And the award for the most disappointing new camera of 2022 goes to…

Well that’s 20 minutes of my life I won’t get back. After spending that long scrutinising the specifications of Ricoh’s new WG-80 waterproof camera, eager to discover how it improves upon the the previous WG-70 (launched in Feb 2020) I can spot only one new ‘feature’ for the WG-80.

New sensor? More zoom? Increased toughness? Woah there, dial back the expectations, dear reader. No: the WG-80 renders its predecessor totally obsolete thanks to…. its six macro ring light LEDs being twice as bright as before. Oh, and the exterior styling is a little more subtle this time around. And that’s it – the WG-80 shares all the same tech specs and features with the WG-70.

The Ricoh WG-80… (Image credit: Ricoh)

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… and the WG-70. Spot the difference. (Image credit: Ricoh Imaging)

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The Ricoh WG-60 – seem familiar? (Image credit: Ricoh)

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If you’re unfamiliar with that camera, you could just read our original news report (opens in new tab) on the WG-70 and you’d also be right up to speed on the new WG-80. But since my editor is paying me to write content not simply paste a web URL, we’d better super-size the déjà vu and rehash those specs and features all over again:

(Image credit: Ricoh)

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Back in 2020 we lamented (opens in new tab) the WG-70’s lack of 4K video recording, so naturally the WG-80 sticks to good ol’ 1080p (at just 30fps) – after all, if it aint broke, why improve it? Also carried over from the WG-70 is the 16MP backlit CMOS sensor, 28-140mm-equivalent internally zoomed lens with its f/3.5-5.5 variable max aperture. 

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/and-the-award-for-the-most-disappointing-new-camera-of-2022-goes-to

Steve Liem

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