A ‘one size fits all’ option for holidaymakers, this Agfa branded camera with flip-up plastic ‘sports finder’ can function in the wet as well as the dry – and greatly aids accurate composition underwater. Whether you're jetting off to white sandy beaches, heading white water rafting, or even just shooting somewhere you know it rains a lot investing in a waterproof camera is a wise idea. Image quality is so much better than it used to be and they're not even that expensive. To be fair, I should mention that in all these comparisons with the TOUGH TG-6 and COOLPIX W300 you need to remember that both these models cost more than the Ricoh WG-70. You’ll pay around 25% more for the recently reduced TOUGH TG-6, but the three-year-old COOLPIX W300 is now much closer in price to the WG-70. As always though, it pays to shop around as you may be able to find an even better deal.

The WG70 features a Digital Microscope mode that allows the subject to be greatly enlarged, plus six built-in Macro Lights to assist close-up shooting.The WG-80 is designed for every imaginable outdoor environment and adds to the experience with features such as Underwater mode for underwater photography, and an Outdoor View setting that adapts monitor brightness to ambient lighting. With no spare mains charger provided, the WG-70’s battery is charged in-camera via mini USB port. This is hidden/protected beneath a chunky cover at the side of the camera that also protects a mini HDMI port. The user has to depress a catch and slide open said cover to access the ports, thereby ensuring that neither accidentally becomes exposed if venturing underwater, out in the snow or down to the beach.

Outdoor-friendly Style Watch function to display the time on the LCD monitor, using an extended push of the OK button when the camera’s power is turned off Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light(D:Daylight Color, N:Daylight White, W:White Light), Manual Here’s the first of two underwater shots of anemones I took with the WG-70. To get this close to subjects you need to enable the WG-70’s 1cm macro mode – the standard macro will only get you within 10cm. For this shot I turned on the macro ring light – 6 LEDs mounted around the lens illuminate to evenly light the subject. In this case it hasn’t made a huge difference to the quality of the shot and I think it might actually be more useful for shots out of the water.

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Flash-on and Flash-off modes. “Red-eye” compensation function employs a pre-discharge. Ring Light mode Battery capacity drops with ambient temperature, reducing the number of pictures that can be taken on a single charge. With lighting provided by six LED lamps positioned around the lens, Digital Microscope mode supports super macro photography. At the default image size of 2M, the WG-80 offers up to 6.6× zoom for astonishing results that look almost like they were taken with a microscope. The WG-80 offers new image size options of up to 12M * that further enhance the potential of Digital Microscope mode with pictures that can be printed at large sizes or cropped during post-processing. The weaknesses are that the zoom is not particularly good. The battery cover and charging port are not easily opened, which might be because it helps keep it water proof. The screen has scratches and marks---given how I bang it around that isn't a surprise. I think adding a screen protector would be a smart move. We test camera resolution, dynamic range and noise under scientifically controlled conditions using two key testing tools: Imatest Master and DxO Analyzer. All DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are subjected to these tests and, in some instances, high-end compact cameras.