Distortion stayed within reasonable limits in our tests, and purple fringing and corner shading only appeared in rather extreme settings - wide angle with maximum aperture.

We were disappointed by the lack of RAW mode, but this is partly compensated by the availability of TIFF. However, RAW is more-or-less a standard and has more advantages. Overall, the long list of plus points far outweigh the Caplio GX8's few shortcomings.