The war of action cameras continues, and that’s a good thing. That means competitors will have to work harder on producing feature-packed, more rugged, and more affordable action cameras. I just remember a few years back when just one or two in an airsoft game has an action camera. But now almost everyone in the field has an action camera, and some have more than one --- mounted on the helmet, two mounted rear and front on the airsoft gun, and one even on the wrist!

With the new WG-M2 from Ricoh (or Pentax for others), now you can have a wider field of view with its fast F2 240-degree ultra wide angle lens. As for video recording it can capture the action at 30fps in 4K resolution, 60/30fps at 1080p and 120fps at 720p.  Still photos are taken at 8 megapixels. But with the 4K resolution, you can just capture a frame in case you want to take have a still photo of the scene.

What’s more? It is shock resistant as it can withstand a fall from up to 2 metres, waterproof up to 20 metres without needing a special case, and is cold resistant a 14° Fahrenheit (-10° Celsius).  It these specs are not impressive enough for you take your wallet, then there are even more features.

The 1.5-inch LCD screen on top can help you in framing your shots and there is a screen orientation where you can view the footage at an upright position regardless of the camera’s position.  It vibrates to indicate either the start or end of a recording which is also convenient if you can’t hear a beep when you push the record button. With Wifi connectivity, you can share photos and videos wireless with your mobile phone or tablet.

Convinced that the Ricoh WG-M2 is the action camera for you? The caveat for now is that the colours are something that you don’t want mounted on your helmet as these are in bright colours. You can repaint or just wait until they come out with more subdued colours.

The Ricoh WG-M2 Action Camera will be released in April 2016 with an introductory price of US$299.00.