Ricoh R8

Best Price: If you look at the range of digital cameras available at the moment youll probably notice two things. At the competitive end of the market, theres a proliferation of great value compact cameras, designed for people who want to carry an instant snapper in their pocket. These have been getting easier to use while getting more and better features at a lower price. At the other end of the scale lies the enthusiasts camera. Even among amateur photographers, these are increasingly becoming DSLR (digital single lens reflex) models, with heaps of manual settings for getting the most out of your camera. This is one of the big growth areas in digital photography, with prices falling rapidly. But the latest entry-level devices still cost a lot more than most compact cameras. Features: The R8 from Ricoh is an attempt to bridge the gap between the value and quality cameras. By offering a compact camera that has some of the manual settings of an SLR instantly available, but without forcing you to flick through endless menus, it aims to give keen photographers the power to take better photos. You can do clever things like alter the white balance, adjust the ISO setting and even nudge the auto-focus to concentrate on the correct part of the photo. It has a good-quality LCD screen on the back to try and show you exactly what youll be getting when the picture is taken. You can even perform simple edits on a picture while its still in the camera. It also comes with a wide-angle lens with 7x optical zoom (equivalent to 28-200mm) and will take pictures up to 10-megapixels in size. Performance: To a certain extent, having to fiddle with the settings to get the most out of a camera detracts from the core, ready-to-snap, pocketability of a compact model. There are fully automatic modes however, and the usual scene modes (portrait, landscape, sports and so on) are also present, so you can rely on the cameras settings to take the kind of shot youre after. Although its automatic functions are impressive, it isnt quite as good on a moments notice as some of the models made specifically for those who just want to point and shoot. Ease of use: The other downside of its sophistication is that its trickier to use well and youre only going to get the best results if you know what youre doing. It helps, for instance, to be well-versed with white balance and what impact different ISO settings are going to have on your pictures. While this isnt rocket science, youve got to be keen enough to take an interest, which detracts from the cameras overall ease of use. However, if youre eager to experiment, youll probably find the manual settings easier to find and use than on a standard compact. Value for money: For all the features youre getting, Ricoh is offering an excellent price. However, its still stuck in the middle: accept fewer advanced features and you could get a good compact for less; or pay a bit more and get an SLR, which will almost certainly take your photography to another level.