In a world where appearance is everything, the latest Ricoh GR Digital II is a compact camera that could well be the ugly duckling of them all. Coloured in black and built in a 25mm thin magnesium alloy body, the design of the Ricoh GR Digital II remains very similar to the original Ricoh GR Digital and keeps a very retro-inspired look. Nothing really wows us about its appearance and this is precisely what this camera is not about as its real talking points lay in its photographic capabilities and features. The beauty of this camera takes form in the fact that it equips a 10 megapixel CCD sensor, a 2.7-inch auto-rotating LCD, 28-mm lens and offers impressive JPEG and RAW recordings, and yes, Digitalrev finds this a beautiful combination.

Reaching into the heights of 10 megapixels on a new 1/1.75-inch CCD, the small Ricoh GR Digital II exhibits impressive image quality and refined detail that even professionals can nod to. The newly developed GR ENGINE II image processor also helps to keep excellent resolution and gives accurate tone characteristics and colour saturation while striving to dramatically reduce noise. Retaining the merits of its predecessor, the GR Digital II also offers a 28mm equivalent lens with a F2.4 aperture, f5.9mm focal length, the GR Lens is said to be widely popular for its high resolution feel and low distortion.

The Ricoh GR Digital II is also built with an interesting acceleration sensor that measures a camera’s tilt while displaying to users if the camera is level through its large 2.7-inch LCD. The benefit of this feature enables users to shoot a perfectly balanced photograph when struggling to keep a camera levelled. Like its predecessor, one of the main attractions on this camera could be its RAW capturing mode welcomed by many professionals and enthusiasts. With the new GR Digital II, writing time for RAW mode has been reduced to as short as approximately 3.8 seconds and with boosted buffer memory, the next shot can be taken while the first is still being written.

We don’t expect the Ricoh GR Digital II to be winning any style points soon, but that is hardly a concern. The Ricoh GR Digital II was made not to be gazed at, but rather aims to achieve the most important duty of a camera and that is to take quality photos. Boasting a high 10 megapixel resolution, improved noise reduction and with the option to shoot in RAW mode, the Ricoh GR Digital II is a nice upgrade from the Ricoh GR Digital and shows us that it doesn’t need a flashy exterior to continue its winning ways.