Rioch GR Digital ll

The First thing that strikes you about the Rioch GR Digital ll is that it look like no other compact currently on the market. Where every other manufacturer had joined the race to produce smaller, sleeker bodies with bigger, better sensors crammed inside, Ricoh has chosen to opt for functionality over fashion.

The Rioch GRD ll inherits the legacy of its ancestor (the GR Digital) as a high-end, high-performance compact aimed at photographers who demand the best image quality and functionality from their equipment. It features a higher-resolution 10.1 MP sensor as well as the newly developed GR Engine ll processor for improved performance, enhanced image quality and better noise reduction. The Rioch GRD ll sports a 2.7-inch LCD on the back, with a 160-degree wide viewing angle and a few rearranged controls, like the removal of the short cut to Video mode from the top dial and the addition of a manually operated built-in flash.

The Rioch GRD ll boasts a respectable 54MB internal memory- double the size of its predecessor’s. It can also now support the SDHC platform, increasing the functionality of this little camera by miles. The excellent 28 mm f2.4 Lens that proved it self to be fast and reliable on the Rioch GRD remains in place on the GRD ll. An optional wide- angle converter can be fixed to the camera to widen the view to a focal length of 21mm f2.4 lens that proved itself to be fast and reliable on the GRD remains in place on the Rioch GRD ll. An optional wide-angle converter ca n be fixed to the camera to widen the view to a focal length of 21mm. Other camera accessories can also be purchased separately for use with the camera, including an external viewfinder that fixes to the camera via the hot shoe o top.

The Rioch GRD ll offers an almost endless choice of picture formats, including Raw 1:1 (square format)And various different resolutions, right down to 1MP.It also has Manual, Aperture Priority and Program modes, as well as the usual Auto, scene and a couple of programmable modes for you to store you own custom settings. To help your focusing, holding down the OK button calls up a rectangle in which a magnified view of your subject is displayed, making it easier for fine—tune focusing and ensuring your results will be razor-sharp. The Rioch GRD ll also offers a decent macro mode, allowing you to focus down to 1.5 cm

                            Although gadgeteers may turn their noses up at the lack of optical zoom offered, as soon a s you take a look at the pictures from this camera, you begin to understand why Ricoh opted for a fixed focal length: image quality is superb, with excellent edge-to-edge sharpness and no sign of distortion or other artifacts. The problem of engineering a zoom lens that delivers consistent image quality throughout the focal range, while trying to suppress a tendency towards distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting – to name a few – is a tricky one. Rioch is keeping things simple by Aiming to create a lens that delivers top image quality. Photographers who want to increase the range of focal lengths they can achieve can opt for the aforementioned wide-angle adapter, or indeed the tele conversion lens that is equivalent to 40mm on a 35 mm camera.

Camera Specs
Rioch GR Digital  ll

What we like

Short cuts to setting on the camera body
High-quality lens
Excellent image quality
Responsive AF
Plenty of advanced modes

What we don’t like
  Digital Zoom only