14 DAY TRIAL // HTC today has unveiled a little tube-shaped action camera in an attempt to put some pressure on the success of GoPro devices.
But HTC isn’t the only device maker unleashing cameras today. Ricoh, the company behind Pentax shooters, has announced two new rugged cameras, arriving in the form of WG-30 and WG-30W.
A few months back, Ricoh unveiled the WG-20 compact camera with rugged properties that has been available for purchase starting this March. A few months later, the company believes the time is right to push out a successor for the device.
The WG-30 and WG-30W are compact cameras built for endurance
The WG30 and WG-30W are here to fill in the shoes of the above-mentioned WG-20 and the only thing telling them apart is the presence of the built-in Wi-Fi in the WG-30W model. Both models will hit the market as soon as December, just in time for the holiday season.
The two cameras are aimed at action lovers who like to record their adventures for posterity. To achieve this end, the two cameras come equipped with a 16MP 1/ 2.3-inch type CMOS image sensor with 5x optical zoom lens that offers 35mm focal length equivalent of 28-140mm and max aperture of f/3.5-5.5.
Working hand in hand with the processor is a new image processor, which Ricoh says is faster and can perform smoothly in low-lighting conditions.
Furthermore, the resulting images are expected to be riddled with little noise even at top sensitivity of ISO 6400.
If you’re concerned your hands will be shaky from all the adrenaline pumping through your system preventing you from shooting decent footage, Ricoh has your back with a triple anti-shake system, which is supposed to minimize blur.
The two cameras are so rugged that they can be utilized to capture video even in freezing environments where temperatures drop to -10 degrees Celsius / 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The devices are also shockproof sustaining falls from up to 1.5 m / 4.9 ft and waterproof down to 12 m / 39.3.
The new compact cameras can be used to shoot macro
Ricoh’s new compact camera should also perform quite well in macro photography. The cameras have six lights around the lens, so when shooting a close-up subject, you will have the necessary lighting.
The producing company is also throwing in a macro stand that should allow users to get a better focus of subjects located 1cm away.
WG-30 and WG-30W support high-speed face detection, so they can pick up to 32 faces in just 0.03 seconds. Smile Capture is another feature onboard, which means the camera will snap a photograph when it detects a smile in the subject.
The camera won’t be able to support RAW footage, but they can shoot full HD videos at 30fps. Shutter speeds are set between 4 seconds and 1/4000th of a second.
Both models take advantage of a fixed 2.7-inch 230k-dot LCD screen to help users compose their shots. Additionally, the WG-30W model has Wi-Fi, so users will be able to transfer content to their smartphone or tablet wirelessly.
If the cameras have sparked your interest, Ricoh says the WG-30 will arrive in December with a price-tag of $299.95 / €235 while the WG-30W should make an appearance around the same time for $350 / €274.
