Last May, I bought a Nikon Coolpix aw120 compact camera to keep in one of my motorcycle saddlebags, as I do like to take photos, and find the cell phone sucks for what I want it to do. I bought the Nikon aw120 because it was billed as a rugged camera, which it was. However, me and the Nikon didn't get along all that well. There were a few things I absolutely hated about that camera. It had a built in GPS, but very little instructions on how to operate that feature. There was also a built in compass which I couldn't figure out how to operate. The included instructions were more than useless. On top of that, I didn't like the photos it took, and I found it a bit limited in exposure modes. It felt like a glorified cellphone camera hobbled with tech that just didn't work. I ended up giving the camera to a friend for a trip.
In the meantime, I went back to the cell phone until today. I bought a Ricoh WG-4 camera today, and I made sure it was the non GPS model at that. Thank you Nikon for teaching me the error of my ways on that feature.
What I didn't know is that Pentax is no more. They got bought out by Ricoh back in 2013. I guess I should say, you can still buy Pentax branded cameras, but the parent company is no longer Pentax, but Ricoh. I read that their DSLR line will retain the Pentax name, and all their compact cameras will now be called Ricoh. Ricoh used to make 35mm cameras with the pentax bayonet mount...so Ricoh and Pentax have had a long relationship of sorts. Not surprised that Ricoh did buy them up considering this fact. I am a bit sad however, as I am definitely a big Pentax fan, seeing that I have a P3 and SF10 film SLRs, a K10D and K01 DSLRs, not to mention the bag full of lenses and accessories.
Anyways, this Ricoh WG-4 camera is a re-branded Pentax. I can live with that.
The WG-4 is another weather proof and shock proof camera. This one however lacks that awful GPS feature of the Nikon, but has a few nice extras that I do like, least of all are the increase in exposure modes. There is one feature of this camera that I did want to try out, and it is the microscope mode. There are 6 LEDs around the lens element, which light up when the microscope mode is selected. I just had to try this out. I must say, this camera has a most wicked macro mode. I hand held all of these...which did cause blurriness. I am most impressed.
Victorinox shield on a black Classic.
The little gold bar on the backside of that Classic.
How about the shield on a soldier.
Marking on another soldier.
And on another soldier.
I also wanted to see what the camera could do out of macro. No flash was used.
They only had this green though...but I can live with it. Looks like I might get along better with this one than the Nikon, which I really wanted to like but just couldn't.