Olympus Tough Sports Holder CSCH-123 (Orange) for The TG-850/860 and TG-1/2/3/4

So first off, fit and finish on this is great. It’s not the right color for my camera but for some reason the orange ones are being held for ransom by Amazon 3rd party sellers so settled for this one, not docking stars for the color. The hook and cable mount for the camera is solid and is a great solution for easy access to the camera. This does exactly what it was designed to do allowing you to attach your camera to a belt, backpack strap, life vest strap or anything else with a strap basically, Allows for horizontal and vertical attachments and the Velcro straps to connect it seem very sturdy. All in on if you’re looking for a specific type of case to guard against damage to the back screen on the camera, and still allow you to take video while its in the case this is a great offering.

Now the bad, the MSRP on this is ridiculous for a case near 40 bills CAD. You can buy a 3rd part universal case for way cheaper but it won’t fit near as good or allow you to take pictures/video in the case or strap it to your backpack. Secondly, the biner on this is plastic and relies on a pretty weak looking clip for the safety strap. I replaced it immediately with a metal one that I had and that solved the concern, but they could definitely have beefed that up a bit for the price. Outside of that I’m pretty satisfied but I’ve docked a star for the complaints here.

Update 1: My pack arrived today (Exos 58 by Osprey). The Tough Sports Holder doesn’t have enough slack in the hook-n-loop fasteners on the back to hold it to the straps in either the vertical or horizontal position. I knew vertical wouldn’t work from an attempt with a smaller pack, but sheesh, Olympus. C’mon, man. Redesign this thing to fasten to something beefier than grandpa’s suspenders, ya’ cheapskates. I’ll use it, because it securely holds the camera. But I’ll have to MacGyver the daylights out of this thing to fasten it to my pack and use it as ADVERTISED. Caveat emptor, folks.

Initial observations and review: Here we have a $30 pack-strap mount system for a $350 camera. It’s a good start, but can use some work. I have a different complaint than most. I’ll mention it last. First, the most common complaints about this seem to be, 1) the lanyard, 2) movie-button access, 3) screen (non) view-ability. Hmmm . . .

1) The lanyard. From the photos of the thing both on Amazon and the Olympus website, I knew I was not going to trust the OEM lanyard. Luekutus’ review merely confirmed my suspicions. I always planned that Wayne’s Hack #1 would be rigging my own lanyard from 3/32″, 275 lb tensile strength, 5-strand nylon core paracord (in case you don’t already have some in a drawer in your workshop / hobby room – or the Mrs. threw it out of the kitchen drawer where you stashed it, 3/32″ paracord is available in a variety of colors on Amazon … you’re welcome, Jeff B.). Fifty cents worth of cord and 15 minutes to rig it. Did I mention it’s a $350 camera? And I don’t much care for the plastic “imitation” ‘biner it comes with, so another $3 for an aircraft grade aluminum self-locking unit (also available on Amazon . . . Jeff B., how’s about a dividend check … or a kiss). Okay.

2) Button access. (C’mon man) The shock cord (bungee cord) that retains the camera in the mount has a quick release tab, allowing one to loosen the camera without removing it, tilt forward, hit the movie button, and re-secure the camera. I haven’t tried yet, but I’ll wager that with just a little practice it can be deftly done with one hand – without looking. With a little practice. I’ll let you know. A person who likes to tinker and improve things could devise a hack that would permit activating the record button without taking the camera loose. I think the challenge with that kind of hack would be preventing the inadvertent/accidental/unintended activation of the button, leaving the user with unwanted footage, and depleted memory and battery when the “hero” shot came around. Of course, since the supported camera has WiFi capability, a bargain basement track phone (or last year’s cell phone that you’ve replaced with the Next Big Thing) linked to the phone and secured against the elements in a Lok-Sak might be a better solution. Long as you don’t get so carried away staring at the great footage you’re getting that you forget to avoid that boulder LOOK OUT …

None of my target action will be done at high-speed. I got the TG-4 as my camera of choice for next year’s planned Appalachian Trail thru-hike. The intention is to have camera that will set up for auto interval shooting while hiking, and will double for “Kodak-moment” landscapes and “Say-Cheese” moments with hikers I meet along the way. It’s nice that it does video, so I can post some candid moments for the folks back home (with the help of a trusty Gorilla Pod). And if there’s a stretch I want to video (there’ll be a few), well, I’ll stop in my tracks for a second.

3) Screen can’t been seen in the mount. Hmmm . . . we mentioned the WiFi thing already, right? I tried it. Works great. “Nuff said.

My minor aggravation is with the Velcro … excuse me … “hook and loop” straps that secure the mount to that pack strap, particularly the pair that orient the mount vertically. The issue is that they are too short for the straps on a modest 28 litre capacity day pack, much less a 50-60 litre pack for a thru-hike. Hey, Olympus! Would it have killed your bottom line to have used another 4 inches of nylon and Velcro – 1 inch on each end of each pair? Skin flints. Or maybe farm out the design task to a person on staff that has a friend that’s an actual hiker, so they can, like, network – collaborate. You know?

It’s nothing I can’t hack a solution for. Nylon strap material + Velcro + Gorilla Glue (or epoxy) + needle-n-thread + whatever else makes its need known in process. Also, I suspect I’ll want to devise a hack to tilt the camera angle in the mount so that the field of view is parallel with my line of travel and sight (when I’m looking where I’m going – which is usually a good idea). It won’t have to be fancy – a pair of small, dense foam wedges – or maybe a zip lock bag with just the right amount of trapped air, and a bit of duct tape. (Somebody needs to give the inventor of duct tape a kiss. I’ve done enough kissin’ for one review, Jeff.)

3 stars. It’s okay. Could have been designed a bit better. Could be $20 instead of $30 (considering the effort it’ll take to make it right). I’ve already put $50 worth of thought into this thing – a fraction of what Olympus overpaid their engineers to draw it up. They made a good camera tho’, so I’ll cut ’em some slack. But $30? For this? C’mon man. And don’t get me started on some of the other accessories’ prices. (yah-yah-yah … that’s another review or two …)

When I get around to it, I’ll add a snapshot or two of my improvements.

photo

Practica para cargar la cámara al alcance. El plástico de la parte superior ( donde se agarran los elásticos) choca con el lente.

great for outdoor activities

I used it five times in Cuba over the holidays during snorkeling to house my Olympus Tough Camera – but by the third outing, left it behind in favor of using the coil leash that comes with the camera and my board shorts pocket. The straps don’t always release and when grabbing blindly for it, the camera can sometimes come through the bungee strap the wrong way and get tangled. Nice idea that almost worked.

Muy buena para la olympus tg-5