Ricoh CX1 With Expanded Dynamic Range
Yes, we’re still in bed with Ricoh, loving their cameras and not making much of an effort to broaden our horizons in this respect. The thing is, though, I genuinely do like Ricoh cameras and seem to have them in for review frequently enough that I haven’t updated my own digital camera in many years.
The unique build quality of Ricoh cameras really appeals to me, I like something that feels sturdy and looks the part, too.
The Ricoh CX1 is the next step in compact cameras from Ricoh, offering Ricoh’s “Smooth Imaging Engine IV,” which they tout to be a highly evolved image processing engine, in cohorts with a high speed CMOS. These should deliver shooting performance that eclipses previous models but the camera is still neatly encapsulated into their signature, understated and rugged compact camera body.
Some tasty features include 4fps continuous shooting, excellent for capturing the right moment in an action scene, or for sweeping lazily around panoramic vistas before plucking out and stitching together the best photos. Alas, this only offers VGA resolution images which is good enough for sharing interesting shots with friends, but near useless for printing or high quality reproduction.
If you think a 4fps continuous shoot is mildly impressive then you’ll be pleased to hear that you can achieve 120 VGA images over the course of either 1 or 2 seconds. That’s either 120fps or 60fps, unlocking the potential for a skilled photographer to catch some stunning, albeit low resolution and decidedly brief, slow-motion footage.
Despite their obvious resolution and time drawbacks these modes can be quite powerful and extremely entertaining to the hobbyist photographer.
- Enhanced high-speed continuous shooting functions. Smooth continuous shooting*. High-speed continuous shooting at approx. 4 frames/sec . Continuous shooting at overwhelming speed. 120 frame/sec. Ultra-high-speed continuous shooting. The M-continuous plus shooting function does continuous shooting that saves the 30 images (30 frames/sec.) taken during the one second or so before the finger is removed from the shutter release button or the 30 images (15 frames/sec.) taken during the two seconds before.
- Dynamic Range Double Shot Mode – Decisive reduction of overexposure/underexposure.
- Multi-Pattern Auto White Balance – A dramatic transformation for people photography.
- Multi-Target Auto Focus – Shoot seven images with different focal distances.
- Smooth Imaging Engine IV＋CMOS sensor – superb image quality.