All-weather extreme compact is shockproof, freezeproof, crushproof, and shoots 4K 30p
Although the news of the Ricoh GR III took the lion's share of the headlines, the company also announced the Ricoh WG-6 – its new flagship all-weather compact camera that can shoot at depths of 20 metres underwater, survive falls of 2.1 metres, withstand temperatures of -10°C / 14°F and withstand up to 100kg of crushing pressure.
Once you've finished torturing the camera, you might also enjoy taking photographs with its 20MP CMOS sensor and 4K video at up to 30 frames per second. The ISO can be increased to 6400 and, thanks to the integral multi-application Ring Light that features six bulbs positioned around the lens, those underwater macro shots will feature bright, uniform lighting.
The sensor is a step up from the 16 megapixels of its sibling, the Ricoh WG-60, and the WG50, whose anything-proof construction made it one of the best cameras for kids in our book.
The 5x optical zoom gives the WG-6 a focal range of 5-25mm – which is equivalent to around 28-140mm in 35mm terms – and a minimum focusing distance of just one centimetre. It also boasts an Interval Shooting mode, for effortless fixed-point photography.
The camera features a three-inch, million-dot LCD screen with anti-reflection coating to reduce glare and reflections when shooting outdoors. It also contains a built-in GPS that automatically records location data to your files, and even adjusts the built-in clock to local time.
It seems that camera manufacturers are sensing an uptick in holiday-friendly cameras, with the beach-ready Fujifilm FinePix XP140 also being freshly announced.
The Ricoh WG-6 will be available from the end of March at a retail price of £379.99 / $400.
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James has 22 years experience as a journalist, serving as editor of Digital Camera World for 6 of them. He started working in the photography industry in 2014, product testing and shooting ad campaigns for Olympus, as well as clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal. An Olympus, Canon and Hasselblad shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes.
