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Does what I expected it to do, and more.

Started Dec 3, 2012 | User reviews thread
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tramontina New Member • Posts: 9
Does what I expected it to do, and more.
2

I own 2 DSLRs and earlier this year I got the OM-D. I never own a compact so the TG-1 is my first. The reason I was looking for a compact was because it was troublesome for me to take out my DSLR or even the OM-D when hiking especially if the weather is wet. Since I am getting a compact for that purpose, might as well it be a rugged one.

During my recent travels the TG-1 met what I expected it to do. The image quality is very acceptable for a waterproof camera. The wide 25mm f2 lens was very helpful for scenery and even indoor shots. I dipped the camera several times into water and the images I captured, although not of Natgeo quality, were very pleasing. Even underwater video was not so bad as long as there are adequate light. When dipped into a puddle the OLED screen gave a practical view although at an angle.

The camera GPS, manometer and trail log function are really cool. I never had these in any of my earlier camera and this solves some problems when I go hiking without carrying a GPS device.

The super macro mode is very nice- an LED illuminates the subject and you can take very nice macros. Because it's not a real flash you might have to hold the camera steadily to avoid vibration, which is a bane in macro. The sharpness from some of the macro shots are amazing- details are well defined with minimal noise. I have tried some of my friends' compacts but none gave such image quality in macro.

For the price, size and what it was intended for, my opinion this camera deserves an applaud. No other compact I can think of can give such a good combination of features at that price.

Problems:

It would have been nicer if there are more manual controls. The most manual I could get is P mode. But this is not really a big problem as I always set the metering on center spot.

Olympus Tough TG-1 iHS
12 megapixels • 3 screen • 25 – 100 mm (4×)
Announced: May 8, 2012
tramontina's score
4.5
Average community score
4.0
bad for good for
Kids / pets
great
Action / sports
unrated
Landscapes / scenery
excellent
Portraits
unrated
Low light (without flash)
excellent
Flash photography (social)
great
Studio / still life
excellent
= community average
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