A detailed review of the appearance of the 'WG-8' rugged digital camera that can withstand being dropped or submerged in water.
The all-weather digital camera 'WG-8' was released on Friday, July 12, 2024. It has features such as 'capability of continuous shooting at a depth of 20m for 2 hours,' 'clearance of drop tests from a height of 2.1m,' 'load-bearing structure capable of withstanding weights up to 100kgf,' and 'cold resistance that can operate even at temperatures as low as -10°C.' I was able to borrow the WG-8 from Ricoh, so I first took a closer look at its appearance.
WG-8 | Products | RICOH IMAGING
The WG-8 comes in two colors, black and green. Below is the black packaging.
Inside the box were the WG-8 body, battery, charging adapter, USB cable, macro stand, hand strap, instruction manual, warranty card, and waterproofing instructions.
The WG-8 looks like this: The lens and ring light are mounted in the center, and the flash is mounted in the upper right.
The focal length of the lens is 28-140mm in 35mm equivalent. The sensor is a 1/2.3-inch CMOS with an effective pixel count of approximately 20 million pixels.
The back is equipped with an LCD monitor and various operation buttons.
The LCD monitor has approximately 1.04 million pixels and can be adjusted for easy viewing even outdoors in strong sunlight.
The operation buttons are concentrated in a location that can be operated with your thumb.
The top surface is equipped with a power button, shutter button, and mode dial.
The power button is a push button, not a lever. The mode dial allows you to select the shooting mode from 'CALS (mode that recalls customized image quality settings)', 'AUTO', 'P', 'SCN (scene mode)', 'digital microscope mode', 'U1 (user setting 1)', 'U2 (user setting 2)', and 'video mode'.
There is a tripod socket and a battery/card cover on the bottom.
Hidden inside the battery/card cover are the battery slot, SD card slot, USB Type-C port, and HDMI micro output terminal. Note that an SD card is required, as the WG-8 only has 27MB of internal storage.
There is a strap attachment on the left side of the camera from the user's perspective. The name of the silver grip-like part is not mentioned in the instruction manual, and it appears to be just decorative.
There are two strap attachment points on the right side, and the front side is slightly raised so that your fingers can hook onto it when gripping it.
The WG-8 with the strap attached and the battery and SD card inserted weighs 243g.
Although it does not have a large grip, the small protrusions allow your thumb and middle finger to fit snugly onto it, making it easy to hold with one hand.
In addition, the buttons are firm to the touch, making it difficult to press the wrong buttons even when wearing gloves.
This is what it looks like from the front when gripped. The letters 'PENTAX' and 'WG-8' stand out.
By the way, the green model looks like this. Only the color of the front is different.
You can see some examples of photos taken outdoors with the WG-8 in the article below.
I took the rugged digital camera 'WG-8', which can easily take underwater photos, out to the river and took various photos. Review - GIGAZINE
You can also see examples of photos taken in microscope mode in the article below.
I tried taking pictures of the microscopic world with the microscope mode of the sturdy digital camera 'WG-8' - GIGAZINE
The black model of the WG-8 is also available at electronics retailers, and at the time of writing it is being sold on Amazon.co.jp for 59,711 yen including tax.
Amazon | Pentax PENTAX WG-8 Black Full-scale outdoor camera [Full-scale 20m waterproof] 20 million pixels [Wide angle 28mm 5x optical zoom] [Equipped with 6 multi-function ring lights] [Useful for construction and work sites / Equipped with 'CALS mode'] [Equipped with webcam function] [4K video] [Built-in high-performance GPS] | Compact mail order
The green model is available only at official EC shops such as Ricoh Imaging Store and PENTAX Clubhouse. Ricoh Imaging Store is also listed on Amazon.co.jp, and is available for 59,850 yen including tax at the time of writing.
Amazon | Pentax PENTAX WG-8 Green Full-scale outdoor camera [Full-scale 20m waterproof] 20 million pixels [Wide angle 28mm 5x optical zoom] [Equipped with 6 multi-function ring lights] [Useful for construction and site use / Equipped with 'CALS mode'] [Equipped with web camera function] [4K video] [Built-in high-performance GPS] 1500 | Compact mail order
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