Ideal Camera

[Deleted member 114696]

I was reading a thread about Ricoh cameras.
Looks to me like a good bit of equipment whilst window shopping as I'm long overdue a new camera.

Ricoh WG-M2

Waterproof
Dustproof
Coldproof
Small
16 GB of space on SD card.
Robust
One year warranty

So would something like this be ideal?

 

[amfalconer]

Not great reviews particularly, I have a GoPro which I rarely wear, more for backup and for taking still images from than producing videos - when I have it adjusted correctly that is! (spent most of my Chernobyl tour pointing at the floor) - for action cameras, I wouldn't buy anything other than a GoPro, yes they're expensive, but they have the market pretty much sewn up.

A couple of hundred quid could buy you a used DSLR which would record video (maybe 720p) and would probably be better suited for reports on here

 

[Deleted member 114696]

Oh right cool, taken on board, will make some enquiries.

 

[tigger]

I've no idea what you might mean by 'ideal'. Can't be doing with all the nonsense about 'best' this or 'best' that.

If compact rugged stylee is what you want......Olympus just brought out their new Stylus Tough TG-6.....not much different from the TG-5 which is quite well regarded amongst the caving/mining community. This should mean a drop in price (or maybe good secondhand price when brand whores upgrade for the sake of it) on the TG-5.
The even earlier TG-4 was also quite well regarded and would presumably be available for relatively few green beer tokens now.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Again on the rugged camera front, having been given the task of choosing a suitable works camera quite a few times over the years, my work is very shitty at times; the best option was the Olympus Tough, have used TG3, 4 and now on the TG5. Great camera and you can take RAW files on the TG5.
We have trialled others Ricoh was ok, but didn't perform that well in low light.
The Nikon equivalent (Coolpixs) one came out the box with a broken screen, another broke within a week, the other one lasted a bit longer.
The Panasonic Lumix was pretty good, but had a few issues with either charging and the batteries.
Found the Fugifilm FinePix to work well, no real problems.

All the above will fit into your pocket, after that there are plenty of bridge or DSLR's that will possibly give you a bit more scope taking photos, just depends on your budget, what you want it for and something many folk forget is does it feel alright in your hand. Have a play in a shop before you buy it.

 

[Lord Oort]

I have a TG5 for when I dont want to lug my DSLR around. Its survived Yorkshire and big caves in Wales. Its a little restricted for underground photography being limited to 4 secs exposure and does take a bit of setting up but once you've got it dialed in its pretty damn good! Its not so great in massive caverns but its good enough. You will still need a tripod.

These were taken in the main streamway/main passage in Agen Allwed. Pretty good considering the size of the tunnel.

 

[Deleted member 114696]

Oh right cool, might have a try with the lumix.

 

[Grom]

I've been shooting with an old Fuji X-T1, its weather-sealed, as in from rain, but has survived a dunk under water. They are dirt cheap now and just great cameras, the image quality is just outstanding.

 

[crashed.out]

I'm no expert, but I tend to gravitate towards anything that Canon make. Not so much for the brand, but for a great 3rd party toolkit that's been released that unlocks all the features of the DIGIC processors for nowt. So, with a cheap second-hand Canon you've got RAW file capability, exposures as long as you wish, scripting capability for, for example, motion triggers and very tight control over just about every feature possible. Check out CHDK: https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/CHDK Happy shooting!