We’ve seen rugged/waterproof point-and-shoot cams before. You know the type: easy-click compacts that can take a 3-foot drop onto concrete and plunge down to around 10 feet of water. Ricoh’s new rugged cam, the G700, offers something new though: chemical resistance. Specifically, the housing can handle disinfection with ethanol and hypochlorous acid aside from the usual soap and water mix you’d normally use on your regular pool-party snapper.
This makes it good for taking to work, provided that you work for a company that requires stuff to be really clean, like medical and production facilities. For those professional-use purposes, the G700 also comes with password protection for security.
The rest of the spec is still what you’d expect on your modern point-and-shoot, with a 12-megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom, 28mm wide angle lens, SD card storage, and 3-inch LCD display. The overall design’s built for ease-of-use, with large control buttons for use with gloves on.
Overall protection includes drop resistance from about 5 feet, water protection in up to 15 feet underwater, dust resistance, and cold resistance for working in up to -10℃.
It’s due out in Japan on September 10th, with no word on pricing or international release dates just yet.
Tags: Digital Cameras, Ricoh, Rugged
