New Ricoh G700 industrial-strength compact with SD-WORM support

Two+ years after the announcement of the G600, Ricoh is back with a new industrial-strength element-proof digital camera, the G700. Unlike most of the waterproof/elementproof cameras that are made for consumers, this line of Ricoh cameras are made for use in industrial environments. One new feature in this model is the addition of SD-WORM (you can only write once on a card - ideal for evidence and record keeping purposes).

The camera has a 12mp 1/2.3" sensor, 28-140mm eq (5X) optical zoom lens, hot-shoe, 3-inch LCD, 720p video, can take 5 meters of water for up to 2 hours, and things like that.

The price will be around 100K yen with an early September release. Just like previous models, it is likely a Japan-only model. Initial monthly production numbers are a combined 8000 units per month (5K for regular model + 3K for security-assurance model).

Read more about it
+ four full-size samples from Ricoh itself
+ Ricoh G700 page (in english)
+ DC Watch Impress
+ Ricoh Japan
+ Photography Blog