Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2

[portinfer]

Hey anyone seen one of these yet or has used the older TG-1 ?
Found a video review - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zcllJe9kTk]Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 Unboxing & First Look - YouTube[/ame]

Looks like a good choice for general everyday dives down to 15m (and would possibly be ok down to more?)

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Ed

 

[Magpie]

Watcha Ed. No experience of that camera but having had a normal yet waterproof camera in the past for diving I flogged it because it was very difficult to use with gloves on due to the size of the buttons.

That camera looks nice but will have the same problem. A diving housing has nice big buttons.

 

[Errolc]

Hi Ed - not used that one myself but have the related XZ-1 in its box - PT050. Now we have got the hang of it, we're totally happy with it, (so much so that my wife has now bought one for herself).

We're only snorkelling photographers so don't play much below 5M (I know - barely getting our toes wet compared to the rest of u). Pros for us - good bright lens and quickish re shutter lag and so on (well, for a compact).

Main thing we love is the white balance setting = 'underwater' (not underwater mode or scene). Since we've turned that on using the colour balance correct in PaintShop Pro is a thing of the past.

If you're at proper depths you'll be using strobe but clearly we don't need to.

Best bit for us is that setting works fine when we do use flash. We think it produces nice colours at 5M but also at 1M i.e. we don't get the red tinge which was the bane of our lives when we tried using a filter or the 'underwater' scene/ mode.

I'd recommend this camera to anyone who wants a compact.

Cheers - Errol

 

[Jonny250]

hey Ed. i had an olympus mu tough and it corroded pretty quickly. i would only buy a camera with housing now - just to avoid the corrosion issue.

 

[Crustyfish]

Hi

I have a TG2 with the Olympus housing. While there are probably (definately) better compact digitals out there as far a photo quality goes, my theory is that having a 'tough' camera is very useful when you are on boats and around water. I'm not a dedicated underwater photographer so I want something that doesn't need too much effort and care to operate and maintain. I think that if a hair gets in the housing seal and some water gets in (seems to happen to everyone by the sounds of it) then the waterproof camera wont be instantly ruined. Another huge advantage of this system!

So far I've only done a small amount of shooting with it but the quality and clarity are surprisingly good, both with and without the housing, photo and video. It is much easier to use with the housing and it feels much more robust with than without as well.

We looked at all sorts of options from the high quality compact digitals with dedicated housings, right down to a normal tough camera. This seemed to be the best compromise between cost, quality and durability. The highend options got very expensive very quickly and the normal cameras were limited in depth etc. Hope this helps.

Crusty

 

[grantl]

Mmmh - I was happy with my TG-2for 3 or 4 dives then it flooded ( no housing).
Of course it was 2 days past the return for refund date :-(

It's now gone to Olympus for repair.
I'm trying a Nikon AW110 now - hopefully it can survive more than a month.

 

[Crustyfish]

I killed my first 'underwater' camera as well, by chasing fish well beyond its max. Now use the housing if the depths are likely to be more than just surface swimming/snorkelling.

Do you know what failed on the TG2, and how deep you were? I would appreciate the info to try to avoid the same thing happening.

 

[primozp]

... my theory is that having a 'tough' camera is very useful when you are on boats and around water. I'm not a dedicated underwater photographer so I want something that doesn't need too much effort and care to operate and maintain. ...
Crusty

Agree, this little cameras are amazing!

At the moment I am using Panasonic TS5/FT5 compact UW camera, which, I thing, is the best compact UW camera. In last 8 years I owned 14 UW cameras My UW Cameras - a set on Flickr I was very pleased with all of them.

Check my UW photos and videos:
Primoz P's photosets on Flickr
Primoz - YouTube

8 meters deep

13 meters deep

All taken during snorkelling/freediving:

 

[Errolc]

Stunning shots Primozp - colour and so sharp.

 

[Alfred8100]

Amazing! Really done a nice job there. I also have some this type of nice shots in my PC. I sure will must be next time post here. However, like all of those.

 

[primozp]

Video report from Egypt (june 2013):

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoAWgKW-rrI"]Egypt, Hurghada (The Grand Makadi Hotel), june 2013 (Panasonic DMC-FT5 & FT20), Red Sea - YouTube[/ame]