RICOH Wide Angle GX200 vs. Panasonic LUMIX LX3

I must say I am more than happy to be the reviewer of the wide-angle duo, Panasonic’s LX3 and Ricoh’s GX200. I will whet your appetite with the usual scrutiny of the GX200 (for LX3, see here), followed by a duel of the pair. You will soon find out that there is more than the outlook and specifications…

As usual, it comes with a battery pack, a charger, a data cable and an AV cable, plus a CD Rom and a User’s guide. It has a hand strap for the camera but no strap for the lens cap.

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The camera has a professional construction and a giant hand grip. They set the GX200 apart from other compact cameras and put it in the rank of prosumer cameras.

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The 3X zoom lens has an equivalent focal length of 24mm to 72mm. Across the range, the aperture changes from f/2.5 to f/4.4. Zooming is fluid and fast with little motor noise.

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The ring cap can be removed by pressing the button under the flash. What is it for? Well Ricoh has developed an optional auto open/close cap as a substitute for the strap-lacking lens cap.

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The GX200 strangely leaves out the shutter priority mode, thus there is no “S” on the dial. The MY1/2/3 can only save your favorite settings but they cannot function as the S mode. If you must use shutter priority (God, I can’t live without it), use the manual (M) mode instead. In the M mode the camera displays a live histogram and an approximate exposure level. With the two dials (one is below the power button) for changing shutter speed and aperture, the M mode is actually quite easy to use.

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Each of the 4 directions has a secondary function, except the up button. Why not make it a Fn3? This is probably due to the proximity of the button and the thumb pad (near the zoom rocker). The button layout is excellent, I could access all buttons with my thumb and one-hand operation is possible.

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The GX200 has a CCD-shift image stabilization that can be activated in the menu (but not the Fn1/Fn2 buttons). The 12MP sensor has an ISO sensitivity range of 64 to 1600 and can be changed in the menu or by the Fn buttons.

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Beneath the giant hand grip is the battery and card compartment. Hmm…the door hints of an alternative power source. It’s the long-forgotten alkaline batteries (AAA size only)! These cylinders may have less juice and more weight than Li-ion bricks, but they are cheap and everywhere! Good job, Ricoh.

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The camera with the electronic viewfinder (VF) tilted at right angle, impressive look.

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The VF performs reasonably well and has 100% coverage. A vari-angle VF is better than a tilt-able LCD under bright sunlight, but is not so great if you are forgetful or wear glasses.

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When tilted vertically, the VF prevents the flash from popping up. The VF also covers the hotshoe at any angle.

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Below are two sample shots with no photo-touching except resizing. You can see that they are very slightly under-exposed. Also notice the fine details in the last picture.

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If you can live without shutter priority mode and a long tele-end, the camera maybe your perfect match. The GX200 is comfortable to use and it takes good picture – all in a light but durable body.

Now that we have some idea about the duo, the question then becomes “Which will be the wide-angle champion?” Both cameras have a reputable family history (the GX100 and LX2) and the rare 24mm wide-angle coverage. As mentioned in the LX3 review, the difference between lens-shift and CCD-shift stabilization is not significant, especially in wide angle cameras.

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The cameras have about the same size with Ricoh being the wider but thinner and lighter one. The LX3 is located on the left side of the body, so the optional optical viewfinder can be used with the pop-up flash. The GX200’s flash is located in the center and may be obstructed by the electronic viewfinder if the VF is tilted vertically.

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The lens battle is fought between Leica (on the LX3) and Ricoh. The Leica VARIO-SUMMICRON brutally beats the Ricoh Zoom lens in sharpness and maximum aperture. The LX3 has a maximum aperture of f/2 - f/2.8, compared to GX200’s f/2.5 to f/4.4. The Ricoh zooms lens has a longer tele-end though (72mm vs 60mm), so it has more versatility.

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It is hard to decide which camera is more convenient to operate. The GX200 has two dials for quickly changing settings in manual mode with two fingers while the LX3 has an intelligent joystick design that allows me to change settings in PASM mode intuitively with my thumb. Both cameras allow users to save settings and customize buttons, but only the LX3 has switches to change focus mode and aspect ratio. The LX3 is next to impossible to operate with one hand while the GX200 was designed ground-up to do just that (that’s what we call an irony).

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The LX3 has a considerably bigger and better-looking LCD but it doesn’t support an electronic VF (only the optional optical one).

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So, which camera is better? There is no answer to that and it all depends on your application. The LX3 may have better picture quality thanks to Leica lens’ sharpness and better noise control, but this is not everything. First, the difference is not visible unless you do a direct, full-size comparison. Second, the GX200 has a longer zoom range and takes AAA battery. The electronic VF also allows for right-angle framing, which is especially useful if the object is below eye level.

I have to agree with your review. I really wanted to love the Ricoh because it is better made for a real photographer in the way it handles including the controls etc. But in the end what matters most to me is the image quality and at anything other than low iso, the LX-3 is a better camera. Even in the RAW mode, which is what I shoot 98% of the time, the final image capture is better with the LX3 with one exception. I have to say most of the time this will not be noticed in smaller prints even up to 8 x 10 to 11x14. The one category the LX 3 suffers more than the GX200 is CA and fringing. This can be hard to fix even with the best software when it is severe.

Overall as much as I love the look and control of the RIcoh GX200, i am going to sell mine and keep the LX 3.