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The Ricoh WG-80 is an fascinating prospect because it contains a highly-durable building that’s exceedingly waterproof and crushproof, plus it has the power to optically zoom and shoot macro images. On paper, there’s a lot to love. Level-and-shoot cameras priced within the few-hundred-dollar vary aren’t lifeless but, and more and more they’re coming within the type of what we see with the Ricoh WG-80. To distinguish extra clearly from smartphones, this style of waterproof cameras provides greater safety, higher zoom capabilities, and some additional options not simply replicable in cell gadgets. Let’s check out the WG-80 and decide the place its potential is finest realized. Construct High quality The Ricoh WG-80 measures 4.8 inches broad, 2.4 inches tall, and is 1.2 inches at its thickest. On the dimensions, it weighs 6.8 ounces (195 grams) with each the battery and SD card put in. The dimensions and weight mixture do give an impression of hardiness as there’s a little bit little bit of heft to it. The outside is especially product of textured plastic that feels good within the palms, and there’s a metallic plate spanning the entrance face that ought to present further sturdiness. When the digicam is moist, it doesn’t appear to have an effect on the grip and it doesn’t get slippery.
Printed proper on the again of the digicam are a number of stats about its ruggedness. The WG-80 has been examined to be waterproof as much as 45 ft (14 meters), crushproof in opposition to weights as much as 220 kilos of power (100 kilograms), freezeproof to temperatures as little as 14 levels Fahrenheit (-10 levels Celcius), and shockproof in opposition to falls from a peak of as much as 5.2 ft (1.6 meters). It’s protected to say that this digicam will maintain up higher than most conventional digicam our bodies in the case of accidents and might proceed for use in additional circumstances, like underwater, with out specialised equipment. A part of what helps earn its toughness is that apart from the buttons, there are not any shifting components on the surface. Though the Ricoh WG-80 has a 28-140mm f/3.5-5.5 optical zoom lens (full-frame equal), it doesn’t prolong exterior the entrance protecting component and solely strikes encased behind it. From the look of it, the entrance component is held in place with six screws and a plastic panel, nevertheless it doesn’t seem that Ricoh provides alternative glass direct to customers to be simply replaceable. This was stunning to me, and I believed for positive I’d be capable to decide one up cheaply in case of injury like how GoPro does it. LCD Display screen For monitoring, there is no such thing as a viewfinder constructed into the digicam, so there’s a powerful reliance on the LCD display screen to be good. Sadly, this show will not be on the digicam’s checklist of strengths. It’s 2.7 inches which feels cramped, and worse, it’s solely 230,000 dots of decision which suggests every thing appears to be like pixelated and you’ll’t truly inform for those who received a topic in focus till the photographs and video are off the digicam. There’s an anti-reflection coating on the display screen, which is a minimum of a bit useful for viewing in sunny situations, nevertheless it’s not going to eradicate the issue in a method {that a} brighter display screen may assist. Within the menu choices, there’s an “Outside View Setting” mode which isn’t useful for sunny situations. This mode might be set to -2, -1, Off, +1, or +2. Utilizing -2 or -1 is good for when it’s darkish, and also you don’t need the display screen brightness at full energy and blinding you. Off is the default, and +1 and +2 don’t change the precise display screen brightness in any respect in comparison with Off. All this does is lighten the perceived publicity and cut back the distinction of what’s on the display screen, nevertheless it doesn’t make the precise display screen luminance brighter. It simply makes monitoring in sunny situations worse than leaving it at Off.
Picture High quality The digicam is predicated round a 16-megapixel 1/2.3-inch backside-illuminated CMOS sensor. As a result of it is a point-and-shoot digicam, I’ll provide the reference level that an iPhone 13 is 12 megapixels however makes use of a barely bigger 1/1.9-inch backside-illuminated sensor. The WG-80 shoots JPEG images solely, no RAW, and has an ISO vary of 125 to six,400. The 5x optical zoom lens is a 28-140mm equal focal size and makes use of 11 parts in 9 teams, 5 of that are aspherical. The aperture can’t be manually chosen, however it seems that on the broad finish, the aperture vary is f/3.5 to f/4.2, and on the telephoto finish, it’s f/5.5 to f/6.6. This can be a versatile zoom vary contemplating it’s all shifting internally, and I can seize a superb number of photographs which have a distinct really feel to them primarily based on the focal size chosen. 1x zoom. 2.2x zoom. 5x zoom. ISO comparability. 100% cropped. Taking a look at image high quality, I’m not impressed with the outcomes. The primary downside is a noticeable lack of readability, and lots of particulars get washed away at any ISO. Even for an individual who’s trying to seize moments in life, not essentially wonderful pictures, I don’t suppose they might be all that pleased with the smeariness in individuals’s faces nor would they recognize lovely landscapes and trip images which are lowered down to paint and distinction as a result of the element is simply not being resolved in a method we anticipate in 2022.
I don’t imply to slam the WG-80 too harshly as a result of now we have to think about that this digicam is $330. Nevertheless, in a world the place many individuals have competent cameras on their smartphones, there may be definitely an expectation {that a} standalone digicam ought to, at minimal, be simply pretty much as good, and I don’t suppose that’s the case right here in the case of picture high quality. Sure, it will have extra zoom and higher dealing with, however I’m discovering that the outcomes are a little bit powerful to like. HDR mode off. HDR mode on. Shot in portrait mode which is meant to make pores and skin tones look finest. In Program mode, I’m in a position to manually set the ISO sensitivity and set the publicity worth (EV) between -2 to +2, which is useful. One factor that may be irritating in regards to the WG-80 is that most of the image settings are reset to default as soon as the digicam is turned off and again on once more. These embody the EV, white steadiness, ISO, and even the Auto ISO vary. This could possibly be by design to keep away from confusion with first-time digicam consumers who mess around and set the digicam a method and days later get confused as to why their images are popping out trying blue with awful publicity. That stated, I feel Ricoh ought to have simply let the Auto Image mode deal with one of these consumer and let these settings be remembered in Program mode. One of many advantages of utilizing the WG-80 is its extraordinarily shut focusing distance in Macro and Digital Microscope modes. In Digital Microscope mode, it might focus as shut as one centimeter and helps optical zooming as much as 1.8x. Within the field of the WG-80 is a “macro stand,” which is a plastic ring that clips to the top of the lens. It may be used to set the digicam on a flat floor, lens pointed down, to get steady excessive closeups.
In the event you’re considering there can be no gentle coming by way of and subsequently be unimaginable to shoot like this, you’d be proper if it weren’t for the truth that the digicam has six built-in LEDs circling the top of the lens to light up shut objects. As well as, a menu choice permits me to fine-tune the sunshine output with 5 intensities, and based on Ricoh, it’s now double the brightness of its predecessor. Oddly, I can’t change depth in Digital Microscope mode, however I can with common macro capturing. From my testing, the macro gentle isn’t fairly brilliant sufficient to make a lot of an impression when there’s average lighting already. Even within the shade on a sunny day, I wouldn’t discover any distinction between the macro gentle on and off if I wasn’t explicitly searching for the very refined distinction within the shadows. Indoors, the distinction is way more obvious for macro topics, and beneath are examples shot with out the macro gentle, with the macro gentle, and with the usual flash. Macro gentle comparability. Off, Macro gentle on (full energy), Common Flash. Macro images undergo from the identical downside that plagues common capturing on the WG-80, that there’s not a lot element being resolved. It could possibly focus intently, however being in focus with this digicam can generally imply “when it appears to be like least blurry.” Even after setting the digicam on a tripod and utilizing the two-second timer to keep away from digicam shake, I’m not pleased with the smeary picture high quality total. The candy spot for this digicam appears to be focusing from an arm’s size away to perhaps 10 to fifteen ft away; when it’s not so shut you actually see the shortage of readability, and when it’s not so distant every thing is melted collectively and also you solely get an impression of a scene.
Onerous on the Outdoors, Tender on the Inside Tender image high quality points apart, I don’t suppose I’d take into account the WG-80 a complete failure. It’s a easy digicam to function, it might shoot close-up pictures and has macro lights in-built for dimly lit situations, and the construct high quality is made to final. Maybe it’s a failure in imaginative and prescient. There are a heck of a whole lot of random digicam modes on this factor and all kinds of fluff that distract from the very fact this may in all probability make for a fairly good job-site digicam. A comparatively cheap digicam that doesn’t give up could have extra worth than a weaker digicam that takes excellent imagery. Are There Alternate options? One different to the WG-80 can be the Ricoh WG-6. This waterproof point-and-shoot digicam got here out in early 2019 and options most of the similar favorable parts because the WG-80 such because the macro capabilities and six-LED macro gentle. Though it’s older, the digicam could be very shut in value and has a number of upgrades. On the highest, there’s a devoted mode dial as an alternative of urgent a button and biking by way of an on-screen menu. It’s additionally 20 megapixels and might shoot 4K video. The rear show is a contact bigger at 3 inches versus 2.7 inches, however the pixel decision is a lot better at 1.04-million-dots versus 230,000 dots. Elevating the finances to $450, there’s additionally the Olympus Robust TG-6 to think about. The downsides to this digicam could also be that it’s 12 megapixels, doesn’t attain as far on the telephoto finish, and the macro gentle is a $100 add-on piece. Nevertheless, there are stable enhancements on provide as nicely: it might shoot RAW images, the aperture opens as much as f/2 on the broad finish, it has 25 focus factors slightly than 9, and it might do 20 frames per second steady capturing for as much as 14 RAW frames or limitless JPEGs till the cardboard fills. It even has a Professional Seize mode for getting 5 frames previous to urgent the shutter button. In the case of the toughness components like waterproofing, dustproofing, crushproofing, freezeproofing, and shockproofing, the TG-6 matches or barely exceeds the WG-80. Lastly, a little bit exterior the product class however value mentioning nonetheless is the trusty GoPro HERO 10. As an motion digicam, it will be unable to zoom to anyplace close to a 140mm equal just like the Ricoh. Nevertheless, the digicam is fairly sturdy for most individuals and might go underwater as much as 33 ft (10.1 meters). The stabilization and 5.3K 60p video additionally blow the pants off of what the WG-80 provides. As of publication time, the HERO 10 was on sale for $400, which is $70 greater than the WG-80. Ought to You Purchase It? No, not for artwork. The Ricoh WG-80 in all probability isn’t going to be sufficient for you if you’re aiming for a digicam that takes the very best images. Having stated that, I can nonetheless see the utility in having a digicam like this for documenting and work-related duties which is little doubt a goal for Ricoh.
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