Compared to... Canon Powershot SX100 IS

If you are looking for a long-zoom camera that is truly pocketable, there is not an awful lot to choose from. The Canon SX100 offers a 10x zoom in a compact body and is an option if zoom reach is a more important criterion than wide angle. Its lens covers a 35mm equiv. zoom range of 38-380mm. We have included samples for the lowest standard ISO settings and at ISO 1600.

Studio scene comparison (R8 @ ISO 64, SX100 @ ISO 80)  

  • Ricoh R8: Program mode, ISO 64, Default Image Parameters,
    Manual white balance, +1.0 EV compensation

  • Canon SX100 IS: Aperture Priority mode, ISO 80, Default Image Parameters,
    Manual white balance, +0.33 EV compensation
     
  • Lighting: Daylight simulation, >98% CRI
Ricoh R8
Canon SX100 IS
ISO 64, 1/52 sec, F4.2
ISO 80, 1/60 sec, F4.5
3,518 KB JPEG
3,295 KB JPEG

Despite of the Ricoh's 2MP resolution advantage there is only a marginal difference between the output of the two cameras. Both images are sharp and detailed although there are visibly more processing artifacts in the Ricoh sample and it looks over-sharpened. Edge to edge sharpness is good on the Canon while our R8 suffers from a soft bottom right corner.

Colors are natural in both samples and both cameras produce results that are perfectly usable 'out of the box'. On a normal size print it will be almost impossible to spot a difference.