Olympus TG6... The best UW compromise!

I recently "upgraded" from TG5 to TG6 and my impression from this kit remains the same. Its the best UW camera for its money with the most complete accessories range. IQ is not great with my main gripe being the low resolution (not much you can crop) but its size and features lets you grab some impressive shots:

This and the next one are my favorites

PP was done in LR based on my personal presets

Nice!  I enjoyed those.  Which WP Housing do you use?

Trevor Sowers wrote:

Nice! I enjoyed those. Which WP Housing do you use?

No housing at all! But I am using the Olympus wide extender add on lens.

Nice captures Yannis.

Dale

Yannis1976 wrote:

I recently "upgraded" from TG5 to TG6 and my impression from this kit remains the same. Its the best UW camera for its money with the most complete accessories range. IQ is not great with my main gripe being the low resolution (not much you can crop) but its size and features lets you grab some impressive shots:

This and the next one are my favorites

PP was done in LR based on my personal presets

Yannis1976 wrote:

Trevor Sowers wrote:

Nice! I enjoyed those. Which WP Housing do you use?

No housing at all! But I am using the Olympus wide extender add on lens.

Excellent shots. The wide adapter add on lens you use, is it the FCON-T01 Fisheye Converter?

Thanks.

rgs_45 wrote:

Yannis1976 wrote:

Trevor Sowers wrote:

Nice! I enjoyed those. Which WP Housing do you use?

No housing at all! But I am using the Olympus wide extender add on lens.

Excellent shots. The wide adapter add on lens you use, is it the FCON-T01 Fisheye Converter?

Thanks.

Yes that one! In my opinion, it totally transforms the camera underwater, giving a much different perspective.

Yannis1976 wrote:

rgs_45 wrote:

Yannis1976 wrote:

Trevor Sowers wrote:

Nice! I enjoyed those. Which WP Housing do you use?

No housing at all! But I am using the Olympus wide extender add on lens.

Excellent shots. The wide adapter add on lens you use, is it the FCON-T01 Fisheye Converter?

Thanks.

Yes that one! In my opinion, it totally transforms the camera underwater, giving a much different perspective.

Thanks Yannis.

rochester21 wrote:

These images look much better than expected from a small sensor camera.

First, even small sensor cameras can produce good images at base ISO. Their major problem is IQ quickly degrades once you start to increase ISO. It's one of the key factors in squeezing best IQ from such cameras. As the OP mentioned, the TG provides a excellent balance of features in a ruggedized compact. Moving up to to a 1" or MFT camera for a underwater use dramatically increases cost and complexity plus really complicates usage.

Next you're neglecting the skills of the OP. He has been doing underwater photography for some time and has definitely more than mastered the basics.

What I like about these pictures is they are actually taken at depth. Far too many people shoot only while snorkeling at the surface. At surface depths there are numerous light problems and have a downward looking perspective. Then they compound this mistake by zooming to frame the subject. One critical aspect of UW photography is to minimize the amount of water between the camera and subject.

Also, the water clarity is excellent. Not the best I've seen, but far better better than many popular travel destinations. They also used the fisheye adapter. Considering the effects of refraction, the normal wide angle field of view is somewhat marginal for UW use. As the adapter is mildly fisheye, the field of view is wider than a rectilinear lens of the same focal length. Considering that water clarity, I'm not sure I would have used the adapter. With less than ideal water conditions, the adapter becomes almost mandatory when working with close subject distances.

Also appears the OP has PP skills. UW shots almost always can stand a little tweaking. If nothing else, white balance often needs some adjustment. The TG series has a fairly good auto UW WB mode. But shooting RAW allows for more dramatic adjustments when shooting in deeper water in less than ideal conditions.

Anyway, thanks to Yannis for posting these excellent pictures. They help demonstrate the underwater capabilities of the TG-6.

Enders Shadow wrote:

rochester21 wrote:

These images look much better than expected from a small sensor camera.

First, even small sensor cameras can produce good images at base ISO. Their major problem is IQ quickly degrades once you start to increase ISO. It's one of the key factors in squeezing best IQ from such cameras. As the OP mentioned, the TG provides a excellent balance of features in a ruggedized compact. Moving up to to a 1" or MFT camera for a underwater use dramatically increases cost and complexity plus really complicates usage.

Next you're neglecting the skills of the OP. He has been doing underwater photography for some time and has definitely more than mastered the basics.

What I like about these pictures is they are actually taken at depth. Far too many people shoot only while snorkeling at the surface. At surface depths there are numerous light problems and have a downward looking perspective. Then they compound this mistake by zooming to frame the subject. One critical aspect of UW photography is to minimize the amount of water between the camera and subject.

Also, the water clarity is excellent. Not the best I've seen, but far better better than many popular travel destinations. They also used the fisheye adapter. Considering the effects of refraction, the normal wide angle field of view is somewhat marginal for UW use. As the adapter is mildly fisheye, the field of view is wider than a rectilinear lens of the same focal length. Considering that water clarity, I'm not sure I would have used the adapter. With less than ideal water conditions, the adapter becomes almost mandatory when working with close subject distances.

Also appears the OP has PP skills. UW shots almost always can stand a little tweaking. If nothing else, white balance often needs some adjustment. The TG series has a fairly good auto UW WB mode. But shooting RAW allows for more dramatic adjustments when shooting in deeper water in less than ideal conditions.

Anyway, thanks to Yannis for posting these excellent pictures. They help demonstrate the underwater capabilities of the TG-6.

Thank you for your nice words! The truth is that I have shot thousands of photos with both the TG5 and now 6 and have now learnt some things about the UW photography I like. If you do like the shots, apart from the camera capabilities, there are also some tricks that may help you get such results:

1) after several years of trying, my model (my wife :-)) and myself are both trained to get certain poses and shoot from certain angles.

2) both me and she are using diving fins so that both of us can go "deep" fast and save some breathing air for the shooting. Fins also make the bodies seem more lengthy giving a nicer result in my opinion. Also using the yellow or red color makes a better contrast vs the blue water of Aegean sea

3) leaving some bubbles while being shot makes the result more interesting

4) if you do deep try to shoot also the water surface. Depending on the sun orientation, the sun rays may give a more dramatic look.

6) try to avoid shooting while snorkeling on the surface and pointing the camera downwards. Results may not be that interesting. Play with the depth, for example, shoot your model while you are even deeper than her/him

7) try and put something interesting apart from the model and the bottom of the sea, such as a rope or nice rock

8) don't pay too much attention to details (neither the camera not the environment help on that). Focus more on the overall image, scenery and colors.

9) The TG5/6 do have a very good UW WB and JPEG also look good. But if you want to make the shots pop, try RAW and play with the LR settings of contrast, blacks, dehaze and clarity. Use a lot the white balance selector!

Again I am really happy you like the shots