PHOTO QUALITY. This 16-megapixel advanced point-and-shoot camera captured images with very good quality. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were sharp. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And very good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The GR II captured flash shots that were good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has good, relatively even coverage.
LENS. The lens has a fixed focal length; it has no zoom capability. The lens also has wide-angle (28mm) capability that's useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. Although this model doesn't have an image stabilizer, it did a very good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake in our tests. Shooting with digital telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did an excellent job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed well but sometimes produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were very good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Ricoh GR II powers up very quickly.
VIDEO. The Ricoh GR II takes good video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080. As for sound, it captures good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Unlike most advanced point-and-shoot models, this camera does not include a viewfinder, which means you'll need to rely on the LCD to compose your photo or video. This advanced point-and-shoot is much smaller, thinner and lighter than most in its class.
