Ricoh WG-80 Black Waterproof Digital Camera Shockproof Freezeproof Crushproof (International Version)

Performance:Great camera and performance. Suitable for outdoor activityImage Quality:Good for outdoor activity

Completely Disappointed

Purchased this a a christams gift for my wife as she had killed her Canon while on a trip to Mexico and refuses to use my Nikon D90 due to its complexity. I was originally going to replace her dead camera with another Canon or Nikon but the WF-30W caught my eye due to price point, feature set and reviews of the WG-20. What a Complete Mistake!!!! Lets starts with the pictures that the camera takes while in full auto mode. The pitures are either underexposed, overexposed, or just completley blown out. I was able to compensate some for these issues by taking it out of auto mode, but the images were still not very good, besides the reason why people buy this camera is so they can can just point and shoot. As for the wireless what genius decided to use the same IP ... MorePurchased this a a christams gift for my wife as she had killed her Canon while on a trip to Mexico and refuses to use my Nikon D90 due to its complexity. I was originally going to replace her dead camera with another Canon or Nikon but the WF-30W caught my eye due to price point, feature set and reviews of the WG-20. What a Complete Mistake!!!! Lets starts with the pictures that the camera takes while in full auto mode. The pitures are either underexposed, overexposed, or just completley blown out. I was able to compensate some for these issues by taking it out of auto mode, but the images were still not very good, besides the reason why people buy this camera is so they can can just point and shoot. As for the wireless what genius decided to use the same IP address that in the IT industry is commonly reserved for routers. Out of all of millions of private addresses Ricoh uses a standard one. Due to this conflict good luck getting the wireless to work as it confuses the wirless device you are trying to connect to it. It can't figure out that you are trying to connect to the camera rather than the router. Even if you turn off your router more than likely the neighboor's router will also interfere. The only time I have been able to get the wirless working was when we were skiing. As long as we were on the slopes worked, soon as we hit the lodge quit working as again the wireless internet interfered.

Disappointing

Overall, the Ricoh WG-80 lacks quality in every aspect.Photo images: at 16MP I knew it was slightly lower than other similarly priced cameras, but the actual quality of the photos taken is sub 12MP. The images it was capturing were comparable to digital photos I was taking ten years ago. It just gets worse once you get to digital zoom.UI & Modes: the side scrolling mode selection gives you a sense of extended feature modes. In reality, they all lack appropriate functionality. It takes forever to get it to focus on closeup modes; I wasn't able to get any decent free-hand night shots, and sometimes auto mode would give the same shot taken a couple seconds apart with a red tint and others with a blue one. Last, the instruction manual does state that after a period ... MoreOverall, the Ricoh WG-80 lacks quality in every aspect.Photo images: at 16MP I knew it was slightly lower than other similarly priced cameras, but the actual quality of the photos taken is sub 12MP. The images it was capturing were comparable to digital photos I was taking ten years ago. It just gets worse once you get to digital zoom.UI & Modes: the side scrolling mode selection gives you a sense of extended feature modes. In reality, they all lack appropriate functionality. It takes forever to get it to focus on closeup modes; I wasn't able to get any decent free-hand night shots, and sometimes auto mode would give the same shot taken a couple seconds apart with a red tint and others with a blue one. Last, the instruction manual does state that after a period of no use it goes into standby mode, but it's almost the same amount of time as turning it back on.Case/body: the only good comments are that the case does feel sturdy and provides a good grip, and that the battery life is also pretty good. I would only need to charge it after about four days of on and off use throughout each day.That being said, after the first day of being tossed into the sea, the front lense developed an outer ring outline. At first I thought it was water that had seeped in, but I think the water made the sealant stand out visually.Unfortunatelly, water did seep in. Even though I rinse with fresh water, after a few sea trips I could feel debris/salt under the power button and it became a hassle to turn it on/off. At that point water hadn't actually penetrated inside the camera, but about a about a month after purchase, the seal on the charging port failed completely. I let it dry and cleaned the ports, but the contact points were damaged and it was very difficult to charge after that.Last, as I was removing my SD card to start a claim, I saw that the seal around the battery compartment (there's one for the charging cable and another one for the battery/sd card) had also failed.In summary, I've purchased a few different waterproof cameras over the years. They've all been priced between 250 and 400 and would be considered good quality consumer cameras (not professional). This is not on par with any of them. If this is the intended quality of the images taken, then it's way over-priced even if disregarding the seal failures or waterproof feature. As a whole, there's just no quality built into this camera and I would definitely not recommend it to anyone.

Fine underwater camera

What sold me on this model was the internal flash which many other models lack. Ricoh remains faithful to giving consumers the best bang for their buck. I was able to connect an inexpensive slave strobe using a fiber optic cable thanks to the built-in flash, but needed to avoid full wide angle with the slave connected. I had no issues with the WiFi or battery life. The camera has few manual settings. Since I plan to use this while on SCUBA, I welcome the assisted settings. Exposure was a bit tricky with the slave strobe, but I was able to tone it down by taking the ISO setting off automatic. The images look clear and sharp but not as sharp as a full DSLR. You are not likely to find an underwater camera with these or better capabilities without spending thousands of ... MoreWhat sold me on this model was the internal flash which many other models lack. Ricoh remains faithful to giving consumers the best bang for their buck. I was able to connect an inexpensive slave strobe using a fiber optic cable thanks to the built-in flash, but needed to avoid full wide angle with the slave connected. I had no issues with the WiFi or battery life. The camera has few manual settings. Since I plan to use this while on SCUBA, I welcome the assisted settings. Exposure was a bit tricky with the slave strobe, but I was able to tone it down by taking the ISO setting off automatic. The images look clear and sharp but not as sharp as a full DSLR. You are not likely to find an underwater camera with these or better capabilities without spending thousands of dollars.

Great value!!!

I was looking for a replacement for my Pentax WG II that I have used for over 10 years and loved for my adventure style travel. It was the perfect size and took great pics. Not easy to do in this day and age where everyone just uses a cell phone. I was able to get the camera, a case, AND a 128GB SD card for the same price that Amazon charges for the camera alone! I haven't gotten the opportunity to use it yet on a trip, but I am looking forward to it! Thanks B & H Photo.

Point and shoot

Simple and rugged is what I was looking for and I got that in WG-80. Point and shoot for the most part. Great pictures in all modes simple to change modes if need be.

Sharp and Impressive

I purchased this camera during the 2014 holiday season to give as a gift to my father, who is an avid boater and fisherman, and who will be retiring this year. He expressed an interest to get into photography, and asked me if I'd give him one of my older DSLR's to play around with. He also got into Facebook and YouTube just this past year, and likes sharing lots of his boating excursion, sunset, and other daily photos with friends and family through those social media channels. I personally knew nothing about WiFi cameras prior to doing my research, but this, along with offerings on B&H from Nikon, Panasonic, and Fujifilm fit the criteria I was looking for (ease of use, Wifi connectivity) and helped pair down my search with an additional criteria (rugged/waterproof) ... MoreI purchased this camera during the 2014 holiday season to give as a gift to my father, who is an avid boater and fisherman, and who will be retiring this year. He expressed an interest to get into photography, and asked me if I'd give him one of my older DSLR's to play around with. He also got into Facebook and YouTube just this past year, and likes sharing lots of his boating excursion, sunset, and other daily photos with friends and family through those social media channels. I personally knew nothing about WiFi cameras prior to doing my research, but this, along with offerings on B&H from Nikon, Panasonic, and Fujifilm fit the criteria I was looking for (ease of use, Wifi connectivity) and helped pair down my search with an additional criteria (rugged/waterproof) to just 5 models. Initially, the Fujifilm caught my eye both because of the look and color (it looks less sophisticated and therefore less tempting to sticky fingers, and the yellow really pops in nautical settings), as well as the lower price point. I think that the Ricoh's overall features, while not ahead in all categories compared to the Nikon and Panasonic rugged/underwater models with WiFi, lured me because of the versatility and range of capability. This including interval shooting, which is fantastic for two types of vistas my father enjoys shooting: sunsets and streetscapes. It is also the lightest and smallest in its class, and has several built-in automated settings, including underwater photography and underwater videography, which was not explicitly included or set in some of the other cameras in this class. N.B. I did not look at the Olympus (which also offers a similar camera, and features GPS and an eCompass) mainly because of the price point being between 30% and 100% higher than the other cameras mentioned here, at the time of this review. I paired this with B&H's Deluxe Accessory Kit, which included a floating wrist strap, an SD card, a carrying case, an aftermarket battery and a 2-year drops & spills warranty -- all this for just 15% more. Since this is a semi-underwater camera without any additional casing required, I don't think my father will need to worry about spills, but as this is a new camera on the market, it feels better to have this extra protection just in case (and gives me a full extra year of protection over the 1-year manufacturer warranty).I also paired it with a flexible tabletop tripod, a stake/peg mount (for interval shooting), a handlebar mount (for mounting to boat rails), and an extendable selfie monopod, as well as a remote control. The flexible tripod, while not submersible as per the specs, will allow the camera to be anchored underwater for candid shots. The stake/peg mount, as well as the flexible mount, I thought would be integral for interval shooting, to make time-lapse YouTube videos. The handlebar mount will allow my father to make shooting with his waterproof remote a breeze during fishing trips, by mounting the ramera to a rail. Finally, the selfie pole will allow him to capture shots of family, selfies of he and my mom, and other neat perspectives (like someone reeling a fish up, taken from sea level). There were ambiguous accounts as to the quality of the waterproof remote. It serves a very limited function that will be useful to a narrow range of users, and it isn't clear how long it lasts or how well the manufacturer is at honoring a replacement policy -- only time will tell.Although I wasn't looking for a waterproof or underwater camera originally, as these used to be specialty cameras (more expensive and kind of akward to use on land), it will give my father greater pleasure and flexibility in using this versatile little camera. He has lost a number of digital devices over the years due to their falling into water, and with the WG-30W he doesn't need to be concerned. The only drawback to this camera thus far was navigating the WifFi connectivity. I searched through the box and through the internet for instructions, to no avail. I also downloaded a bunch of free apps, and none of these were helpful in seeing or talking to my fathers iPhone (pairing them, by the way, was fairly straight-forward). In the end, all one needs is a browser, and the correct IP address. The IP address can be obtained by navigating to your phones settings, opening the cameras WiFi connection, and using the IP address there (there was addresses for a modem and a router, and router was the correct one to use). Once connected, you can use your iPhone (and Android too, I think) as a remote screen (slight lag), to shoot (perfect for candid shots if the camera is mounted to a tripod or other mount) and transfer photos from the camera to the phone (for sharing on social media channels). I take off a star, because I had to spend quite a lot of time figuring this step out, but maybe I'm just older and out of touch, and these steps are rudimentary to some. I'm sure if I had gone to the store or called up Ricoh I would have gotten the help needed, but I was travelling and this was during the holidays, so I wasn't able to do either. I'm looking forward to using this camera more this summer.

Solid pictures, poor video

Came through a very muddy obstacle course race with full submersion in mud without a problem. Rinsed it and let it dry before opening. Easy to use. Only particular disappointment was video was blocky and not very convincing. Photos are not quite as crisp as a higher end camera. Probably fine for underwater or REALLY challenging environments, but a little disappointing. Shutter button is soft and confusing for those who aren't very smart. Others kept blowing pictures. It worked okay for me.

Underwater Camera Ricoh

It is good but requires external memory card to work with. Charging time and functions need to e learned and explored before the fun and picture taking day. Better to get familiarize at home.

WG70 just with a higher price tag

I had to search for a while to figure out what was different between the WG80 and WG70. I was wanting a better image sensor, or brighter screen, or larger screen but all we got was a slightly better right light around the lens for macro mode and “advanced functionality”. So if you can buy the WG70 for cheaper just get it. It’s the same camera.