Ricoh PX July 2011

This is the Ricoh PX, Ricoh's first consumer level waterproof camera Now it can be plunged into depths of up to three meters, and it can stay under water for up to an hour at a time.

Now there are many waterproof camera out there, but a lot of them don't look like this.

they have typically bright colors.

Where as this one is available in black and also in white, but it's more subdue and I think it looks more like a typical camera.

So perhaps when you're not by the pool it won't stand out quite so much.

In fact the only real sign that it is a waterproof camera, is that when you turn it on, the lens doesn't protrude out of the front of the camera.

Now, that lens is a 28th to 140 mm lens, so that's got an optical range of five times, which is pretty decent for a waterproof camera.

It's got a sixteen megapixel sensor with image stabilization, and the display on the back is a little small at two point seven inches, and the resolution isn't terrific, it's a two hundred and thirty thousand dot screen. Well it's got a lot of very nice features this camera. First up, we've got the ability to select five of your favorite setting from the scene modes so you can get quick access to them.

Now you access that by setting, or by pressing this premium button here and you can see all the settings just there. By pressing the star button, that will apply it as your favorites. So, you've got quick access to them that way. Now when you're accessing those scene modes, if you're ever unsure of what the scene mode causes the camera to do, then you can just pull the zoom lever slightly to the right there where there's the magnifying glass and that will bring up some on screen information telling what that scene mode can be used for.

Now, also there are some interesting features when you're in the regular shooting mode. If you press this button here, you can get the brightness or the darkness this, up bar from the right of the screen, so you can adjust that, and you can get the color temperature along the bottom, so you can have even cooler or a warmer temperature.

So really quick to access and a very intuitive feature.Now one manual override that you have over one of the scene modes modes is the ability to change the size of the focus area when using the miniaturized mode. Now the miniaturized mode is a fun setting that will make like photos of people or cars look like toys when taken from a particular angle.

And it recreates the effects that you can have with an expensive digital SLR using a tilt shift lens. Now, what that does to the camera, is that it either blurs the picture, or the top or the bottom, and keeps the center in focus, now with this overrides, you're able to move the positioning of that focused area, and change the size of it, to get some rather interesting effects.

Now, beyond stills, this camera is also capable of shooting H D video that's at 720p resolution, and there's a dedicated button just here so you can quickly access that feature. Now with it being a waterproof camera, all the seals are very tightly closed which makes it more resilient to dust and sand as well.

So it's really ideal or a beach holiday or one by the pool. No, I didn't take it to the beach or the pool with me this weekend, but I did accidentally drop it in the fish tank and it survived that fine. So, just on the bottom here, you've got your waterproof, well-sealed chamber for the battery, your SD card.

And you've also got your charger, charging point over USB be there too. Now, as well as being waterproof, Rico claims that this camera can be dropped from a height of about one point five meters. Now I was Prepared to try this with this model. However, it does also come with a case to give it that extra durability.

and we'll be buying the Rico PX and putting it through its lab paces to see how it compares to other waterproof and ones that are current on the market. But, in the meantime, if you want to read reviews of other waterproof cameras, and hundreds of other digital cameras, go to our website, at which.codouk/ cameras