Despite all the external design changes, the Ricoh R10 retains its 28-200mm zoom range, still a truly amazing feat of engineering in such a small camera. When the lens is fully extended, the camera measures over 7cm in depth, but thankfully it retracts fully back into the body when it is turned off. The 28-200mm range is incredibly versatile, covering everything from wide-angle landscapes to close-up action photos. Ricoh were the first manufacturer to include a 7x zoom lens in a compact camera, and even though most of the other competitors now offer similarly-specced models, the R10 is still one of the most compact designs on offer. The new rubberized hand-grip makes it much easier to hand-hold the Ricoh R10 and get sharp results at the telephoto end of the zoom range.

The Ricoh R10 only has 10 external controls in total, leaving plenty of room for the new 3 inch LCD screen that dominates the back of the camera. There's a DSLR-like dial on top of the camera which lets you select from the Camera, Movie and Scene options, plus two settings called MY1 and MY2 which allow you to configure the R10 for different uses and allows quick access to each configuration (the camera remembers the settings when it's turned off). There's also an extra option marked Easy, a new shooting mode aimed at beginners. The only options that can be changed when the R10 is set to Easy mode is the Pic Quality/Size, and by pressing the Fn button, turning backlight compensation on. Note that the camera also returns to its default settings in Easy Mode. It's especially useful for the less experienced photographers in your family, or for asking other people to take photos of you when you're on vacation.