Ricoh WG-30W dives deeper, adds Wi-Fi; WG-30 pares price and forgoes Wi-Fi radio

 

 

Ricoh Imaging has today announced two new camera models in the WG-series that it inherited in the purchase of the Pentax camera brand a few years ago. The Ricoh WG-30W and WG-30 are both very closely related to each other, with but one key difference that we're aware of. The US-market WG-30W includes a brand-new Wi-Fi radio that allows it to communicate with your smartphone, while the WG-30 launches in some overseas markets with no Wi-Fi radio.

In other respects, the two cameras would appear to be identical. They share a brand-new body since last spring's Ricoh WG-20 that's still freezeproof, crushproof, shockproof and dustproof, but now better waterproofed than before, able to survive a depth of 40 feet (12 m) for two hours. Inside, the key changes are a slightly higher-res sensor that's now a CMOS rather than a CCD, and for the WG-30W only, that new Wi-Fi wireless networking radio.

 

 

There's also one additional LED in the array that surrounds the lens, so that the new models match the existing WG-4 series cameras in this area, and provide a more attractive, evenly-spaced illumination. (Both new cameras still trail the WG-4 series models in a number of respects, however.) Most other hardware features of the Ricoh WG-30W and WG-30 -- including the 5x optical zoom lens and 2.7-inch LCD monitor -- are unchanged.

Available in the US market from December 2014 in Carbon Grey or Flame Orange body colors, the Ricoh WG-30W is priced at US$300. The WG-30 has not currently been announced in this market. More details can be found in our Ricoh WG-30W preview and Ricoh WG-30 preview, respectively.