Ricoh CX1

"To be honest, the only problem I have with this camera is the fact that not enough people are selling it!" say the editors at Steves-Digicams.com. The Ricoh CX1 is the only compact digital camera that offers significant competition to the Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR for shooting indoors or in low-light conditions. Like the F200EXR, the Ricoh CX1 uses new technology to boost image quality. Called Dynamic Range Double-Shot mode, the 9-megapixel sensor on the CX1 shoots two back-to-back images per shutter push. Each photo is recorded at a different exposure, then the CX1 combines them to create an image with a dynamic range that "far surpasses most other compact cameras," says Mark Goldstein of PhotographyBlog.com.

Critics are unanimous about the CX1's stunning image quality, which unlike the Fuji F200EXR, always records images at full resolution. (Some of the F200EXR's features work only at reduced resolution.) Testers at Which? magazine find excellent yet subtle color reproduction, as well as superbly contrasted shadows and highlights. In Goldstein's tests, colors are less saturated than the F200EXR, but shots at 1600 ISO hold their own for small prints and web pages. However, Goldstein notes two glitches in Ricoh's Dynamic Range (DR) system. First, the consecutive shots can be slightly misaligned, creating soft, out-of-focus images. Second, the DR mode impacts color. "The CX1 may preserve more visible details, but it seems to do so at the expense of colour accuracy, with images having a slightly washed-out look when directly compared to shots taken in the Normal shooting mode," he says. While Ricoh's method yields positive results, it can't match the versatility of Fujifilm's EXR technology, nor does it offer the flexibility of manual aperture and shutter priority settings. Nevertheless, the CX1 has a "few noticeable tricks up its sleeve," according to Goldstein.

For starters, it has a longer yet fully retractable 7.1x zoom lens. The lens spans a whopping 28 mm to 200 mm and comes equipped with sensor-shift stabilization. Zoom controls mounted around the shutter release offer "effortless zooming," and the camera has "blazing fast" performance in tests at Steves-Digicams.com. Whereas the F200EXR lopes along at 1.4 frames per second (fps) for three continuous shots, the CX1 cranks out 4 fps at full resolution and 30 fps at the 2-megapixel resolution. Start-up to first snap is 0.75 of a second. Other goodies include a stunning 3-inch LCD with a 920,000-pixel resolution, an electronic leveling meter for straight horizon shots, a smooth imaging engine, VGA video, multi-target autofocus and 88 MB of internal memory. The sleek, stylish camera comes in silver, black and champagne pink.