May 2, 2006 – Ricoh took a step for the trendier last week when it announced a color variation to the Ricoh Caplio R4. The 6-megapixel compact digital camera will now come in a mystic blue housing in addition to the original black and silver colors. The press release stated the new color “suggests a mystical lake, just in time for the outdoor summer season.”
The Ricoh Caplio R4 has a 7.1x optical zoom lens with digital vibration reduction. According to the press release, the R4 zoom is “the highest in its class.” The asterisk points out that the R4’s “class” is “as of April 28 for compact digital cameras 150grams or less.” Indeed, the Panasonic Lumix TZ1 with its 10x optical zoom lens weighs 230 grams and the new Kodak EasyShare V610 weighs in at 160 grams with its 10x optical zoom.
The black and silver R4 cameras became available in March and the mystic blue models will be stocked on store shelves this month. Ricoh plans to manufacture 7,000 of the mystic blue units each month. The Ricoh Caplio R4 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 153,000 pixels and a brightness adjustment. It runs on a lithium-ion battery that can shoot 330 pictures before needing a recharge. The automatically-oriented digital camera has several scene mode presets, including a High Sensitivity mode that uses an ISO 800 setting.
