Ricoh Caplio 500SE W GPS

RICOH CAPLIO 500SE W GPS Enabled Digital Camera

Although neither the smallest nor sleekest-looking 8-megapixel digicam on the market, Ricoh's is nevertheless a very interesting camera. For starters, it has been designed to meet the needs of a very specific target market: outdoor photographers who need to keep track of where shots were taken and photographers who use map-based workflows. Design features that tailor this otherwise fairly standard digicam to meet these requirements include a robust camera body with all-weather usability and the addition of a Bluetooth radio module that can receive NMEA data streams from external GPS devices.

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Ricoh Caplio 500SE

The Caplio 500SE's impact-resistant body shell, which is the same as the earlier Caplio 500G model, carries a dust resistance grading of JIS 6 and JIS 7 water resistance protection, which allows it to be used for underwater photography in depths of up to one metre. The 3x optical zoom lens (28-85mm equivalent) remains within the housing throughout its zoom range. Capable of withstanding drops of around one metre, the Caplio 500SE has large buttons to allow easy operation with gloved fingers, along with a 2.5-inch LCD monitor and small optical viewfinder.
The main difference between the two cameras is the addition of integrated Bluetooth and GPS facilities. A built-in Bluetooth antenna is located on the lower front panel, behind the Caplio 500SE name tag. The camera's integrated GPS module automatically embeds GPS co-ordinates into captured images and video.

Ricoh Caplio 500SE

It's important to understand that the Caplio 500SE is a highly-specialised imaging device, even though at its heart is a fairly standard 8-megapixel digicam. However, the high price tag ($1399) is partially justified by its robust, weatherproof body, which is well-designed and constructed. (The Caplio 500G, which has similar body specifications, is priced at $1099 by way of comparison.) The addition of a Bluetooth-based, integrated GPS system that actually works is ample justification for the 500SE's higher price point, especially for photographers who actually need location-based data logging.