At that time, three variants of the camera were announced - the stock Caplio G3, the magnesium-coated Model M, and the Model S with ability to tag images with text and audio clips. Now, our friend Yamada Kumio at Japanese website digitalcamera.jp writes of a newly announced fourth variant, the Caplio Pro G3. In the past many of Ricoh's digital cameras have been refined over time to target them at specific business uses, and this seems to be the case once again with the Pro G3.

The new version adds a CompactFlash slot not found on the other G3 models which supports wireless LAN, PHS, GPS and Bluetooth cards. The Caplio Pro G3 also inherits the image-tagging abilities of the Caplio Model S. Unfortunately, the CompactFlash slot cannot be used for storage, only I/O cards...

The Ricoh Caplio Pro G3 will go on sale in Japan from June 25th at a price of ¥99,800, with monthly production set at 5,000 units. Full specifications translated from the Japanese announcement follow:

Ricoh Caplio Pro G3
Record format	Still image Compression: JPEG (Exif v2.2); complies with DCF† and DPOF Text mode TIFF (MMR system ITU-T.6) Movie mode AVI (Conforms to Open DML Motion JPEG format) Sound WAV (Exif v2.2)
Compression	Still image JPEG baseline conforming Text mode MMR system Movie mode JPEG baseline conforming
Video output	NTSC / PAL selectable
Recording medium	SD memory card (3.3V 8 / 16 / 32 / 64 / 128 / 256 / 512MB) / MultiMediaCard, built-in memory (8MB)
Image sensor	1/2.7" primary color CCD (3.34 megapixels total)
Effective pixels	3.24 megapixels
Resolution	Still image 2048 x 1536, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480 Text 2048 x 1536, 1280 x 960 Movie mode 320 x 240, 160 x 120
Record mode	Still image / Continuous / S-Continuous / M-Continuous / Scene (Portrait, Sports, Landscape, Night, Text, High ISO)
Image Quality	Fine / Normal
Image Capacity (8MB)††	Still image 2048 x 1536 Fine: 4 images, Normal: 8 images, 1280 x 960 Fine: 8 images, Normal: 14 images, 640 x 480 Normal: 43 images
Record Length (8MB)	Movie††† 320 x 240 18 seconds, 160 x 120 65 seconds Sound 14 minutes and 2 seconds
Image Size	Still image 2048 x 1536 Fine: Approx. 1.12MB / Normal: Approx. 568KB, 1280 x 960 Fine: Approx. 614KB / Normal: Approx. 307KB / 640 x 480 Normal: Approx. 72KB
Lens	6 elements in 5 groups, F2.6 - 4.7
Zoom	3x zoom, f: 5.5 - 16.5mm (35mm conversion 35 - 105mm), 3.4x digital zoom
Shutter	Still image 8, 4, 2, 1 - 1/2000 second (combined electronic and mechanical shutter) Movie 1/30 - 1/2000 second (electronic shutter)
Focusing distance	Approx. 0.3m - infinity (Macro: Tele 0.16m - 0.6m; Wide 0.01m - 0.6m)
ISO sensitivity	Automatic / ISO125, ISO 200, ISO400 and ISO800
Viewfinder	Real image optical type
LCD	1.8" transmissive amorphous silicon TFT liquid crystal display, approx. 80,000 pixels
Flash	Auto (backlit), On, Slow synchro, Off, Red-eye reduction
Focusing	Auto focus / Manual focus / Fixed (Snap / Infinity)
Metering	TTL-CCD metering (256-segment multi, center-weighted, spot)
Exposure compensation	Manual (+2.0 to -2.0EV in 1/3EV steps)
White balance	Auto / Fluorescent / Cloudy / Incandescent / Outdoor / One touch
Self-timer	Operation time: Approx. 10 seconds / Approx. 2 seconds
Interval timer	Photographing interval: 30 seconds - 3 hours
Card slots	CF card slot (I/O card)†††† x 1, SD card slot (Memory card) x 1
PC interface	USB 1.1 (Windows 98 / 98SE / 2000 / Me / XP compatible)
Audio / video interface	Audio / video out
Battery	AA Alkaline x 2 (NiMH possible) or Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery (option)
Battery life†††††	When using DB43 battery: Continuous - Approx. 3,500 images; Regular use - Approx. 350 images
External power source	Proprietary AC adapter AC-4a (optional), input 100V, output DC 3.8V
External dimensions	124 mm (W) x 43 mm (D) x 56 mm (H) (excluding projections)
Weight	Approximately 180g (Excluding battery / memory card / strap)
Temperature range	0°C - 40°C
More Photos
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† DCF is an abbreviation of "Design Rule for Camera File System", which is a JEITA standard. (Does not ensure complete compatibility between equipment.)
†† Standard still image record size
††† Maximum length at 320 x 240 is 30 seconds, and at 160 x 120 is 120 seconds
†††† Does not support CF memory cards
††††† Battery life is based on Ricoh standard measurement, and may differ depending upon actual working conditions