Bennett
newbie
Reged: 27/05/2009
Posts: 4
Loc: Salisbury
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Hi  - Hope someone can advise...
I have never been a real photo enthusiast but in my years with a 35mm compact and SLR I would take reasonable photos for the album, and every now and then a really nice one to frame.
I now have a Caplio R8 - and love the digital technology allowing me to take loads of pictures and see them as I shoot BUT I now have hundreds of photos, most of which are rubbish. The flash whites everything out, I only really get decent photos on clear days outdoors, the delay means all pictures are of things that happened a moment ago, and I have to go through dozens of menus rather than just turn a dial on the top...
Is it:
a) me being generally rubbish
b) the Caplio R8 being tempramental and there are better compacts
c) me being fussy and just need to spend a lot more on a bridge compact/entry dSLR with a bounce flash.
Any thoughts..? Please..?
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alanS
The Flameproof Dr Dust
Reged: 30/09/2005
Posts: 4737
Loc: Up North, England.
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Hello,
Delay can cause you to miss a shot so you have to try and work around it by focusing / metering and generally setting things up so that you stand a better chance of getting the shot that you want. Not counting phones and a key ring camera I have three decent enough digital compacts and I've taken (IMHO) good shots with them all. You just have to know the limitations and anticipate how the camera is going to react and work with it, although my Panasonic LX2 seems to have few handling issues.
As for the flash, is it not possible to adjust the strength? On two of my compacts it is.
The controls and button pushing can be a pain but I think that if you stick with it and try and work around the issues you already know about you'll almost certainly increase your keeper ratio even if one off action shots will remain an issue in some circumstances and at the moment I think that DSLR's are still best 
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Alan's defence lawyer claimed that "Booze played no part in his typo's."
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Bennett
newbie
Reged: 27/05/2009
Posts: 4
Loc: Salisbury
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Thanks Alan - that sounds like lots of (a) with perhaps a hint of (c)"DSLR's are still best"
I suspected as much... drat. I need more patience AND more money :-)
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Barney
Baht 'at
Reged: 16/12/2005
Posts: 11466
Loc: Harrogate, North Yorks
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Hi there and welcome to the forum!
I bought my wife an R6 18 months ago and that suffered from a significant shuuter lag. When a large spot of dust appeared on the sensor I had cause to get the cameras swapped and the replacement was much much better. Perhaps this is just a fault that can crop up with Ricohs?
If I were you I'd consider taking/sending the camera back.
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"Wrong on so many different levels."
Blog - Contre Dour - Capturing the ordinary for posterity.
Flickr
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alanS
The Flameproof Dr Dust
Reged: 30/09/2005
Posts: 4737
Loc: Up North, England.
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I'm not sure about it being a matter of too much a) but maybe you are trying to use a digital compact in the same way you would a 35mm?
If you experiment with prefocus and setting the exposure before attempting to press the shutter all the way down the camera may well react quickly enough to capture the shot you want. If not you could think about getting something more modern (I don't know how old your camera is) and hopefully faster acting.
Thinking about the flash again, if there is no flash control other than on or off could you stick a piece of tape or paper over it to reduce the impact a little?
PS - I've just looked at a R8 review and they say -
"Good responsiveness and overall speed (although focus slows down a lot in low light)"
and go on to say -
"Very slow focus and focus hunting in low light"
and
"Poor flash performance, flash not adjustable"
Those comments could maybe explain the problems you've found. If you do decide to look at a new one, I have the Panasonic LX2 and quite like it and I believe that the LX3 is better so that would be pretty near the top of my list if I was looking for a decent higher end compact.
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Alan's defence lawyer claimed that "Booze played no part in his typo's."
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Barney
Baht 'at
Reged: 16/12/2005
Posts: 11466
Loc: Harrogate, North Yorks
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Well, the flash is adjustable on the R6, i.e. you can set it to soft. I can't see the R8 being any different.
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"Wrong on so many different levels."
Blog - Contre Dour - Capturing the ordinary for posterity.
Flickr
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alanS
The Flameproof Dr Dust
Reged: 30/09/2005
Posts: 4737
Loc: Up North, England.
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I've never played with the camera myself and an uncontrollable flash does sound a little strange on a relatively high end model but "Poor flash performance, flash not adjustable" is what dpreview said.
Strange and probably annoying if true...
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Alan's defence lawyer claimed that "Booze played no part in his typo's."
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Bennett
newbie
Reged: 27/05/2009
Posts: 4
Loc: Salisbury
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Good points both
Interestingly I originally bought the R7 as it had great reviews (best lens in price range and the quickest at the time) but they sent me an R8 when it siezed almost immediately. I hadnt seen the R8 reviews for that reason but it appears the R8 has lost its lead and it is less compact :-(
The R8 flash has different settings - none of which I find very good and more fiddly than the R7 to move between; use the red eye and everyone has gone home by the time it takes the picture.
I will explore the settings a bit more (might even look at the manual...  ) but would be tempted to get an entry level or used dSLR before spending £300+ on the new LX3 - although I would lose the 'pocket size' benefit, at these prices I need one camera for all occasions.
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alanS
The Flameproof Dr Dust
Reged: 30/09/2005
Posts: 4737
Loc: Up North, England.
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Just to make you want one...
On the LX2 and presumably on the LX3 too you press a button and you get exposure control, press it again and you get flash exposure control. You can also individually set the aperture and shutter speed.
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Alan's defence lawyer claimed that "Booze played no part in his typo's."
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Bennett
newbie
Reged: 27/05/2009
Posts: 4
Loc: Salisbury
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You swine :-)
Perhaps I could justify it if I sell my R8 and the un-used Sanyo Xacti thats been lying around since Xmas...
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alanS
The Flameproof Dr Dust
Reged: 30/09/2005
Posts: 4737
Loc: Up North, England.
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That sounds like a plan.
I think that a decent compact is worth having as there are occasions when you don't really want the bulk of a DSLR. Even the smallest Olympus DSLR dwarfs something like an LX2/3. Did I mention they shoot RAW?
You could always wait and see what micro 4/3rd offering Olympus brings out, although whatever surfaces may well be at last initially expensive.
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Alan's defence lawyer claimed that "Booze played no part in his typo's."
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