Olympus TG-2 iHS: Digital Photography Review

What We Like

Very sturdy body is one of the most rugged on the market
Fast F2.0 maximum aperture at wide-angle (though it's just average at the telephoto end)
Good photo quality; no color cast underwater
Responsive performance in all areas
Generous GPS feature set, with manometer, landmarks, tracking and (very limited) maps
Aperture priority mode (using ND filters)
Wireless flash control
1080/30p video recording with stereo sound
Supports fish-eye and telephoto conversion lenses
Unique 'tap control' feature lets you adjust settings when wearing gloves/underwater
Very good battery life
Optional underwater housing lets you take camera even deeper

What We Don't Like

Images slightly soft, with mushy details
Tends to clip highlights; chromatic aberrations can be strong at times
Display very difficult to see outdoors and underwater
Fairly weak flash
Movies are wobbly/choppy when panning
Landmark database is limited (and camera often picks the wrong one); no way to remove a landmark attached to a photo

Conclusion

Olympus was one of the pioneers of 'rugged' cameras, and its latest flagship, the Tough TG-2 iHS, is one of its best. The TG-2 is able to take a beating, whether it's underwater (up to 15 meters), dropped (from to 2.1 meters), frozen (as cold as -10C), or crushed (up to 100 kg). In other words, this is a camera you can feel comfortable taking outdoors. We had one incident of condensation build-up inside the lens - moisture got in there somehow - but we couldn't replicate the problem during our extended shooting.

The TG-2's other big claim to fame is its lens, which has a maximum aperture range of F2.0-4.9. At wide-angle, that's at least a full stop faster than most of the competition. Since more light is coming in, you can use faster shutter speeds, and won't need to crank up the sensitivity as quickly. However, the lens' maximum aperture at the telephoto end is less impressive, and more in-line with the competition. The TG-2 is also unique in that it supports telephoto and fish-eye conversion lenses - and yes, they're waterproof too.

The camera has a LED illuminator, which serves as an AF-assist lamp, video lamp, and flashlight. Another neat trick the TG-2 can perform is controlling an Olympus external flash wirelessly, via the company's RC flash system. Speaking of flashes, the one built into the TG-2 is on the weak side, which requires considerably increasing the sensitivity. Photos are composed on the TG-2's 3-inch OLED display. This display looks great indoors, with 610k dots, vivid colors, and a wide viewing angle. However, once outdoors (or underwater), visibility is very poor, even with the brightness turned all the way up. Not exactly what you'd want on a camera made to be out in the elements.

The TG-2 has the usual features that you'll find on most point-and-shoot cameras. They include an 'Intelligent' auto mode, special effects ('Magic Filters'), and a large selection of scene modes (cat mode, anyone?). There are three ways to create panoramic images (two of them are stitched together right on the camera), and the results are satisfying. Olympus has taken things a step further on the TG-2, providing an aperture priority mode to go along with all those auto modes. While the Av mode isn't perfect, as it only gives you three choices at any given focal length, it's more than you'll find on other compact cameras and can prevent overexposure in exceptionally bright conditions (as well as allowing you to use long shutter speeds for light-trails, waterfalls etc).

Another big draw on the TG-2 is its elaborate GPS system. In addition to locating you, the camera will tell you your altitude or depth (using a manometer instead of the usual GPS method) as well as which direction you're facing. There's also a database of landmarks, though it's not very 'deep', and if the camera picks the wrong landmark, the only thing you can do is choose another, as there's no way to remove that tag. One interesting use of the landmark database is to display a sort of compass on the display, showing various destinations in the vicinity. In other words, the TG-2 can literally guide you to landmarks. The camera also has a map view, though the scale of the map makes it essentially pointless.

You won't do a lot of waiting on the Olympus TG-2. It starts up in less than a second, focuses extremely quickly (even in low light), and has minimal delays between shots. In continuous shooting mode, the TG-2 can take up to one hundred images at over 5 frames/second. If you're in an open area (and have used the GPS-A function), the camera can locate itself in just fifteen seconds (though you won't be so lucky in the big city). The TG-2's battery life number of 350 shots per charge (without the battery-sucking GPS turned on) is excellent for a compact camera.

Photo quality isn't fantastic on the TG-2, but it's more than good enough for purpose and target audience. While the camera exposes accurately, like most compacts it tends to clip highlights. Colors have a vivid look that has become a trademark of Olympus cameras. Photos are a little soft, but your favorite photo editor can take care of that. Underwater, we were very pleased that there were no color casts to be found, unlike most of the competition. At low ISOs you'll find both luminance noise and detail smudging, though that's par for the course on compacts. Photos taken at sensitivities as high as ISO 800 are usable for most purposes, with the two highest settings saved for desperation only. Occasional CA can be a problem, around high-contrast edges, but in normal shooting it isn't a big issue.

Overall, we really enjoyed our time with the Olympus Tough TG-2. It's very solidly built, performs well, has lots of bells-and-whistles, and produces satisfying images for nearly all purposes. The only things that keep this rugged camera from earning a gold award are its weak flash and poor visibility, and we hope Olympus addresses both of those on the next TG-series model.

Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS

Category: Waterproof / Rugged Compact Camera

Build quality Ergonomics & handling Features Exposure and focus accuracy Image quality (raw) Image quality (jpeg) Flash performance Low light / high ISO performance Optics Performance (speed) Movie / video mode Connectivity Value	PoorExcellent
Good for	Outdoorsy people who want a camera that can take good photos underwater or in the mountains.
Not so good for	Those who take low light flash photos or shoot frequently in bright sunlight.
Overall score 72%	The Olympus TG-2 offers a very rugged body combined with good image quality, a fast lens, superb performance, a full-featured GPS system and plenty of fun extras. Downsides are few, which include issues with panning in movies, highlight clipping and chromatic aberrations in photos, and difficulty seeing the display outdoors.

Samples

There are 29 images in the Olympus Tough TG-2 review samples gallery. Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter / magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review), we do so in good faith, please don't abuse it.

Unless otherwise noted images taken with no particular settings at full resolution. Because our review images are now hosted on the 'galleries' section of dpreview.com, you can enjoy all of the new galleries functionality when browsing these samples.

Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS review samples - Posted 28th June 2013

Comments

Total comments: 94

Has anyone noticed any optical problems with this camera/lens?
Please see my thread: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52064842

0 upvotes

rboyd !!! I had the exact same experience than you ! I had this camera for about one week. I bought it because i wanted to take pictures during my vacation in South Carolina so obviously lots of beach pictures. I was able to take approximatively 20 pictures. Never dropped the thing, always had the locks on when i took pictures in water (took 1 ou 2). The day after, the back buttons stopped working. I was able to shoot pictures but no menu, no zoom, none of the back buttons were working. And then things started to get extremely strange, i took off the sd card and took some pictures on the internal memory until i got the message that the internal was full. THEN the back buttons started working again !!! Erased all the pictures from internal memory, back buttons stopped working again. Took pictures until the memory was full again and back buttons started working again. I had fun doing this 3 ou 4 times until i got this camera back to the store and bought a Fuji x20...

0 upvotes

Hi,

Does anyone see Barometer and Altitude readings being displayed? When I was in outside, the GPS data was being displayed within a minute, but no Barometer and Altitude readings even after couple of hours.

0 upvotes

I will amend my last post below to include this important information. My camera has since returned and was done fast and efficiently. The whole process took about three weeks and all the repairs were covered by the standard manufacture warranty and I only paid the cost of shipping to the Olympus repair facility. Nothing was argued and nothing was blamed on me. I do wonder though now if was not the fault of the Olympus Silicone case i was using that increased my chances of having water damage done to the camera... Overall I was very upset that this camera broke. But the camera was covered and it was fixed. The main board and back rubber middle was replaced. Because water came in from the back of the camera and not one of the doors I figure that the new TG-2 has been beefed up to prevent this as the two cameras look the same but are very different. This is my only Olympus product but I would buy more of there products in the future. THANK YOU OLYMPUS! I really like the picture quality.

0 upvotes

I'm really disappointed in my TG-1. I just mailed it out to El Paso, TX this afternoon for warranty repair. I'm completely bummed... Summer is short in Minnesota and will not have my camera for use for my summer fun activities I purchased it for. I have only used it a few times and was on vacation with my family in San Diego when the back buttons stopped working. I have sent a letter via certified mail to explain my frustrations with Olympus and this model... I'm not the first customer to take their camera to the beach and then realize that the back buttons no longer work. No menus... no videos... nothing. I think this is a great camera, just don't get it wet, and make sure you have a backup camera for when this one falls apart or stops working.

0 upvotes

I just repaired my little brothers' Stylus "Tough" 3000. Rear button design/construction was terribly flimsy. The zoom buttons were the worst, and that's what broke. They were held in place by an S-shaped plastic spring a fraction of a millimeter thick. This spring was both a locator and a return spring.

In other words, pictures something that has to swing back and forth like a car suspension. Now picture it supported by one spring and that's all. And it's positioned so that the spring twists back and forth with every press of the button. Fatigue design right in, so it fails like a paper clip bent too many times.

Now, I realize this this is a cheaper model, but still...it could be designed to be more durable with the amount and type of materials. See: goo [dot] gl/5Tefe

0 upvotes

Um, and the TG2 I've handled seems well enough made. Not much different than my waterproof Pentax W30.

Are people reporting build quality problems with Olympus tough cameras, say in the Amazon comments section?

0 upvotes

Well yesterday the Mode selector dial fell off. I mean, on this picture: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-tg2/images/side-by-side.jpg it's the dial with A, MAGIC, C1, C2, etc.

After only two days of use (and not tough testing at all!), I am a bit surprised... Gonna take it to the shop later on to see if this can be fixed.

Comment edited 27 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

P-

Sorry to read about your troubles, at least that's the right model.

Are people reporting similar problems with the TG1 (nearly the same body from last year) at Amazon?

Comment edited 21 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

I got it just before this review was made, and I'm pleased with it!

I think there might have a mistake in the review, though:

"The TG-2 can also record high speed video at 60 or 120 fps, though the resolution drops to 640 x 480 and 320 x 240. When played back at normal speed, everything appears to move in slow motion."

But in the documentation of the camera, it is 120 fps in 640x480, and 240 fps in 320x240.

Although 320x240 is a very small resolution, the effect is really nice, especially with water drops :)

0 upvotes

When I try to download original movie samples I get a message that an access denied. How can I get them?

0 upvotes

For a rugged camera the LCD seems terribly exposed with no cover. One scrape against a rock and the rugged camera would be near unusable ...

0 upvotes

Um it's like almost all small "tough" cameras.

And then, just get a screen protector--it's one of the first things people buying new digital cameras are encouraged to do.

0 upvotes

A scratched monitor does not make any camera unusable, by far. It's only for cadring, anyway. A scratch or three does not affect anything important (except maybe reselling as used).
And if the camera was used as intended in outdoors circumstances, it will gather scratches, no way around it.

1 upvote

Where in your head did you ever think a scratch on the glass would make a camera unusable? Also, it is not a LCD it is an OLED screen.

0 upvotes

somehow I always felt that Olympus PnS shots are very good in color/contrast/sharpness. I never owned one but compared them with my Nikons and Canons. Always up a notch. Apart from extremely low light photo samples, the daylight shots are great. Hikers will enjoy this cam IMHO...

0 upvotes

This is plenty good for a jpeg only camera, I've tested it and PhotographyBlog posted jpegs months ago.

(I know nothing about the video capacities and qualities.)

0 upvotes

Mushy photos = Silver Award ? That's weird

0 upvotes

The camera exists to survive falls, or go under water, and continue to work. It also tells you where, how deep, or high you were. It also starts up fast and has rapid AF. Yet you would measure it as a studio DSLR?

2 upvotes

In other words, it does everything except produce sharp pictures. I guess that's why it missed getting the gold award.

1 upvote

AbrasiveReducer:

The 200 ASA through 800 ASA jpegs posted at PhotographyBlog are plenty sharp.

I have some ISO 1600 pictures that I shot in store, and they're plenty sharp for that kind jpeg only small camera set at high ISOs.

So guessing from low the ASA PhotograpyBlog jpegs, at least one shot at F2.0, this camera has a plenty sharp lens.

0 upvotes

Olympus has always made great, small cameras and lenses so I wouldn't be surprised if this camera has outstanding quality. But then, the review is misleading, except for the award.

0 upvotes

AbrasiveReducer:

Then don't pay attention to the DPReview's conclusions regarding sharpness and look at PhotograpyBlog's jpegs from months ago. (None shot underwater--just the street and bookcase scenes they always use.)

0 upvotes

Dpreview staff
this is not a comparison review. no same scene shot with different camera
only studio shot which for unknown reason TG-2 is not too good contradicting my real world use

in studio shot WG-3 is best

1 upvote

Comparative review is coming after all six cameras get full reviews.

2 upvotes

thanks for the reply

0 upvotes

check out this comparison page

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-tg2/4

To my surprise the camera with the most detail is Pentax WG-3

I have TG-2 and is generally happy with it

0 upvotes

100 shots at f5.4 fps, wow. But I did not get about 15 fps and 60 fps: "If you don't mind lowering the resolution to 3 megapixels, you can shoot at 15 or 60 frames/second, which produces high-speed and slow-motion videos (respectively) when played back at normal speed."

Does it produce VIDEO of those fps (and then is it 3 MP video, meaning higher resolution than FullHD), or does it produce series of shots that you can CONVERT to video (and then what software do you use to convert, is it included or is it in camera)?

And at 15 and 60 fps - what shutter speed does it use - depending on that you can either freeze motion or get smooth video.

0 upvotes

I bought this camera before a snorkeling trip to the Caribbean, thinking that, with the bright lens, it would deliver sharp images. I was wrong, and fortunately, I realized that before I went and returned it, for the Canon G15, which is not an underwater camera and more expensive, for sure, but which produced incredible images throughout our trip, almost on a par with my DSLR. Glad I made the change. Having said this, for years I had the Olympus 850 SW, which was an underwater camera. While I never had the opportunity to use it underwater, it did turn out very sharp images, Unfortunately, it was dropped and the LCD screen broke, necessitating the search for a new camera (for my wife). Needless to say, I was shocked at how soft the images from the TG-2 were.

2 upvotes

Were you shooting raw with the Canon G15?

0 upvotes

For most people not used to underwater photography, almost every camera might appear as producing soft(er) images. But many times it comes from the ambiental reasons, and not from the camera deficiences.
Water is very different photographing medium from the air. It changes the light very much depending on the surface state, refraction level, suspended matter (visible by eye or not), even temperature and density differences - such as freshwater spring in saltwater, etc. It requires a bit getting used to.
Otherwise, many people in water tend to take photos rather optimistically as regards shooting distance (especially with flash).
Excepting w/a photos, rarely will one be able to shoot objects further than 2 meters away. Also, that's why u/w macros usually come out the best.
There are strong differences in u/w vs. dry land photography, it should be studied prior to shooting photos, so it pays to look it up on the net. This will add reality to expectations, and quality to pictures.

3 upvotes

I have TG-2 and disagree with what you said
for land photo, the camera has very decent sharpness for any point and shoot camera and exceptional for a waterproof camera

Your comment is misleading for people who might be interested in this camera

Comment edited 18 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

I purchased a TG-2 recently and am very pleased with the sharpness of its images. It's not up to the level of my Nikkor primes but it's very good for a P&S camera, especially a waterproof one.

0 upvotes

You compare underwater shots against landlubber shots with other cameras. Not very fair or meaningful. Even Caribbean waters have silt or algae, and light is good only at mid-day. The waters absorbe red wavelengths quickly and muddle images at distances over 10' or so.

0 upvotes

hum, is there underwater white balance on the cam?

0 upvotes

Yes

0 upvotes

For what it's worth, UW WB on any underwater camera is not very important. We use daylight to see an underwater scenery, and so does the camera. Thus, what we see is what the camera sees, and vice versa.
The (sun)light filtering through the water layer varies with water depth, but also water chemistry, surface state (e.g., calm, wavy, insolation angle / time of the day) and other things, such as quantity and sort of suspended matter in the water. There are factors like added diving depth to the object distance, etc.
We do not know for which kind of water the pre-programmed UW WB was intended. There is a difference between sea(s) waters and also lake(s), rivers and creeks which is quite wide in variety. Thus, there is no such thing as an universal "WB for water".
On the other hand, whether one may or may not like the bluish or greenish hues which will appear on the photos, is a matter of taste. But it is usually easier to post-process the Daylight WB-shot pics than UW WB-shot images.

Comment edited 4 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

The Powershot D20 may have a slow lens but at least preserves fine-details better due to low NR. How hard could it be for Olympus to include NR options or Raw? Guess not so hard..

0 upvotes

If the screen can't be seen underwater or out in the sun and surf or the beach it is useless for the environment most of us want it for. If you are out in the surf it is very frustrating to see a reflection of yourself in the screen. I tried several. The Fuji had a great screen but the IQ was terrible. Frankly, I was quite irritated because reviewers never mentioned the one thing that made them useless. Also irritated because this one looks like a cool camera rendered useless because the designers never got it out of the lab or they would never have let it happen.

Comment edited 4 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

You might like to add some sort of soft material shade around the upper and side rims of the monitor, such as thin Neoprene supported with wire. It can be fastened to the tripod connecting point. It will not help much with sheer image quality, but it might help you to see what you frame (which is the main purpose of the camera monitor anyway).
DIY has always been an important source of photography aids. There is no use waiting until the manufacturers think of something, as they, more often than not, appear to "listen to some other voices". :)

0 upvotes

Maybe a COMPARISON of water-resistant cameras might have put the optical observations into perspective. I understand that underwater you loose light very rapidly, hence the need for noise reduction. - But what took you so long to do the review? The camera has been on the shelves for months!

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Cold weather and water in Seattle and high cost of travel to Hawaii.

Or would a bathtub test suffice?

0 upvotes

I was foolishly holding out hope for this camera. With the "slightly soft imagest, clipped highlights, chroma aberration," no thanks.

0 upvotes

"Images slightly soft, with mushy details
Tends to clip highlights; chromatic aberrations can be strong at times"

How is that good inage quality?

2 upvotes

Good for its class. All of these compact cameras do that to some degree.

2 upvotes

And raw recording could make this camera's image quality outstanding, for it's class.

Comment edited 54 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

If "slightly soft and mushy" qualifies for an award, it might make sense to put it in context. "Ok, it's not great, but it's a little better than camera A and a little worse than camera B". Just seems odd that something like image quality does not have to be outstanding to get an award.

2 upvotes

It is hard to have anything outstanding in this class. But don't forget, when D20 etc will have unusable ISO 3200, this one will have quite useable ISO 800. None of them is made for pixel peepers, and even 12 MP is excessive for the sensor like this and HD screens.

0 upvotes

Comparing underwater cameras in quality with dry-land cameras will always be confusing, as the ambients differ too much. It is especially true if you review amphibious cameras. These are supposed to operate in both media, and it has its limitations.
True underwater optics must be corrected for water. These corrections (like dome ports or other non-flat solutions) will then not work outside. And if you have zoom lenses which range from wide-angle to short tele, there is no solution other than using flat port, which is not equally good at all focal lengths.
That's why Nikonos (mark II through V) had a choice of five lenses. Beside its dry-land-only 28mm, there were additional 28mm and 15mm for exclusive underwater use.
The (prime) 35mm and also 80mm lens had flat ports, and were usable on both sides of the surface. The UW 28mm had a concave front element, and 15mm UW had a dome.
There is a way to make high quality UW cameras... but it seems the will to do so sadly lacks...

2 upvotes

Can't believe never really followed on that concept in the digital era, underwater housings non-withstanding. I remember Olympus having UW housings right from the get-go with the C-XOXO series.

0 upvotes

Gesture:

For what it's worth you have to remember that Olympus gave up making cameras, film and any digital it had out, in about 2001. Then a few years later they reentered the camera market.

Also most housings for say the Canon G series aren't made by Canon. (And Canon's the odd man it that it appears to also make some housing still.)

0 upvotes

Plus, this is the one segment that traditional cameras manufacturers can prosper in, so, yes, why not upscale the models. Even now, I doubt many will use their iPhone seaside or in water.

1 upvote

I bought this camera a few months ago when it came available. I generally like it a lot for the "beach camera" purpose. The only dislikes are the GPS that sucks battery big time. It is empty in one day even when the camera is off, as it keeps on tracking when you shut it down to get a faster fix when you put it on again. The other dislike is the red ring around the lense. It keeps on dropping off the camera. I have already lost one of them (it can with two).

0 upvotes

1. Why is it that every one the manufacturers of these rugged cameras assume that the people who need them aren't interested in higher IQ? Outdoor photographers (hikers, climbers, cavers, kayakers, cyclists, yachties, etc) really value their forays into wild places and the images they bring back. Would somebody kindly offer a more serious camera with a larger sensor. I fully expect it to cost more and weigh more and I would be prepared to pay for the improvement.

2. Why do they all ignore two hundred years of engineering knowledge about seals? The internet is full of leak experiences and failures to honor guarantees. They could use a 1" O-ring on the base of a decent grip and it would be big enough to take an SD card and an appropriately shaped battery. And it would allow them to offer better specs. Just do it.

6 upvotes

Because the "serious underwater photographers" are using outstanding cameras with very expensive underwater housings, and not some $499 compact camera.

You just can't have perfection at this price point.

Dpreview understands this, and reviews a Tough camera for exactly what it is, and not as a competitor for a Nikon D4 with an waterproof housing.

3 upvotes

Whoever has an interest in how the proper underwater / all weather camera should be built and protected, should look up and study the Nikonos III model. The ergonomics of the camera were perfect, the sealing and locking system allowed for interchangeable lenses, and the camera was able to stand double the rated pressure depth easily.
The swimming and walking body positions require different layout of the camera control elements - and Nik III had it solved.
Also, never mind that it was not "shirt-pocketable" - it fitted the wind jacket pocket easily.
Long time ago I thought that model III or V would be replicated in digital version as a matter of pure logic, but to this day nobody attempted that (or maybe someone blocked the idea?).
In the meantime, the current line of amphibious cameras is far inferior in every sense, with "betterings" every two years or so... while the same market, once so happy with Nikonos, is still out there, waiting...
Is there such a thing as "design crime"?

4 upvotes

Yes. Interesting that Nikon was once a pioneer with the Nikonos cameras, but never seemed to follow it up in the digital age?

Comment edited 58 seconds after posting

1 upvote

To Marty4650......I know full well that these compacts don't attempt to emulate a D4 in a housing (that probably cost as much as the D4). Your response suggests that there is no possibility of an engineering option in-between, which is completely false. Oldarrow has mentioned the Nikonos. Yes a modern day equivalent would probably be $2K, but it would be a whole lot better than these compacts and, to many users, a whole lot better than a black mastodon in an UW housing. Try kayaking with one of those stuffed into your life jacket. Fujifilm also developed a series of inexpensive water resistant heavy duty cameras in the film era that used proper O-rings for the battery compartments. It can be done.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Can we burry this phrase. It's overused, apologetic, meaningless and a bit silly:

"Photo quality isn't fantastic on the TG-2, but it's more than good enough for purpose and target audience. "

Olympus claims that "the Olympus TG-2 iHS was designed with the serious photographer in mind. ". If the target audience is the serious photographer, I would think IQ would be a concern.

12 upvotes

I agree if Olympus claims it to be designed with the serious photographer in mind they should review it that way and to be honest it would be DEMOLISHED in the review then because of how stupid Olympus were to say that.

1 upvote

A serious photographer uses the camera that's appropriate for the assignment. If the conditions force the use of a rugged camera, the photographer will work with what he has.
A waterproof camera cannot have an extending lens, which is probably the biggest limitation in its optical design.

1 upvote

So why have an extending lens at all? How useful is telephoto under water, especially as the lenses get gosh awful slow when extended.

I've had tons of fun with a simple disposable fixed focal length waterproof film camera. Why not a decent fixed focal length UW camera? I'd think such a camera would be popular with the camera crowd. Put a M43 sensor with a fixed 35mm equivalent lens in reasonably sized body and you'd have a nice little snorkeling gem.

Or you could put a telephoto lens in a fixed body. Casio did it with the 5X EX-P505 and I loved that little camera. Enclosing the telphoto lens makes it a favorite to hand over to the kids.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2005/01/31/casioexp505

1 upvote

I think what BorisK1 meant would be a lens that extends (changes its volume) underwater. Any variable-volume casing which contains gas is very complicated to build, although it is technically possible. A variable-volume casing would work well in a liquid-filled system, or if the camera is connected to its own dynamic pressure-compensation gas source.
You could actually have much better results with interchangeable lenses, each covering a limited range which would not be affected by the port form. Thus, there could be, say, 15-28mm zooms behind a dome port, and 35-100mm zoom with flat-glass port, each in their fixed-volume housing. The latter could be used on dry land as well.
If someone would decide to replicate a Nikonos system, I expect they'd offer some new zoom lenses too. Meantime, the existing fixed-focus Nikonos range would still be as good as always.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

These waterproof camera tests are being published quite '5 to 12', don't you think? Since the majority of us are crammed in the same hemisphere, I would suggest to finish these in the next week or so.

Other than that, great work, DPR team!

2 upvotes

We're in Seattle - summer's only just started ;)

2 upvotes

Summer in Seattle, hmmmmmh, ok, let's call it summer, Barney. Don't mind, i live at 10 degrees north of the equator.

1 upvote

The Olympus seems to better that other waterproofed cameras, but one thing is not clear to me...

The image quality is what you'd expect from a $150 camera. People say "it's allright, it's waterproofed..." and I agree with that, but... take a little more expensive camera, add $100 worth of waterproofing, maybe $150 --- can't be more than that, and you will end up with a much better camera... Some people would pay for it... I mean, what is the market for this camera? If you can afford a trip to Hawaii for snorkeling, I am sure paying a little more for a camera is not that much of a concern.

4 upvotes

A half-decent waterproof case won't be under $200. And it will be much larger, because your "slightly more expensive" camera will have a lens that sticks out of the body by at least 2-3 inches.

1 upvote

The graphic designer who created the above image probably should have thought things through a bit more, the last thing you want to see coming out of your underwater camera is air bubbles.

13 upvotes

But... but... you don't want the camera to suffocate...!

12 upvotes

Must be from the fish inside.

5 upvotes

Maybe a flatulent fish? Not to mention the scene on the camera screen doesn't seem to match the one if is trying to shoot...

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Oh! I've been waiting for this. I really like the Olympus Tough series and with vacation coming up...

Time to upgrade.

1 upvote

As far as I know, the TG-2 uses an iris type aperture to get to F:2.8, and an ND filter to get to F:8.

1 upvote

that ISO 1600 sample is very good for a small sensor

0 upvotes

Images are so fine. Both in wide angel & closer ones as well. Totally suprisiing.

1 upvote

The images have nice color and contrast to them.

1 upvote

For the camera with so impressive set of features you'd expect someone at Olympus would finally decide to implement a proper water-sealing system at the hatches. These gaskets are simply too sensitive and unreliable. As always, it leaves an impression of purposefully created weak spot, which will never be covered by warranty.
Also, Olympus (and others) could significantly reduce the possibility of water ingress by creating one single access hatch sealed by o-ring, instead of two, sealed with their funny gummy-things.
Third, it is never wise to charge the battery within the sealed casing. Aside of augmenting the explosion force, it heats up the case interior. This may later cause port / monitor fogging.
As to the fogging you mention, the humidity possibly remained from the camera assembly line - no need for additional water leak to create it.
One of the best ways to remove fogging would be to replace the inner air volume with nitrogen. It is not difficult, as any tyre service has it...

2 upvotes

Are you propose to them to assemble it in pure nitrogen? And for customers do it after each port opening (for SD card or battery charging)? ;)

0 upvotes

I'm suggesting a possible solution against internal fogging, and not after every opening. For a while, it will remain in there.
It would be quite simple for manufacturers to partition the user-accessible space in a way that will keep the dry gas (nitrogen) in the rest of the camera volume unaffected by opening of contact / battery / memory card ports. If you think of this access as a box with gilded contacts on the service side and several wires on the other, it is not difficult to seal (thermal glue would suffice).
It does not cost worth a mention, and if the camera was then assembled in (or purged with) nitrogen, it would solve a source or two of frustration. Even if a drop or two of water would enter the user-accessible space, that barrier would keep it from going deeper.
From experience: whenever any wet camera is opened, care should be taken that the port is facing downwards, and the cover is opened slowly. That takes care of the drops that might have remained around the seal.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 5 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

How about no ports at all? Use inductive charging and wireless image transfer. Pentax already has inductive charging.

0 upvotes

Sure, but with the current state of battery technology, it is still safer to charge batteries outside of the sealed casing. If there's an explosion, the casing could make it really dangerous.
It is possible to make a permanently sealed camera with sufficiently large internal memory and wireless data transfer, and maybe organize an outside, (replaceable) batery module screwed into properly sealed contact point.
There are many easy ways to make today's UW cameras better, more depth-resistant, with better range od accessories (as if there's any), but the manufacturers have chosen to do it all "next time".
We are being fed the already existing technology by eyedropper. There are no technical problems in replicating Nikonos in its digital version, articulated monitor and external flash / lighting included, but they will continue to sell us anything as long as there are sufficient buyers of anything.
Next year cameras will go sensational 3" deeper and play MP3 sounds.
That's business. :(

Comment edited 9 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Has DPR reviewed a camera that hasn't gotten at least a silver award in the last 2 years?

Awards lose their meaning a bit when everyone gets them...

4 upvotes

Not every camera gets an award.

2 upvotes

The first waterproof camera in this series got no award: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-powershot-d20/

3 upvotes

I only pay attention to gold awards, not to silver awards. By the way, Dpreview, I think it is time to institute platinum awards for absolutely exceptional cameras and lenses (Score 85 and higher)

0 upvotes

And a Diamond award for scores above 100...?

2 upvotes

Cameras reviewed so far in 2013 (excluding group reviews)
Gold = 7
Silver = 9
No award = 3
Lake Wobegon effect?

2 upvotes

First, you'll have to explain what 'Lake Wobegon effect' means.

0 upvotes

The Lake Wobegon effect, a natural human tendency to overestimate one's capabilities. Lake Wobegon is some kinda fictional invented town in Minesota. You need to see the live show A Prairie Home Companion that you could see in Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul, Min, to understand this. MichaelKJ has stated something he knows and others ignore, what I would classify as a bad idea in this context.

One can never rate any stuff in a correct way for just anyone. We all have different points of view, I like testers writing they think or estimate this or that, what reflects their point of view. But, we all are the creators we read about in the Bible, we create the world to our own image by comparing all we see with our personality, and this ego is composed of all we find in life, the evidence we encounter, on the other side all the crap that is washed in our brain by others, people, News, TV, Obama, Ron Paul, the Pope, the Imam, our doctor, and what ever we find as brainlaundromats on earth.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 7 minutes after posting

1 upvote

It is this diversity of opinions and points of view that makes the world go forward, or retract, by destruction and reconstruction. Creativity is always a question of virginity. You can't create anything on a place where something is, the old has to go first and you create a state of nothingness, a virgin space, be this by demolition or simple barbarian destruction, like wars. Out of that virgin space emerges a new virgin birth. Now, all in life goes that way, and once created, we can modify and improve the created object or being, until it becomes valueless and then it collapses. To replace it, we need to destroy and create something new, but here again, someone creates it to his image and points of view. Market tries here to see what can fit most of us, but never all of us, even if i found that marketing is a place where many famous donkeys, that walk beside of their shoes, move around. But, one needs a lot of things to create a world anyway.

Comment edited 28 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Lots of cameras have gotten nothing. For whatever reason, the Pentax K-01, Nikon 1 V1, and Panasonic GF2 were deemed not worthy of a DPR award.

How a camera with the gorgeous IQ of the K-01 or the unrivaled AF performance / processing of the V1 are considered unworthy when pretty much anything with a lens gets an award is anybody's guess.

0 upvotes

marike6, both cameras had fatal flaws (compared to its peers) which totally overcame their good features you mention. For example, k-01 practically cannot autofocus, LiveView AF of DSLR lenses is unusable, and is too big and heavy compared to its viewfinderless peers (and its IQ is no better then every NEX with the same sensor, BTW). Conversely, V1 is too far behind its peers in image quality, does not take normal flashes, does not have good user interface. These are not marginal features nobody cares about, these are core.

0 upvotes

To HowaboutRaw, I did shoot mostly RAW with the G15, but my wife shot primarily JPEG. Both were excellent. As for my comments regarding the TG-2, I did not have an opportunity to shoot underwater, so I have to recuse myself from commenting on its underwater capabilities, which, I admit, is one of the main draws for this camera. Having said that, I was not looking for a camera that could just perform well underwater. Indeed, I would be using it more on land. Possibly, it was my comparison with DSLR images and those from the four Olympus cameras that I have owned, one of which, as I stated, WAS an underwater camera (the 850 SW) that heavily influenced my opinion. Anyone who does not have that reference point may find this camera to their liking. Just my experience.

Comment edited 48 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Total comments: 94

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Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS Waterproof Compact Camera (Black)●	$359.00	Buy on GearShop
Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS Waterproof Compact Camera (Red)●	$359.00	Buy on GearShop

Olympus Stylus TG-2 iHS Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Black)	$353.99
Olympus Stylus TG-2 iHS Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Red)	$354.99
Olympus Stylus TG-2 iHS Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Black)	$353.99
Olympus Stylus TG-2 iHS Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Red)	$354.99
Focus Camera Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Black) + 7pc Bundle 16GB Accessory Kit	$369.95
Focus Camera Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Red) + 7pc Bundle 16GB Accessory Kit	$369.95
Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS Shock & Waterproof Digital Camera (Red) with 32GB Card + Case + Battery + Flex Tripod + Accessory Kit	$379.95
Focus Camera Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Red) + LI-90B Battery + 10pc Bundle 32GB Deluxe Accessory Kit	$389.95
Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS Shock & Waterproof Digital Camera (Black) with 32GB Card + Case + Battery & Charger + Tripod + HDMI Cable + Accessory Kit	$379.95
Focus Camera Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Black) + LI-90B Battery + 10pc Bundle 32GB Deluxe Accessory Kit	$389.95
Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS Shock & Waterproof Digital Camera (Red) with 16GB Card + Case + Battery + Flex Tripod + Accessory Kit	$364.95
Olympus Stylus TG-830 iHS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Red)	$199.99

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