What *another* camera? Olympus TG-6 review

 

Christmas came early this year when Santa brought me a new camera. Surprisingly, it is a *new* camera rather than a used one which is how I buy most of my photographic equipment. As I have gradually accumulated more entomological clobber which I carry with me on field visits, it simply hasn't been been possible to drag expensive mirrorless cameras plus the lenses plus the lighting equipment along as well. For years I have been using a small Sony compact camera for field photos (bought used for under £100), and this has worked well, though with some limitations. As it aged, it became creakier and less easy to use and eventually needed replacing (so long old friend, you've been a faithful servant). 

My new camera is an Olympus TG-6 - so why did I buy it? The Olympus "Tough" cameras have been around for years and been through many iterations. Reading the experiences of many people it's clear that the TG cameras are the industry standard for pocket-sized field macro photography, but why not just use my mobile phone? I have used my phone for macro recently as the Sony compact became less reliable, but it's often a frustrating business. Mobile phones are great for two things. One of these is selfies, which I don't do (except for fingertips with bugs on), the other is big things like buildings. They simply weren't designed for macro photography and are very hit and miss. 

Olympus recently brought out the TG-7 so this was an opportunity to dive in and grab a used TG-5 or TG-6, but I simply couldn't find one. This in itself is a recommendation - people hang on to these cameras. The upgrades to the TG-7 are minor and mostly relating to video which I don't use much, but discounts were available as retailers sold off TG-6 stock and I found one at a reduced price (and rather less than the TG-7 sells for). So what do I think of it? 

On unpacking the camera I immediately turned off all the impressive but massively battery-draining stuff like the GPS and the Wi-Fi. The TG-6 has a small battery but I've been impressed with the battery life. Having such a small battery means that the TG-6 is smaller and lighter than my mobile phone, so this is a genuine pocket camera. Overall, I have found exactly what I was looking for in this camera, but there are a couple of caveats. Although the TG-6 is half the cost of my mobile phone it's not what I would regard as "cheap" (note: I am decidedly tight-fisted). For the price, the image quality is slightly disappointing, but I am comparing it to my Sony mirrorless cameras and I need to be realistic about this. The TG-6 is a complex camera and if you just use it on the Auto setting you'd be wasting your money. To get the best images you need to use all the features such as exposure compensation, "microscope" (macro) mode, and the in-camera focus stacking and focus bracketing - which is impressive for such a small camera. It's not the simplest camera to use but it is "easy" once you've figured out how to use it. There is one definite weakness - the TG-6 is crap at landscapes - for this I use my mobile phone which I carry with me anyway for things like ... phone calls. There is no real telephoto capacity - but I'm not an ornithologist. If you are, I would recommend one of the long telephoto bridge cameras over the TG cameras as a field solution, but the price of telephoto lenses is that you can't put them in your pocket and this is a limitation we're stuck with until someone comes up with a pocket black hole as a better way of bending light than heavy and expensive glass. 

I bought two essential extras for the camera, the most important of which is a spare battery - so light that it doesn't add noticeably to size or weight. The second thing I bought is the Olympus TG Light Guide, which attaches to the lens as a macro diffuser for the LED on the front of the camera. This is an essential for macro work. Many people have complained that the Light Guide is overpriced for a flimsy bit of plastic and this is true, but it succeeds in opening up the macro capacity of the camera without adding any significant bulk. The design means that it's not the best macro diffuser but you can work around the harshness of the lighting at close range by dialling down the exposure compensation. Photography with a camera this size is always going to be about compromises. 

Overall, the TG-6 does exactly what I bought it for. If you'd like to see sample images from this camera please see my social media accounts.