Olympus TG5... Pleasantly surprised!

Hi,

This is my full review after using the camera for 10 days in the Greek islands. Initially I wasn't expecting much after having tried and returned the TG4 a year ago. This summer, I decided to give the TG series another try combining it also with the fish-eye lens.

Pros:

1) UW AW balance and colors are most of the times very good, better than myself editing the RAW!!

2) The fish-eye lens is a must for UW photography compromising the small sensor low resolution vs a larger sensor camera (e.g. the RX100/3 I also had with me).

3) Ergonomics are great and definitely better than any larger sensor camera due to the smaller size (again mainly vs my RX100/3)

4) When in UW wide mode, you seldom miss a higher shutter speed, despite not having an S mode.

5) RAW files do give you some space to play despite the small sensor (look samples later)

6) Macro modes are great. Focus in camera stacking works great!

7) Light painting is SUPER easy with this one!

8) Well built

Cons:

1) IQ and especially details are not that good while pixel peeping.

2) there are times that you will miss the S mode

3) Lens, especially with the fish-eye, is extremely prone to sun flares

Some samples:

Edited in LR

Edited in LR

UW macro mode and edited in LR

Edited in LR

Overall, I would give a 4 stars to the TG5 mainly for what is allows you to shoot (UW, sports etc) with acceptable IQ and great ergonomics vs other solutions.

J_dpr wrote:

Thanks for the review!

I'm not sure what you mean by
"2) The fish-eye lens is a must for UW photography compromising the small sensor low resolution vs a larger sensor camera"
Why is it compromising the sensor?

Which of your photos are shot with the fisheye lens? Have you noticed a lot of purple fringing or chromatic aberration towards the corners of the frame with the fisheye attached?

Thanks.

Apologies for not being clear

During my holidays, I also had the RX100/3 with the Ikelite action housing. IQ from 1" was indeed better when cropping or even at base ISO, but in my opinion the wide field of view of the TG5 and the smaller size proved to be much more important to achieve a nice UW photo.

The fish-eye lens was constantly attached to the TG5, all shots were taken with it. Yes there is some purple fringing, but its been corrected by the Olympus JPEG engine and you can also correct it with LR.

Thanks for the review. First shot is killer with such good vibrant color.

J_dpr wrote:

Yannis, did you experience any fogging up on the screen like discussed in the long thread here on this forum?

No, nothing like fog on the screen. Sometimes only  the wide lens would collect some air or was not filled fully with water creating some artifacts.

Yannis1976 wrote:

Apologies for not being clear

During my holidays, I also had the RX100/3 with the Ikelite action housing. IQ from 1" was indeed better when cropping or even at base ISO, but in my opinion the wide field of view of the TG5 and the smaller size proved to be much more important to achieve a nice UW photo.

The fish-eye lens was constantly attached to the TG5, all shots were taken with it. Yes there is some purple fringing, but its been corrected by the Olympus JPEG engine and you can also correct it with LR.

Yannis, did you use the Olympus wide angle adapter or a third party?

Did the attachment come with a pouch / case?

Does it work with the housing as well?

I have been playing with the TG-5, that I bought refurb and looks new. I had returned the TG-4 or TG-3 a couple of years ago. Anyway I find the sharpening and contrast a bit too high by default, I have seen that they can be dialed down.

I wish it had S rather than A mode, since it only has 3 apertures. I'd dream of a firmware update that would replace A with S.

stefpix wrote:

Yannis1976 wrote:

Apologies for not being clear

During my holidays, I also had the RX100/3 with the Ikelite action housing. IQ from 1" was indeed better when cropping or even at base ISO, but in my opinion the wide field of view of the TG5 and the smaller size proved to be much more important to achieve a nice UW photo.

The fish-eye lens was constantly attached to the TG5, all shots were taken with it. Yes there is some purple fringing, but its been corrected by the Olympus JPEG engine and you can also correct it with LR.

Yannis, did you use the Olympus wide angle adapter or a third party?

Did the attachment come with a pouch / case?

Does it work with the housing as well?

I have been playing with the TG-5, that I bought refurb and looks new. I had returned the TG-4 or TG-3 a couple of years ago. Anyway I find the sharpening and contrast a bit too high by default, I have seen that they can be dialed down.

I wish it had S rather than A mode, since it only has 3 apertures. I'd dream of a firmware update that would replace A with S.

Hi again,

The adapter is from Olympus and is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Fisheye-adapter-Cameras-Adapter/dp/B00CMKONQ8

https://www.getolympus.com/us/en/fcon-t01-fisheye-converter-lens-cla-t01-adapter.html

IMHO it is essential for underwater shots and I don't think it fits the UW housing, just the TG-5 camera.

Thx

Yannis1976 wrote:

IMHO it is essential for underwater shots and I don't think it fits the UW housing, just the TG-5 camera.

The fisheye adapter is a good option to have available, but I don't always use it. On shallow reef dives I'm usually more interested in photographing fish. I avoid using the zoom in order to take advantage of the relatively fast lens. In more open water, the adapter can be helpful.

You're correct, the fisheye adapter is only useable when mounted directly on TG cameras, It has 40.5mm threads and is only rated to 20m. The Olympus housings have 52mm threads. Olympus has a wide angle adapter, the PTWC-01, that was designed for use with their housings. For some reason they no longer list it as a accessory for the PT-058. It's a expensive piece of glass, about $500. I borrowed a friend's for a deeper wreck dive. I was surprised it is a rectilinear design and doesn't offer as wide of coverage as their fisheye adapter. Its optical quality was excellent.

Update:

I talked to my friend who owns the PTWC-01 and asked why it's not listed as a accessory for the PT-058. He pointed out that Olympus shows it on their case system chart for that housing. So, it remains compatible with the all their housings for the TG series. He reminded me that the adapter lens actually has 67mm threads and requires using a step-up ring.  I also forgot it will slightly vignette with the lens at full wide. If you select the adapter in the accessory menu, the camera will automatically zoom to the widest useable zoom without vignetting when powered on. But, you can still manually zoom. The PTWC-01 doesn't seem all that competitive compared to aftermarket wide angle lenses.