Ricoh PX review

A water, dust and shockproof compact camera with a high-res sensor

Ricoh PX
Rugged waterproof cameras don't have to look bulky and rough

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Resolution charts

As part of our image quality testing for the Ricoh PX, we've shot our resolution chart.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Ricoh PX is capable of resolving up to around 20 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

Ricoh px resolution iso 100

Ricoh px resolution iso 100

Ricoh px resolution iso 100

Ricoh px resolution iso 100

ISO 100, score: 20 (see full image)

Ricoh px resolution iso 200

Ricoh px resolution iso 200

ISO 200, score: 20 (see full image)

Ricoh px resolution iso 400

Ricoh px resolution iso 400

ISO 400, score: 18 (see full image)

Ricoh px resolution iso 800

Ricoh px resolution iso 800

ISO 800, score: 16 (see full image)

Ricoh px resolution iso 1600

Ricoh px resolution iso 1600

ISO 1600, score: 14 (see full image)

Ricoh px resolution iso 3200

Ricoh px resolution iso 3200

ISO 3200, score: 12 (see full image)

Noise and dynamic range

These graphs were produced using data generated by DXO Analyzer.

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO software.

Signal to noise ratio

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

Ricoh px signal to noise ratio

Ricoh px signal to noise ratio

JPEG images from the Ricoh PX are consistently lower than the Canon PowerShot 220 HS, Nikon Coolpix S4150 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS37 upto a sensitivity of ISO 3200 where it just has the edge over the Nikon Coolpix S4150. However these results show that images upto a sensitivity of ISO 3200 will still produce good images with visible but not substantial noise appearing from ISO 1600.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them please click here to read the full article.

Dynamic range

Ricoh px dynamic range

Ricoh px dynamic range

This chart indicates that the Ricoh PX's JPEGs show a gradual decline of dynamic range as the sensitivity increases, and is consistently lower than the Canon PowerShot 220 HS, Nikon Coolpix S4150 and Panasonic Lumix DMX-FS37. This shows that from ISO 400 shadow and highlight detail could easily be lost from images.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.