The Ricoh GR Digital IV is a brand new compact camera with a fixed 28mm lens thats aimed firmly at the serious photographer. Virtually identical in design to the two-year old GR Digital III model, this latest version has a brand new Hybrid auto-focus system, image processing engine, sensor-shift image stabilization, a refined optical filter and a higher-resolution LCD screen. The 28mm fixed focal length lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.9, the GR ENGINE IV image processor promises enhanced image quality and speed, and the LCD screen is a high-resolution 3 inch model with 1.23 million-dots. At the heart of the GR Digital IV is a high-sensitivity 1/1.75-inch CCD sensor with 10 megapixels, images can be recorded either as JPEGs or in the Adobe DNG RAW format, theres a pop-up flash and an external hotshoe which can accept a flashgun or the optional electronic viewfinder, and full creative control over exposure is available.
The start-up time from turning the Ricoh GR Digital IV on to being ready to take a photo is responsive at around 1 second. Focusing is lightning quick in good light thanks to the new hybrid autofocus system. This combines an external 190-point auto focus sensor with the conventional contrast autofocus system used by the previous GR Digital III model, resulting in a focusing speed of 0.2 seconds in good light. The camera also happily achieves focus most of the time indoors or in low-light situations
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