Ricoh RDC-i700 Digital Camera Review

The mode dial also has various other recording options including text mode, e-mail, sound recording, continuous shooting, movie recording and set up for overall camera conditions such as language, your dial-up ISP account settings, and it's here where you format the card/s.

This camera accepts CompactFlash, but the area also has a second slot for a PCMCIA card which means you can not only use Type II cards but also adaptors and any memory card formats that are made, making it very versatile.
Getting at the cards is quite fiddly because you have to raise one of two pins and then depress this to release the card. If you're in a rush it's troublesome, especially if you don't have fingernails.

The camera has a stylus that's used to input data or select modes on the LCD panel.

Recording mode
Before you take a photo you should decide on the resolution and quality. You have a choice of three resolutions 2048x1536, 1024X768 and 640x480. If you need maximum quality you would obviously choose the highest setting but for those who only need smaller prints or for web use you can save space and take more pictures using the lower resolution settings. Space can also be saved by the method of compression used. You have a choice of non compression which saves pictures as TIFFS or Fine, Normal and economy JPEG compression. The Fine is hardly different to the TIFF mode so you save space but still achieve high quality.
Here are some figures to give you an idea of how many pictures can be taken in each combination.

Photo taken at the telephoto setting with a pair of 10x binoculars held over the lens. This was shot at the telephoto setting (not digital) and the image was cropped in the computer and sharpened.

Distant detail is recorded well with good edge definition and contrast.

A shot heavily shadowed by backlighting - flash activated to fill in and prevent a silhouette. Flash can be made stronger or reduced depending on the effect you require.

Some straight shots lack contrast and saturated colours. But all the detail is available to bring out using an image-editing program.

Plenty of detail recorded at close range.

Similarly going even closer and detail is still fine. The Ricoh can go down to an amazing 1cm when the macro button is pressed. Focusing is accurate, at close range but it's slow at reaching the sharp point. Every time you press the shutter release to activate focus the motor drives the lens beyond the correct point of focus and then back again, resulting in battery drain, slow speed and very frustrating. I'm sure the reason it does this is to gauge the distance of the subject accurately, but many AF SLR cameras such as the Canon EOS don't do this so a leaf out of their books would be good.

A straight infrared shot, taken with a R72 infrared filter held over the lens, gives a warmish brown image when shooting in colour.

This can be modified in Photoshop to produce a pleasing infrared mono image


The lens is sharp and bright colours are accurate.

The movie mode can be used to record action sequences.

Playing pictures back
The Ricoh, like several of the latest breed of digital cameras, can play back images at a magnified size so you can check for sharpness. This is essential if you're relying on the LCD as a proofing tool. The 2.7x magnifier is enough to inform you whether to delete the picture and retake it or save and move on. You can also play images back in thumbnail size and see nine on screen at once. Pictures can then be marked to be copied, moved or deleted and in-camera editing can be done. Pictures can be organised in separate folders or cropped, rotated or image size changed. Voice or Note memos can be attached and images can be protected.
Images can also be played back as a slide show or set ready for auto printing using the Digital Print Order Formatting (DPOF). Business users will find the presentation mode ideal. A presentation can be made that includes images and text files. Using the macro mode you could also copy slides from previous film-based presentations and merge the whole thing.

Verdict
The i700 is big and comparatively heavy so you may not even give it a second glance on the dealer's shelf. But look again because you'll find this Ricoh has a fantastic range of features in a very versatile body. If you're a business user and need a multifunction device it's well worth a look, also I you're a web developer and want a camera that can be used to upload or e-mail pictures it's also worth considering. It does however require someone who's comfortable with computer style menus to set up many of the more advanced multimedia functions. The hardcopy manual that comes with it is an excellent aid here, but you may just need a digital camera to take great still pictures and, if so, there are better choices such as the Nikon Coolpix 995 or Fuji Finepix 6800.
Test by Peter Bargh