Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera, Red
$679.95
Last updated on November 22, 2024 5:24 pm Details
- Waterproof (50 ft. / 15 m), dustproof, shockproof (7 ft. / 2. 1 m), crushproof (100kgf), freeze proof (14°F/ -10°c), anti-fog
- High-resolution F2. 0 lens, maximum 8x zoom, true pic VIII, back illuminated CMOS Image Sensor
- Variable macro system comprised of 4 macro shooting modes, magnified shooting up to 1cm from the end of the lens
- 5 underwater shooting modes including underwater microscope, 3 underwater white balance modes
- 4K movie and full HD 120 fps high-speed movies can be recorded; Operating temperature: Temperature -10 – +40℃ (when in operation) / -20 – +60℃ (when stored)
Specification: Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera, Red
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11 reviews for Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera, Red
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Joel Campos –
Es mi primera camera semi-pro, tiene bastantes funciones, la uso para fotografía Marina es cómoda en la mano, toma muy buenas fotos y lo que más me gusta es que tiene modo macro para los objetos más pequeños. Hay que tener en cuenta que para ir más de 50 pies necesitas una carcasa. Recomendable.
Hardwire Telecom –
It’s expensive, big and heavy, and feels and functions like a digital camera from 15 years ago, albeit with higher resolution.
I wouldn’t pack this camera for lightweight hiking as it weighs 3 times as much as my phone, but it does take decent photos and video.
It REALLY needs an eyepiece option, as it can get pretty hard to read when it’s particularly bright out.
The LCD screen in the back is glass, so I added a glass protector for it immediately.
In wet environments (kayaking for me) these cameras inevitably get a fingerprint or a bit of surf wax on the lens and it stops shedding water properly. The solution to this was an inexpensive twist-open lens cover that locks into the lens receptacle.
It’s worth every penny, and the mild inconvenience of opening the cover every time I turn it on, to have a perfectly clean lens every time I pull it out of a bag or pocket to shoot.
Onewarmguy –
As the owner of a TG-4 (Screen broke after dropped on concrete) I thought I’d offer my opinion on the new TG-6 which I received about 7 months ago and have used extensively. The primary use for this camera is photo’s for use in construction reporting and I’ve taken hundreds since I received it and thousands on the TG-4. From a hardware perspective this camera has only minor differences from the TG-4. One comment is the orientation of the mini-HDMI and USB-C ports. The USB-C port is so close to the door hinge that it’s difficult to insert the cable, I worry about breaking the door or the port. Another is the power and operating buttons, Olympus needs to add some more texture to the button surface to make them easier to find when taking pictures.
At best the software is average, in certain photo modes your creative control is severely restricted, with the flash being the biggest offender because in certain modes (beach/sand, action, macro etc) you cannot use it as a fill flash. I understand that this is a point and shoot camera, but surely there’s some room for creativity by someone that knows the difference between aperture and f stop.
I was hoping to see an improvement in the camera software that wasn’t there.
Amazon Customer –
Stop shopping, stop right now. Buy this camera and be done with it. Also, get the underwater housing and a light. That’s it, your underwater camera shopping is complete. The photos speak for themselves! This camera also survived being submerged to 75ft without a housing (not advisable!) but just so are aware that they over engineer it for protection. The macro shots are unlike anything I have ever seen, you can literally put the camera within 1cm of a subject and it will focus perfectly. What a great piece of technology. Buy this, 0 regrets. In the future, I will be purchasing the newer version of this (TG-8?).
Mike2376 –
This camera has great hardware which results in good picture quality and there are many in depth reviews on this subject. Where this camera falls short is on the software front particularly the wifi integration and the usability and functionality of the Olympus mobile apps. Considering the premium price and the convergence in picture quality of point and shoot cameras and cellphones makes this a less than perfect product.
Noemí –
Para ser una cámara compacta, es pesada; su función macro no es la mejor, consigo mejores resultados con el teléfono celular; no tiene incluida la tapa del lente, con mucho riesgo de que se raye el lente; hay que comprar los accesorios y no son nada baratos. No me gustó, la devolveré
Aaron Smith –
Strengths:
Takes good high quality images for a 12 MP compact. Pictures are bright and performance in lowlight is very good. Macro is exceptional and underwater photos are very strong (easily the best among other compact UW cameras). Dynamic range is very good and shadows are often properly exposed (unlike most other UW cameras that consistently underexpose shadows). Despite this camera having only 12 MP, it frequently provides cleaner and more detailed images than its 16 and 20 MP competitors. The custom settings are awesome…everything from the ability to shoot raw, the ability to set and stick 1 second shake reduction timers, to the custom saturation/gradation/contrast/sharpness/nr settings, and much more. White balance tends to be good especially in indoor/macro/uw settings. Reds perform well with this camera. Scenes modes (like beach mode) tend to work well.
Weaknesses:
Video stabilization is a bit below average but decent and low light videos are brighter than the competition. This cameras is a low floor, high ceiling camera…you will need to learn how to use it to gets best benefits. At times the produced jpgs are too saturated or undersaturated. I find a good work around is program mode > i-enhance (low) with NR (low) which works well in most cases. If you edit raw, you don’t have to worry about that. Blues and greens are a bit weak in distant landscape shots.
Minor Quips:
A wrist strap is included…good for divers, but for paddlers, skiers, and hikers a neck strap would have been preferred. 4x zoom is a bit below average compared to other UW compacts…but zoom quality isn’t bad and you can always purchased a telephoto addon to double the range. There is no 4k 60p (just 4k 30p or 1080 60p), but few competitors for this class of camera off this. The battery door and tripod mount are located next to each other…so if you need to switch batteries, you’ll also need to remove your quick release mount which is a bit annoying.
TG-5 vs TG-6:
On paper, the TG-6 hasn’t improved much, but there are subtle but important improvements. New internal filters have been added to reduce chromatic aberration and the purple orb issues. White balance appears slightly improved in the TG-6 and images are much less like to be overexposed (an issues with the TG-5). The LCD on the TG-6 is much approved which is very handy when doing things like exposure compensation. Minimum shutter speed controls, super-macro video, and the ability to use microscope focus in aperture priority are significant changes as well.
Purple Orb:
All TG cameras (and many non-Olympus cameras) occasionally show a small purple orb in the middle of the image. This is likely light reflecting off of the sensor onto an internal lens element. No reviewer brings it up, but it does exist. Honestly I wouldn’t panic if you see this. I’ve shot 1000’s of TG-6 outdoor images and maybe only 1-2 show this. It is more apt to show indoors and in macro situations. But…it only appears in select contexts. Usually if you have max zoom, have a dark subject at the very center, are using a high iso, and there is a strong off-axis light source (or flat surface nearby like a wall that reflects a lot of light). The new LCD screen makes it easy to see the orb and react accordingly…use the flash (the flash cures this in my experience), zoom out, or recompose the camera so the very center isn’t on something very dark. While many TG-5 users complained of this, I believe this has been significantly reduced in the TG-6, but it will occasionally happen…it’s normal!
Accessories:
The FD-1 is highly recommended for macro and acts as a lens hood to protect the lens. Screen protectors are recommended too (a two pack for $7 is available if you search Amazon “screen protectors olympus tough”. An external charger and backup batteries are recommend. Li92 are better quality…but Li90 are a significantly better value. Search Amazon “bm Batteries and Charger for Olympus Tough” for a nice charger/battery pack combo.
K.A. –
This is my first TG-series camera. I am coming from a DSLR, which doesn’t play nice with my kayak on a number of levels. I bought this camera as a go-anywhere-do-anything camera, and to my surprise this is exactly what it is. It gives me some of the features of my DSLR, which is nice, but I kept running into the limits of the hardware. Still, most of the time I was able to get what I want.
I was able to get some nice bokeh, though I wouldn’t want to use this for portraits. Maybe with the teleconverter it would become a passable portrait camera, I don’t know. I used it for landscapes, lots of landscapes, and it worked pretty well for that. I see some color bleeding and some vignette, but I wouldn’t call those problematic. The lens is the equivalent of a standard zoom, so no bird-watching with this thing, and I doubt the teleconverter can do a whole lot to change that. I had a chance to play with the fisheye adapter for about an hour and it gave me just a slightly wider angle overall, but nothing I would call a must-have. This camera is amazing for macro photography, though: my few attempts at it all turned out stunning.
Hardware is pretty sturdy, though the screen at the back scratches easily. GET A PROTECTOR! I am not particularly worried about the lack of an EVF as I wear glasses, though I seem to be alone to not consider this a problem. The screen is somewhat hard to see in bright sunlight, but I am able to manage. The camera survived salt water, sand, being tossed unprotected in my luggage, even being in my PFD while I kayak and perform stunts. I am quite pleased! It’s the right tool for the job and it worked pretty well! The camera is small, the controls are sometimes hard to operate with gloves, but I don’t see how a compact camera can possibly solve that issue: I guess Olympus can add a touchscreen, but touchscreens don’t work well when water is involved.
Now for the software. Argh the software!
The Olympus RAW format is ORF and is mostly unsupported by anything. There is a plugin for Photoshop (not sure if Lightroom supports it, but I hear no), and that’s about it. I got a once-in-a-lifetime offer to get the Adobe software for regular price, and that’s the extent of the support I got from Olympus. What if I don’t want to use Adobe stuff? There is no indication anywhere in the documentation how exactly I am supposed to integrate Olympus RAW with any photo processing workflow, including Adobe’s which they promote so aggressively. Eventually I stumbled upon something called Olympus Workspace, which appears to do something close to what Lightroom does, but I ultimately settled on a third-party tool called Luminar. Luminar worked pretty well.
I wish I had more choices! It’s a shame a camera so well regarded and so respected (the TG-5 is practically the gold standard for camera for water sports) doesn’t do more to be supported by photo-processing software out there.
The battery life is on par with my DSLR! I can get several hundred pictures on a single battery charge! I also love the in-camera modes for panorama, HDR and focus-stacking. Neither of them are perfect, of course: the panorama mode is trying to stitch shots by tracking landmarks in your frame, but when it cannot find one right at the edge of the frame (e.g. it encounters the empty horizon), it gets hopelessly lost. Similarly, focus-stacking would sometimes fail for reasons I have not investigated yet.
I hope this is helping someone.
Rafael –
Hasta ahora me ha parecido una buena cámara aunque sin algo en particular en las fotos, me falta sacarla a situaciones más extremas, pero ya hice pequeñas fotos bajo el agua y sin problema alguno, el GPS funciona muy bien aunque si consume mucha batería así que hay que tener cuidado con eso, saldré a mar y montaña próximamente, espero poder actualizar el comentario
Sylvia Lee –
Bought it for a recent trip. Love this camera. Pictures quite good. Waterproof and most importantly tough. It actually fell down several feet bouncing on stones several times. No issues just a couple of small chips, camera still works as expected. Underwater photos were good but I did not change it to underwater mode so they could be better. Will try on the next trip. So many features to discover. I yet still need to take good night pictures though, I need to play with settings. Taking pictures of tiny things excellent. I enjoy it very much. Taking pictures of moving objects, kids or animals is great. I no longer get blurry pictures. I totally enjoy this camera very much, pictures are good but colours could be better and zoom could be better.
Chris Topping –
It does what it says it does. The camera in not the greatest but it is ideal for snap shots when you are on an adventure. I far prefer it to a GoPro. It does take some fiddling to get through the menus and make it download over WiFi
The menus are not intuitive and the buttons and dials a touch small. Overall it does what I want it to. Nice tracking feature when apps are downloaded.