Could be the best everyday camera

The Olympus TOUGH TG-5 could be the best everyday camera at the moment. It's lightweight, small and tough as a tank. You can drop it, crush it, use it in freezing winter, under heavy rain and snow. You dont have to worry about scratching or breaking it. Drop it in your bag or put it in your coat and go.

The sensor is small, yes, but the quality is there and all the options make it way better than your phone camera.

I'm using a Fujifilm X-T20 everytime i can, but on my work commuting I dont like carrying it, its just a little too big to fit in my coat, and i'm always afraid to break it and can't use it under rain or in winter. The TG-5 is the perfect camera for that.

It's also the perfect camera for hiking in mountain when you dont want to carry heavy camera and lenses. And when heavy fog or rain occurs, the Tg-5 can take it.

This is "Ben of the South..."  Can you post some sample images?  I appreciate that.

jellyhat wrote:

I agree! Apart from the NEX 5N with a 20mm lens (which is a bit bigger) or my Minolta Tc1 35mm compact it's a winner!

And also apart from many other small medium-large compact cameras, such Fuji XQ2, LX series, Panasonic/Canon/Sony 1", Panasonic GM/GF line with pancakes etc.

If you don't care about waterproof, then there many better small solutions IQ wise...

Yannis1976 wrote:

jellyhat wrote:

I agree! Apart from the NEX 5N with a 20mm lens (which is a bit bigger) or my Minolta Tc1 35mm compact it's a winner!

And also apart from many other small medium-large compact cameras, such Fuji XQ2, LX series, Panasonic/Canon/Sony 1", Panasonic GM/GF line with pancakes etc.

If you don't care about waterproof, then there many better small solutions IQ wise...

Unless you want tough, or the best macro.

Here's 3 samples. After a month of use, I can say it compares to the quality of phones cameras, like the Samsung Galaxy S7. The pictures looks good on Instagram and on screen, but as soon as you watch em at 100% full size, you know its a small sensor. I like it for hiking and in my everyday carry bag. So much more option than a phone camera.

I wouldn't call the TG-5 the best everyday carry camera and I don't think it's really a good hiking camera.  The TG-5 is great for underwater and super macro and claims to be tough. However tough is really it's only benefit as an everyday carry camera.

For an everyday camera I'd grab my Panasonic ZS-100 over my TG-5.  (Still pocketable)

Granted, the small sensor does have its limitations, but I must admit that these are some of the best images I've seen from a smallish sensor of this type - on most of the past Olympus P&S models (which often had issues on one side of the image or the other - meaning blurr).

Sure, appearance-wise, it looks like something out a Transformers movie, but there are so many uses for the TG5 that I can think of.  The only thing that turns me off a bit is the price, but given all that it does, it is a niche camera.  I shoot in RAW only, so I'm banking that I can do lots more with those files than just shooting JPG.  Hmnnnnn, thinking now.

There's been some interesting comments on the tg5 on Dpreview,  mainly about the low light/high iso limitations of the small sensor.  But this is a photography forum, and we're enthusiasts,  so our priority will be image quality, and our benchmark will be a large sensor dslr or compact system camera.

Compared to my Fuji X-E2, the detail in the images from my new tg5 is not great.  Hair in portraits is smudged, foliage is a bit of a green smush, faces look grainy in low light, and manual control is limited..... and the control wheel is fiddly.

But with my sports/travel enthusiast hat on, I'm really pleased with the little Olympus.   Now my comparison is a Lumix tough camera with a 16mp sensor and a GoPro Hero 4.

The tg5 stills are a huge improvement over the GoPro, and detail and low light is much better than the Lumix.  And the manual control over aperture and flash power is great and the conttol wheel is a huge benefit.  And the macro capability is stunning.

I also have a water-resistant Sony Z5 phone, and the noise level from the tg5 are much lower, and unlike a phone, I can adjust the settings in the rain and under water, and use it in dalt water.

In decent light and at iso 100 or 200 the IQ is very decent, and the accessories are handy.

Yes, the photographer in me would forgo the zoom for a wider aperture fixed lens. and accept a bigger body in return for a bigger sensor, but the traveller/mountain biker/snorkeler in me is very happy with my new tg5.

Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/XXmNcw

Here's some shots taken with the in-camera Grainy Film II option, no edit, straight out of the camera. This is the mode I have the most fun with yet with my TG5. I take it out of my backpack and shot stuff around in b&w. The result is always good even in super low light, it just add more grain to the pic. It looks like film pictures to me and I like it.

For me this isn't a perfect camera at all. I just like that it is super tough to carry around on an everyday basis, I dont fear to break it. I know I can use it if it rain and I know I'll be able to use it this winter (I live in Canada, we have 6 months of winter)

I use my Fujifilm X-T20 as much as possible, but there's no way i'll carry my X-T20 with me everywhere all the time, that's why I bought the TG5

Here's more pics. Note the first pics I posted and those one here has all been post-processed using Adobe Bridge RAW tool and Photoshop. Only the black and white shots are straight out of the camera.

I worry about buying TG5. It my leave my nikon and olympus ILC cameras in the closet.

zzzxtreme wrote:

I worry about buying TG5. It my leave my nikon and olympus ILC cameras in the closet.

Oh dont worry! After a couple month of use I can tell you the TG5 will never replace a camera with a bigger sensor! The Image quality looks good only on screen when you downsize the pictures. When you zoom in at 100% you see how bad it look. The sensor is really small.

Its a good every day carry camera and a good camera to bring on a very long hike when you dont want to carry lots of weight or when the weather isnt good.

Very nice images.  I think the TG5 is great for close up macro shots.

Fujijitsu wrote:

Very nice images. I think the TG5 is great for close up macro shots.

Yes it have a Nice macro

Ben of the North wrote:

Here's more pics. Note the first pics I posted and those one here has all been post-processed using Adobe Bridge RAW tool and Photoshop. Only the black and white shots are straight out of the camera.

Nice images Ben. I was thinking of my defunct LX100 while looking at your landscape pictures. The results from the LX100 were flat. The TG-5 does a much better job in my opinion.

Never heard of Adobe Bridge RAW. Are you pleased with it?

I noticed that you are shooting with as much as -1.3EV. Did you have to pull a lot of detail out of the shadows?

Interesting to hear that some of you guys rate the TG-5 so high for macro shots,, and as flower "snapping" is one of my "favs" it could be of interest.

One question though if I may,, is the TG-4 macro as good as the TG-5,, I only ask because its around £100 cheaper here in the UK.

Any thoughts on this guys ??

Roland.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolandb52/

"" I'm a snap-shooter! I shoot anything that interest me. Sometimes, I get lucky and some of my snap-shots turn into a photograph.""

rolandb wrote:

Interesting to hear that some of you guys rate the TG-5 so high for macro shots,, and as flower "snapping" is one of my "favs" it could be of interest.

One question though if I may,, is the TG-4 macro as good as the TG-5,, I only ask because its around £100 cheaper here in the UK.

Any thoughts on this guys ??

Roland.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolandb52/

"" I'm a snap-shooter! I shoot anything that interest me. Sometimes, I get lucky and some of my snap-shots turn into a photograph.""

I find the TG-4 macro modes brilliant, especially the focus stacking. Not tried the TG-5 so can’t compare, but I’d expect it to be just as good.

some examples: