TG-06 and shutter speed

Hi all,

I'm a long term photographer, but very very new to underwater photography.

I'm thinking of getting something cheapish ahead of a forthcoming trip where I'll be hoping to photograph seals, turtles and sharks (often whilst snorkelling but sometimes whilst diving).

I'm tempted by the Olympus TG-6, but have read about the limitations regarding manual control (the lack of it).

I've read that you can partly navigate this by setting the camera in auto ISO mode and setting the shutter speed up to 1/500 sec.

Related to this I have the following questions:

1. Does the auto ISO mode allow you to also set the aperture?

2. If not, and the aperture automatically sets to wide (f2 or f2.8 for example) - would this allow for enough depth of field to sharply capture the animals I am interested in (turtles, sharks etc) ? I imagine it wouldn't based on overground photography, but perhaps underwater photography is different?

The camera plus housing is relatively cheap compared to other options, but I would still rather not spend £600-£700 if I am going to be severely limited in what photos I can take.

I've read some reviews that suggest Aperture priority mode is preferable, but then I worry that the shutter speed would end up too slow for fast moving creatures.

Any advice or thoughts would be very much appreciated!

Thanks for the response, Peter.

That is good to know.

I know it's difficult to say, but would you imagine that even at those wide apertures, I would be able to get all/most of the animals in focus? (assuming it was fairly close)

Since posting my query I have seen some underwater photos from this camera which do seem to look like this is possible, but I'm keen to avoid a situation whereby I just get an eye, or a flipper in focus.

look to the Backscatter reviews as they talk about how to make the best of what is still an irrational decision by Olympus to keep denying full control.

The price is nice, and it has a super macro mode that has a lot of fans.    But you have to learn to work around this oddity and engage in some tricks that most others don't know nor need to.

Hi Kelpdiver,

Thanks. The backscatter review (and info about the shutter speed workaround) was actually the one that convinced me to get the camera.

The TG-06 instruction manual also mentions this.

However, on a discussion in a different forum, a couple of people with the camera say this only works in flash mode - and that with ambient light the camera appears to ignore the selected shutter speed when their is less light.

I've emailed Olympus to see if they can shed light on this, but would be good to hear from anyone here who actually has the camera.

There are of course other options, Canon G7X ii and the Sony RX100 - which both look really good, but the housing is more expensive, and I understand that it isn't always easy (or impossible!) to get spare o-rings.

Of course, I could just go with a GoPro, which is much cheaper and simpler, but yes, poorer in quality.

It would probably be a lot less stressful than trying to choose a camera.

Although would also need a half decent phone!

A good explanation there.

I think I would still prefer my camera to behave as my SLR - maintain the minimum shutter speed, and have an underexposed photo, than a blurry shot - which I could then try and address in post processing (I'm planning to shoot RAW)

I'm basing this on sensors from Nikon DSLRs though, and as you say, the sensor for the TG-06 isn't comparable.

I think one of my issues is that due to lack of experience with underwater photography, I'm not aware  of what shutter speeds are normally required for the lighting conditions I will be in.

Perhaps i'll still be able to get 1/125 (which should suffice for the shots I want) or maybe it will go to 1/30 (which won't be).

Just to confirm Peter - the workaround you suggest works with the flash off?

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

Or you could go with a Kraken universal smartphone housing for about $300.

I wouldn't want to compromise my primary information device while on vacation.  If the smartphone floods, I'm SOL until I get back home, or at least in the US.

The best gopro is a lot cheaper than the current galaxy or iphone, and much more disposable.