I had quick affair with the R6 at "the Largest IT Show in Singapore". It was brief, had to be since I was carrying a couple of bags full of stuff, and so many others calling out for attention. Heres my first impression, retrieved from RAM and comparing to the R5.
First thing you noticed is the zoom lever, its now a ring round the shutter button, very suitable for one handed operation. The screen is larger and the image quality is better, though not a huge improvement, and no more funny static, lines and dots. And yes its slimmer, makes the R5 look a little clunky. The loss in thickness helps a little to avoid blocking the flash, but its still likely to be covered accidentally. I forgot to test the flash as I had basically stopped using it on my R5, so hopefully a review on that would pop up soon.
The user interface is very similar, no problems navigating, but I only played with mainly the ADJ button. Recording movies is now an option in SCN mode, and they placed it right to the end of the menu option. Considering most people would record movies in very spontaneous situations, it seems silly to have to wade through all that options. The third mode is a MY option, didn't check that out, but I believe its for custom settings. There is now a Auto-Hi option for iso menu.
Macro is still superb.
I was very interested in the image quality at high iso and managed to record 2 pictures. One hand operation, and I do have shaky hands.
iso1600
iso64
They were only cropped to protect the innocent shopper, no other adjustments. You can also follow the link to my picasa album for the same pictures.
(17/3/07 Uploaded the full file, any objections from anyone in the picture...leave comment)
You can only pre-order at the show, for S$599 (approx US$380) and delivery is one week. Free gift of 1GB MP4 player, mini-tripod, 2GB SD card, screen protector and cleaning kit. You have to "trade-in" any old camera though. Waiting for my usual seller to receive the stock, they didn't even know about the R6.
10 comments:
1600 is correct for a compact, no ???
Hi ppl
Thanks for reading
Yes it is iso1600. Check below for exif infomation
http://picasaweb.google.com/DSLalbum/RicohR5
Been eagerly anticipating the R6 for months. Despite doubts about quality of initial production run, ordered one in dying hours of IT show, $599 without having to trade in a camera. Delivery promised for around Mar 19.
ISO1600 looks promising. But quite noticeable barrel distortion, do you think?
Brief impressions of R6: design is more mainstream than previous R's, with lots of Casio/Olympus/Nikon/Pentax overtones. Had lusted after an R5 despite flawed design, but by comparison the R6 reeks quality. Can't say the same about the LCD though. Was quoted approx. 250,000 resolution but my Sony W7 with 115,000 is much clearer. R6 feels heavier than expected. Quoted width of '20.6mm at thinnest point' somewhat misleading. Face-detection has only 4 points. Was told the lens is Leica -- wish I could believe that!
Thanks for a GREAT blog.
Hi GT
Ah, I almost ordered one too, but going to wait and see. From initial impression, the R6 is what the 5 should have been, slimmer and better zoom control. Still need to try out the other functions too.
Barrel distortion? Opps didn't quite notice, but guess because its at 28mm.
The screen is ok, but wished it is like the Canon G7's.
Still am glad had the 5, some nice moments would have been missed.
Let us know how the 6 fare when you receive yours.
Hi, Ling
Certainly -- an agonizing wait till next week (actually since October '06!), and I'll have to figure Picasa out first.
Wonder if you know your ISO1600 shot was discussed on DP Review? :-) That's how I found your blog:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1013&message=22392358
Noticed barrel distortion when I tried the R6 at wide angle at the Show. Tend to take pictures of artwork so it's a perennial problem for me. Skew correction may be a way out.
Tried two demo R6's; one was smooth but the other's zoom mechanism had been damaged and juddered badly. Had read R5's zoom was noisy, so held R6 to my ear to listen but Show venue was deafeningly noisy.
Think you may have seen this:
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/caplio/r6/
LCD is 230,000 pixels. Odd they gave free 2.5-in screen protector when R6's is 2.7-in. Was told a leather case is included, but am sceptical.
Your pics are great -- thanks for sharing.
Hi, Ling
Here're some pics, as promised: http://picasaweb.google.com/italicist/RicohR6
Have had a working R6 only since lunchtime yesterday -- they delivered last Friday but it was a lemon so I had to get a replacement from Ricoh. Haven't had much time yet to experiment. These shots are not terribly interesting or well taken but, warts and all, should give you some idea of picture quality (e.g. noise, purple fringing, macro). Will slowly add to the album.
So far, very impressed with feature set, but hugely disappointed with image quality. Am quite alarmed at how noisy and blocky the images are compared to my two-year-old Sony W7, even at 7M Fine setting. Hope there'll be software updates to fix this. Will keep you posted.
GT
Thanks for updating. If you don't mind I will copy your link to others.
Seems pretty ok to me the pictures.
GT
Opps, never mind. Just saw your post on DPReview.
Thanks -- too busy to test camera more fully or to explore features and settings, but have added a few more pics. Picasa seems to resize pics so it's hard to judge noise. But definitely noisier and blockier than even my old W7, particularly Nightscape (W7 had very clean, smooth colour). Flash seems overpowering, even in 'Soft Flash' mode. Corner softness noticeable in the VW Beetle shot but I don't know if this is supposed to be normal. Certainly my W7 (again!) wasn't as bad.
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