Ricoh Caplio R4/R5 - Are they any good?

[Confused]

I've been looking at the Ricoh Caplio R4 and R5 models. Unlike a lot of compact digital cameras, they seem to have optical zoom of 6x/7x which must be good, but cant find too many reviews of the performance regarding image quality, features, etc.

Does anyone have any experience of them?

[tim11]

Many people complain about noise level in Panasonic cameras. They don't know about Ricoh's. Noise, purple fringe, softness, smears? R5 has it all. Don't take my words for it, here is Ricoh Caplio R5 review from PhotographyBLOG (http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_ricoh_caplio_r5.php), complete with sample images.

Compact long zoom? I'd go for Panasonic TZ1 (10x optical). Or Canon A710 (6x). Both have IS.