Design and Performance

Design

Again, the design of the CX3 owes much to the design of its predecessors. The body has a distinctly retro feel, with solid lines and a reassuring weight of 185g. The CX3 has a brushed-steel finish, while a solid plastic handgrip is also present. The control buttons on the model are reassuringly simple, leaving both the top plate and rear of the camera uncluttered.

A simple mode-dial on the camera’s top plate adds to the retro feel, while a joystick-style control on the rear of the camera offers access to focus, flash and quick adjust buttons. The CX3’s menu system is basic and lacks order, though this isn’t to say that it’s a pain to use, while when shooting the CX3 benefits from an on-screen display indicating whether or not the camera is level.

Performance

The Ricoh CX3 is a pleasure to use. Not only is it comfortable in the hand, but also the focusing system is sharp and prompt, though at the tele end of the zoom this does slow a touch. As mentioned previously, the high-resolution screen is a joy, making both shooting and reviewing images a pleasure. One point of note is a slight issue with the metering system of the CX3 – quite often the camera errs on the side of underexposure. However, this is something that we see on many a digital camera, owing to the fact that underexposure is often the safest option because it preserves highlights.