Review 2 of 22
Summary:
I can’t exactly remember when I bought my Ricoh RDC 300 but it was probably sometime back around 1995. I have used this camera every day since then and it is still going as good as the day I bought it. The Play/Record switch gets a little confused occasionally but it’s probably just some dust in the connectors. It’s not a real hassle.
I bought the camera originally because I needed one to catalogue all of my stock at my antique store and to make some photos to build a webpage. Since then it has been worked without mercy and has been used to produce brochures and websites for two other businesses I have developed and also for countless family and travel shots. It has not let me down once.
That is not to say that it does not have its limitations. Let’s face it, it has a capacity for 640 x 480 resolution which has adequate for most of my needs in the past. I am now about to upgrade to an RDC7 or similar megapixel camera so I thought it necessary to at least write what I know about the 300 for the benefit of those in the market for a camera of this type. Especially since the reviews here are the only real way to determine what’s right for you, as they are written by people who use the equipment in everyday situations.
This is a flashy little camera and a real head turner. It never fails to draw the attention of the “gizmo aware”. The movable LCD screen is a big plus especially for those overhead shots and upside down or right way up the screen always gives you the right way up version. At 1.8” it is small but the definition is not too bad, considering. It is no good in the bright daylight though, and I always keep a small card and a blob of bluetack handy to use as a shade. A viewfinder would be nice but I doubt whether I would have used it anyway.
The controls are well positioned beneath the screen and are very easy to use. It also keeps the dust out of them and protects them from the odd bump. I have dropped this camera once on the road but it survived in tact. It can be a slippery little sucker if you don't use the wrist strap.
The camera’s only real drawback is the resolution. At the time when I bought it, 640 x 480 was “the ant’s pants” and although many years and technological advances have passed it by, I still find this little gem to be a winner. At 300 dpi (which is the resolution used by most magazines when they print a photo) it will produce an image about 4.1 cm x 5.4 cm, about the size of a matchbox. OK, this is not big, and not big enough for my current requirements, but at 100 dpi which is fine to print out even on gloss paper this will produce an image of 12.2cm x 16.4cm.
I can produce brochures on coated 100 gsm matt paper with 200 dpi images that the average person would be hard pressed to tell from 300 dpi. So for those purposes the camera is fine. I paid around US$450 when new but now I would suspect you could pick one up for a fraction of that.
Another draw back is that you can in no way expect to take shots of moving subjects. It just won’t happen. The shutter lag is such that by the time the shutter clicks the subject is no longer in frame. I have not had a problem with this because I accept the limitations of the camera and I know it was not designed as an action sports camera. Nuf said.
All in all, apart from the 640 x 480 resolution, the shutter lag, and a couple of minor software annoyances I have found the Ricoh RDC 300 an absolute pleasure to use and worth every cent I paid for it. Strengths:
Its ever so reliable, portable, and practical in all but a few situations. Good software, and the inbuilt 4 megs is great. Weaknesses:
Slow shutter lag, and relatively low resolution. Similar Products Used:
RDC7, Minolta Vectis 300, Customer Service:
In the whole time I have never required any apart from a phone call to the service department with a query. They were really helpful.
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