Ricoh PX review

A heavy-duty compact camera from Ricoh that can take all you can throw at it

We’ve all done it; within a second of getting your camera home, you’ll inevitably drop it on the floor. But with the Ricoh PX, this is not a wince-inducing moment, as this piece of kit is set to be tested. Shockproof up to 1.5 metres, waterproof up to 3 metres (for 60 minutes), dustproof and with a scratch-resistant screen to boot, the PX is certainly a hardy camera.

It’s a nice-looking camera too that comes in black, silver or green. There’s no thumb grip but this means the flat design allows it to fit into even the tightest of pockets. There is a problem with the build, however: the lens doesn’t have a shutter, with a clear layer covering it instead. This is due to the need to be sealed and waterproof, but it can become covered in thumb marks, meaning you’re shooting through smudges.

When you delve into the camera the menus are easy to navigate, with a quick control for the flash and a slightly stiff zoom lever on the top. You can work in Auto, set it to one of 22 presets, or make use of the 720p video mode. The PX also comes with red-eye reduction, face priority, shake correction, subject tracking and continuous shooting mode. You can resize and crop photos in camera, and there are creative modes such as Miniaturize and Toy Camera. It’s missing features such as HDR, panoramic, or paint effects, and there are few advanced options for those wanting to progress.

During our testing it sometimes had trouble focusing, and viewing the images on the camera wasn’t great due to its low-res screen. Our test shots were a bit disappointing too, with many underexposed, colours undersaturated, and a lot of noise at higher ISOs. For an affordable waterproof, shockproof camera, however, sacrificing a certain amount of image quality for the assurance of hardware safety will be a compromise some may be willing to take.