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Ricoh follows up a camera "cult" favorite with an upgraded model, but noise issues continue.
I'm beginning to think that my search for the ultimate pocket camera is turning into some weird version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. "This one is too noisy, and this one is too slow, but this one is juuuussssssst...wrong." Though I've played with most of the major "professional" pocket-sized digital cameras out there (Canon 09, Sigma DP1, Panasonic LX3, etc.). I haven't found anything yet that quite fits the bill for me.
One model that caught my attention not long ago-as well as the attention of other photographers out there-was the Ricoh Caplio GX100, a 10-megapixel digital camera with a sharp 24-72 m m lens and a strange-looking tilting electronic viewfinder that slides onto the hot shoe. Though Ricoh is a name that is more often associated with copiers than with digital cameras, the GX100's classic but comfortable design, good image quality, and host of interesting accessories-including a wide-angle lens conversion kit-earned it a cult following among photographers.
The Achilles' Heel of the GX100-as is common with many cameras in this class-was its small imaging sensor which generated lots of ugly noise when shooting at higher ISOs. (The only model in the pocket shooter category that doesn't suffer from this problem is the Sigma DP1, which uses a larger "full-frame" sensor. But if you read my mixed review of the DP1 in the June issue of PDN, you'll know that camera has some other...