|
[ Go to March 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Cheryl Dominianni
With the price of digital cameras falling dramatically, why spend close to $1,000 for one? The answer, of course, is features. Ricoh recently released its feature-rich RDC-2 (the RDC-1 reviewed in our April 1996 issue is also still available). It's versatile, compact and produces excellent digital images. Weighing under a pound and measuring approximately 1 by 5.75 by 3 inches, it's small enough to fit into your pocket and can run on standard AA batteries, although I strongly suggest spending the few extra dollars for a nickel cadmium battery. The RDC-2 offers full multimedia capabilities: It can record and play back still images, continuous-motion scenes and sounds (an AV cable is included for TV monitor playback). Although limited to 10 seconds, the sound recording is a useful way to annotate photos, especially when you're away from your home or office. When using the optional LCD panel, you can immediately play back the images and erase any you don't want-a feature I found extremely useful. At high resolution, the RDC-2 records images at 768x576 pixels in 24-bit color. It has 2MB of built-in memory to store up to 38 images; optional flash memory cards allow up to 20MB of storage. Ricoh includes its own PhotoStudio software, which makes transferring, editing and enhancing the photos a breeze. If you're serious about digital photography, the RDC-2 is an excellent choice. Price: $999.95 (includes LCD monitor) Platforms: 3x, 95 Ricoh Corp. 800-225-1899, 702-352-1600 Circle #872 or visit Winfo Online WinMag Box Score: 4.0 Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc.
|