Ricoh GXR S10 camera review (with 24-72mm Lens)

The camera body feels a lot like similar models, such as Canon's G series or Panasonic's LX line; it's on the heavy side, but not onerously so, with a shallow but comfortable rubberized grip. Overall, I found the body design functional, albeit with some drawbacks imposed by the necessity to be more generic than most cameras. Ricoh offers an extra cost lens cap that's probably worth the money. It attaches to the bayonet mount on the lens, and uses an ingenious aperture design. It's a great alternative to the traditional use-it-and-lose-it detachable caps on other models.

Like the LX5, the GXR has an optional tilting electronic viewfinder that slides into the hot shoe. This not-so-cheap option comes in handy for a lot of shooting situations, including off-angle and bright daylight. The LCD is nice--large, high resolution and high contrast--but like all LCDs gets difficult to view in bright sunlight. Plus the EVF helps keep the camera steady; the image stabilization doesn't seem to stand out at even moderately slow shutter speeds (like 1/15 second).

Because it has to work with so many different variations of capabilities, the controls on the GXR body are fairly generic and simple. This works both for and against the camera's usability. For instance, Ricoh doesn't crowd the mode dial with scene modes--there's PASM, Auto, and a catch-all Scene--and it supports three sets of custom settings. On the back is a too-flat rocker switch for zooming; buttons for playback, macro, display options and self-timer; and a four-way-nav plus menu button, with the directions generically labeled Fn1 (left), Fn2 (right), + (up), and - (down). Because Ricoh can't really dedicate any of the controls to specific functions, everything is assigned within the menus--which will make it confusing for those who are more photographically than technically inclined.

Like most enthusiast cameras these days, the GXR has a Direct button that pulls up frequently needed shooting adjustments so you can easily change them. This is doubly important given the GXR's generic body design. My one complaint with the implementation is that unlike most others', the display doesn't go away when you tap the shutter button; you have to hit the Direct button a second time. That's annoying. The adjustment lever--actually the jog dial at the top back of the camera--can be configured to cycle through four frequently used setting options, such as white balance, ISO sensitivity, photo quality, and color setting. Like the Direct access screen, though, tapping the shutter button doesn't make it go away.

Manually focusing is kind of awkward; you hold down the macro button with your thumb while you scroll the distance with your forefinger using the top dial. Using the camera in general is like that overall. It's not difficult to use or badly designed--it's just...odd. But because of this design, the features on the camera aren't easily discovered. For instance, I didn't realize the camera even supported video capture until I looked at the specs and searched the manual for instructions. It's enabled as a scene mode. But it's pretty lame anyway. The only notable features are a self-timer time-lapse mode, which can shoot up to 10 shots at intervals of between 5 and 10 seconds apart as well as an intervalometer that can shoot at intervals of between 1 second and 2 hours in 1-second increments. It also has a date stamp, for those of you who need to document stuff.

With some cameras, you think all the photos look just OK, and then get hit with the "wow" when you view them on your computer display. This is not so with the Ricoh GXR+S10 24-72mm module. Many of my shots look great displayed at about 25 percent, which is why I was so disappointed when I zoomed to 100 percent or printed at 13x19. To me, that's one of the important differences between a merely decent enthusiast compact and a standout model.