Ricoh Caplio R6 Review

Hi, I bought the R6 in August 2007, having read this review. Although I was vey pleased with the image quality, I was less impressed with the build quality. In fact within 12 months of purchasing the camera, the lens mechanism had failed three times. (Jammed in the extended position).On the first two occasions, the camera was repaired by Ricoh. The third time, the dealer replaced it with an R8, which promptly failed in exactly the same way. (Oh, and the multifunction button fell off). I have had a look on the web, and I see that others have had similar problems. Ricoh will really need to improve their quality before I am tempted back.

I bought a Ricoh R6 from Keigs Photography in Douglas, Isle of Man 25 September 2007. In the last 12 months, the lens has jammed open 3 times. the first time, it was sent to Ricoh 3 to 4 months ago, and they fixed it stating there was a grain of sand in the lens (we hadnt been near sand), they extended the warranty for another 12 months, 2 months ago, the lens jammed open again, and Keigs Photography fixed it. However, when we went to take pictures of our kids at a special family occasion, the lens jammed open again. I sent Ricoh an email 2 weeks ago, and I keep getting told the Ruby at the Camera dept will phone us, and no one contacts us. Our local shop Keigs keeps saying they cant give us a refund, and Ricoh's aftercare service is rubbish. All we want is our £219 back. We have bought a different make of camera from Jessops and the customer care is excellant.

I bought one in October 2007, my first digital camera. The only mechanical problem I've had is the battery retainer clip breaking off recently, fixed under the extended warranty I bought from Jessops. Jessops said that it was not covered under the manuacturers warranty because it was "accidental damage". My biggest gripe is that the face recognition works no more than 2% of the time, i.e. hardly ever, and the flash is either too strong, giving bleached faces, or too weak, giving the opposite. I have film camera's that cost a fraction of the price that easily out perform it. The zoom and image stabilisation are good. I've got a dslr now, so don't use the Ricoh much.

I too have suffered from the same stuck lens problem. The camera itself took excellent photos - was very versatile and I was very happy with it for photos. However after 1 year the lens got stuck and was taken to the dealer to resolve. The same thing happened a few months later and once again just before the warranty run out. This led it to being fully serviced by Ricoh for the first time. This did not help as it failed completely the next time I used it.

As it was out of warranty and had completely failed I took the camera apart to see if I could identify the problem. This showed me why the lens failed. The lens mechanism is of the quality of a plastic toy. The many cog mechanisms are made of the same materials used in clockwork toys. Needless to say I will in future be buying a more reliable camera brand.