(Note regarding video: There has been some talk about how fast the start-up time is, so I uploaded a video so you can see for yourself. Pretty impressive!)---
I am so excited to be writing this review. At long last I have what I consider to be the *PERFECT* rugged camera.
Before I begin my review, here's my background:
I'm a wedding photographer by trade, so I have some pretty good experience-based insight about cameras (although more so with DLSR's) AND I have owned two other waterproof cameras. My first was the Canon D10 and I loved the new freedom it gave me to go underwater but it was huge and ugly (like a big bubble). I used this for years until it Nikon came out with their new Nikon COOLPIX AW100. This "upgrade" was actually a HUGE mistake as I found it more like a "downgrade" in many ways. Perhaps I'll write a review of the Nikon someday, but I'll mention some comparisons between the two below. To add perspective on that, I sold the Nikon at a loss and waited and studied the competition. Once the new Canon D20 came out, I was about to press `buy' when I saw an article on this Olympus. I ended up waiting a few more weeks for this bad-boy to release and I am SO GLAD I did.
Construction:
The camera looks great and feels sturdy. It's not oversized like the Canon, and not hollow-feeling like the Nikon. It just feels like a well-built machine, and this "feel" is important to me.
The lens is in the center! This is another one of the standout features of this camera. This allows you to hold it from both sides for even steadier shots. The other cameras lenses were off to the far left. Not only is that hard for lefties, but it makes them much harder to hold successfully with both hands (without blocking something).
The strap is thick and adjustable, which you'll want when you take it in the ocean. In comparison, the Nikon DID NOT even come with an underwater strap only non-waterproof hand strap, which I felt was an odd choice. The instructions even stated the strap was not to be used in the water. Perhaps it's like selling a DVD player without an HDMI cord? I never looked to see how much Nikon was charging for an underwater strap.
The buttons are well-placed, logical and were easy for me to use. Some are small, but they're located well so they're easy to push without pushing something else by accident.
The battery case and charger ports are protected with doors that have TWO locks on them. You lock the first, and then you need to lock the second. If you want to open them, reverse the order. I appreciate this added security as I am someone that likes to pick at things in my hands and several times on my Canon I had picked open the batter door in the pool (luckily above water).
The screen is big (3") and, because it is OLED, it is visible from almost any viewing angle and even clear in bright sun. With this being an "outdoorsy" camera, the benefits of this screen are great.
The 25mm lens is really WIDE! This is just what you want for ocean shots. You can really stretch out the underwater scene and add drama. This camera will be your best friend in Hawaii! I also like the wide angle lens in pools as well.
The camera supports add-on lenses that screw on OVER the current lens. In other words, there is no extra vulnerable location for water to get in.
Menus:
The menu system is exceptional and has a lot of similarities with my $3499 Canon 5d Mark III. When you hit the menu button, you get:
Camera Menu 1: compression, shadow adjust, AF mode, metering mode, digital zoom, image stabilizer
Camera Menu 2: accessory settings, AF illumination, rec. view, pic orientation, icon guide, date stamp, super-res zoom
Movie Menu: image size, IS movie mode, mic, wind noise reduction, recording volume
Playback Menu: slideshow, photo surfing, edit, erase, print order, lock, upload order
Settings Menu 1: format, backup, Eye-Fi, custom mode setup, USB connection, power on, sound settings
Settings Menu 2: file name, pixel mapping, monitor brightness, info, tv out, power save, language
Settings Menu 3: time, world time, reset database, beauty settings, tough settings, gps settings
On the Nikon, I would have to hunt and peck to find what I was looking for. I was maddening sometimes as I tried to find where the GPS settings were. This is such an issue on the Nikon, you can Google it and see how many people need help finding where to turn the GPS on/off.
One feature that has really come in handy is that when you stop the cursor on a menu selection, there is scrolling text at the bottom that says exactly what that button does in a complete sentence! This is a HUGE help for anyone who doesn't want to lug around (or memorize) the manual.
GPS:
Not only does this camera tag the pictures with the GPS location, but you also can turn on a feature where it will track your entire route for you. For example, if you hike the John Muir trail, you might take pictures every few hours and with another GPS camera you would have a general idea of the path you took but with this one you would have an actual line of your every step. This is an incredible keepsake for `off the grid' exploring hikes.
Taking pictures:
This camera is SMOKING FAST. Without having to lower the resolution of the photos, you can take 6 frames per seconds, which is the same as my Canon 5d mark III. Incredible! In fact, it takes pictures so fast that when you playback in the camera, it shows them in succession like a movie. This was an incredible way to watch my kids dive into the pool and then swim up to me!
The picture quality is fantastic. On both the Canon and the Nikon I always felt let-down by my end results. Something about these underwater cameras makes them produce pictures without enough contrast. This means that the pictures would lack the "POP" that I love so much in regular photography. Of course you can artificially add this in post-processing, but it's an extra step I don't need. This OLYMPUS doesn't suffer from this problem so the pictures really look great straight out of the camera.
Movie Mode:
I have only done a little with the movies, but the ones I've done so far are beautiful. There's something amazing about being able to shoot a video underwater. It's a lot of fun. As time goes by, I'll report back to add more about the video capabilities.
Fun Modes:
In addition to the standard modes (auto, P, action, low light, and scene), there are also "Magic" modes which are very fun to play with. They are akin to Instagram pictures in that they apply effects to the picture but what makes them more fun is that you see the effects as you take it! Here are the modes with brief descriptions:
Pop art oversaturated colors
Pin hole vignette, like an old camera
Fish eye simulates a fish-eye lens (really fun!)
Line drawing turns the picture into something like a coloringbook page
Soft focus like old school wedding photography (eek!)
Punk turns pictures pink and black (actually more fun than you might think)
Sparkle simulates a star filter, which turns any points of light into stars (great for Christmas lights or city lights)
Watercolor mutes the colors, adds line (see `Line' above)
Reflection like a kaleidoscope
Miniature simulates a tilt-shift lens. If you haven't heard of this style of photography, Google it. Super fun.
Fragmented like a shattered mirror
Dramatic processes pictures with a "grunge" look
I am not usually a fan of these types of special effects, but for the review I thought I'd test them out. A few are gimmicky for sure, but some, such as the fish-eye, sparkle, pin-hole, and miniature are actually quite fun and a few of those will be useful for more than just goofing around (i.e. sparkle at Christmas, fish-eye of skateboarding, etc.)
Conclusion:
I have finally found what I've been looking for in a waterproof camera. Something I don't have to baby that takes GREAT pictures without any of the sacrifices typically associated with "rugged" point-and-shoot cameras.
I wholeheartedly recommend this camera with no reservations.
If you found this review helpful, please let me know! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I'll try my best to answer them.
---7/3/2012 UPDATE:
I continue to enjoy this camera! The amount of fun pictures I've taken this summer that I wouldn't have been able to take on my other camera (because of exposure to water, sand, etc) has been worth the cost of admission alone. Here's something else I love:
The mode dial on the camera is a such a useful feature (more than you would think). Recently I had the camera in the middle of a lake at a floating obstacle course with my kids. I was taking pictures of them diving off this platform in 60fps mode and then I wanted to switch back into standard mode and all I had to do was twist the dial. It was hard enough treading water in the choppy lake, so having the ability to switch with ease was such a help. It I had to dig through a complicated menu system, I probably would have sunk to the bottom! ;)
Here are the modes available from the dial:
iAUTO Camera chooses the mode based on the scene
Program Auto (this is what I use mostly) Like iAUTO, but allows you to make changes to: flash, macro, self-timer (12 sec, 2 sec), exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, sequential (1 fps, 6 fps at 12mp, 60 fps at 3mp), and photo size (megapixels).
Low light mode Again, thanks Olympus for having this just be a dial so my wife, who doesn't like to spend as much time learning the ins-and-outs of my cameras can just switch it over with a twist of the dial when we're indoors
Action mode Capture fast moving subjects without blur, enables sequential shooting
Scene mode Changes modes based on subject. This is a great way to ensure you get the best picture you can without having to rely on auto-mode.
The choices are: indoor, candlelight (for birthdays), self-portrait, sunset, fireworks, cuisine, documents, beach and snow, snapshot, underwater wide, underwater action, underwater macro, pet mode cat (lol), pet mode dog, snow, panorama, 3d photo, backlit HDR, portrait, beauty, landscape, night scene, night portrait.
If you shoot a lot, it should be pretty easy to speculate what settings each mode makes. For example, sunset mode bumping up the saturation on reds, purples, yellows; fireworks mode using a longer shutter-speed to get light trails; beauty mode using a softer focus, neutral skin-tones, etc.
Magic mode See description above in original review
C1 and C2 These custom modes are incredibly useful. If you find yourself dialing in certain settings for situations you encounter often, you can just assign those settings to one of these 2 modes on the dial. For example, my brother-in-law likes to examine my nephews pitching on the 60fps (3mp) mode so he has assigned these settings the the C1 mode and just remembers that C1 mode is "Zach's Pitching Mode." Now when he takes pictures during a game, he can just flip over the C1 from iAUTO mode whenever Zach pitches. Super-useful!
These vids were made with one shot AF, IS off, and I can also confirm that this has nothing to do with the sound of the optical zoom (which is hardly noticeable in this camera).
Olympus says this sound is a consequence of waterproofing the camera, but they wouldn't tell me why other waterproof camera's apparently don't have this problem.
It's a real shame Olympus will not warrant this, because the rest of the camera is really good: great 2.0 lens, fast performance, very good image quality (esp. high iso and macro) for its class and nice, functional body design.
You might get lucky with your sample (or maybe not so unlucky as I was,) but be warned that Olympus will not grant any warranty claims if you end up with video sound like this.
Buy Olympus TG-1iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom Now
As a current owner of the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 for the past several years, I have experienced all the great, and not so great, things about owning a rugged camera. The Tough 6000 is most certainly a tough little thing. It has survived many many lake and ocean swims, including long snorkeling trips and pool days, a Vegas bachelor party where it was dropped several times on the ground and had beer poured on it, been on multi-day snow skiing trips in sub zero temperatures, and even survived for over 20 minutes in the blazing heat of the clothes dryer when I forgot it in my shorts pocket (which also means it survived the wash cycle prior to the dryer!). While its toughness is certainly excellent, there are some things it needs improvement on. Start up speed, speed between taking pictures, shutter lag, difficulty in finding focus in low light, poor quality in low light, non-HD video, and xD picture cards were all things on my wish list for improvement. Thankfully, the new TG-1 iHS has resolved all those problems, which I will detail below.Start up speed: Using a stopwatch, I consistently was able to hold down the shutter button while pressing the power button and get the camera to take a picture in around 1.5 seconds while in Program mode. This is way faster than the Tough 6000 could ever manage and find it quite satisfactory.
Speed between taking pictures: There really is no lag between taking pictures anymore. The camera will take pictures as fast as you can repeatedly press the shutter button. In the dedicated Sport mode the results are even more impressive. At full 12MP, the camera is taking about 10 frames per second, but if you knock the image size down to 3MP it will capture an insane number of pictures per second. Olympus rates the highest speed at 60fps, but I have not confirmed this. I did test it out on my friend doing jumping jacks and it's really pretty nuts. It is very slow motion on the order of frame by frame video. (I have experience with video editing, so I am not just throwing that term out there blindly.) The sport mode is really cool for capturing people jumping in to a pool, doing cart wheels, or any other action where a set of high speed sequential shots is desirable. Olympus really did a good job on improving this aspect from the Tough 6000. (NOTE: the sequential shooting speed appears to depend somewhat on the speed on the SD card being used as, after a few seconds of taking pictures, the SD card logo on the OLED monitor turns from white to red and the camera stops taking pictures. The picture counter will catch up to the number of pictures taken and then the SD card symbol will turn back to white. I am using a 16GB SanDisk Ultra II class 4 card rated at 15MB/s. I would imagine higher speed cards would enable the camera to take either more pictures per second, take sequential pictures for a longer period of time, or even perhaps both.)
Shutter Lag: Shutter lag is pretty much non-existent. I have been using film and digital SLRs for years and am used to the instant shutter speed of such cameras and the TG-1 compares quite nicely to them, especially for a "point and shoot" style camera.
Focus hunting in low light: I have taken several pictures in low light settings, some with flash and some without, and found the auto focus speed to be vastly improved from the Tough 6000. You will no longer have to tell a group of people to hold still forever while the camera is attempting to focus on them.
Low light quality: The F2.0 lens really makes a noticeable difference here as low light quality is so much improved over the Tough 6000. Quality low light pictures can be obtained, even without using the flash.
Video: The HD video, both 1080 and 720, comes out nice considering this is primarily a still camera. It is certainly not as good as the video from my Canon Vixia HF10, which is a purpose built camcorder, but that is to be expected. I do like that the video is started and stopped using its own dedicated recording button on the back of the camera. That way the camera can be set up in whatever still shooting mode you find desirable for the moment, but start shooting a video literally at the press of a button if the moment calls for it. The camera allows you to zoom during shooting and adjusts exposure on the fly in the middle of recording. This is very nice as you are able to reframe your videos and not worry about exposure changes while in the middle of shooting a video. The one main negative I can point to about video is that the zoom motor noise is clearly audible in the recording. This is unfortunate, but considering the camera's core mission as a rugged still camera, it is acceptable. The noise is not loud enough to drown out all other sounds, but is certainly noticeable. The camera records video in the Apple mov file format, which may be good or bad depending on your preference.
That pretty much does it for the comparison between the older Tough 6000 and the new TG-1.
Other things to note about the TG-1 are:
The strap is quite beefy for a point and shoot strap and is more like the one I have on my camcorder. I find this to be good though as the traditional point and shoot straps are always so thin it makes me nervous when the camera is dangling by it over a precarious position.
The screen is quite large, has great quality, and has an excellent viewing angle.
I like the lens being in the middle of the camera as it reduces the odds of getting fingers in the shot and is just more natural for framing shots in general.
The mode dial has dedicated spots for Sport, Low Light, and two Custom Setup options allowing you to save custom set ups that are quickly accessible.
The access doors are now double locked, meaning they have a slider that shuts the door, then another slider that keeps the first slider from moving. This added security is certainly welcomed.
I have not tried out the GPS function or the manometer function, so can't really comment on those. They aren't terribly important to me, so that's why.
Finally, some negatives:
As others have stated, the button layout is a little cramped. I don't have a problem navigating around the button layout, but those with clumsy and/or large fingers may find it a tad challenging perhaps.
Like the Tough 6000, the TG-1 still uses the lame proprietary USB port that Olympus for some reason insists on using. This forces you to carry around the included proprietary USB cable they provide to hook the camera up to a computer and to charge it.
Speaking of charging, the camera does not come with an external battery charger. This forces you to keep the battery in the camera to charge it via the aforementioned proprietary USB cable connected to either a computer's USB port or the included AC adapter. As of right now, 6/28/2012, there is no external charger available for purchase. This is incredibly lame as it makes it impossible to charge a spare battery and use the camera at the same time; which is something everyone wants to do on a multi-day vacation. Hopefully Olympus will come out with one soon or perhaps a third party will.
Overall I think this is an excellent rugged camera that really nails all the features necessary to excel in this camera segment. The TG-1 is most certainly a big step forward from the Tough 6000 and I am very glad I purchased it. Besides the relatively minor negatives mentioned above, this is a sure fire winner for anyone looking for a rugged camera.
***UPDATE JULY 6th, 2012***
Just got a new SD card and tested out the difference in speed, with emphasis on the sequential sport mode.
Before I present the data, here are the cards being used:
OLD: 16GB SanDisk Ultra II Class 4 rated at 15MB/s
NEW: 32GB SanDisk Extreme Class 10 UHS 1 rated at 45MB/s
Sport mode results:
12MP Sequential:
OLD: 100 frames in 30 seconds, 3.33fps (frames per second)
NEW: 100 frames in 20 seconds, 5fps
3MP Hi 1 Sequential:
OLD and NEW: 100 frames in 7 seconds, 14.29fps (no difference between cards)
3MP Hi 2 Sequential:
OLD and NEW: 100 frames in 1 second, 100fps; yes one hundred frames per second! (no difference between cards)
As you may have noticed, all the tests involved shooting 100 frames. This was not my choosing, but appears to be the maximum allowable sequential images the camera will take at a time. For each of the tests I held the shutter button down until the camera stopped taking pictures, so it was not my choice to stop at 100. You will also notice that the only speed increase is in the 12MP sequential test, whereas the other two modes have the same speed.
While not recorded for time, I would like to note that the time it took the camera to process and save the images after each burst mode seemed to me to take less time with the newer card, especially in the Hi 1 and Hi 2 modes.
Read Best Reviews of Olympus TG-1iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom Here
My previous WP camera was a Pansonic which took great video but the images really suffered from pixel packing and over processing. I bought this Oly primarily for its fast, quality lens. Despite its small sensor, I'd hoped that the lens would keep the images decent in low-light situations which are common for this type of camera.It seems to work as described. I bought a fast SD card and the camera is very fast with it. I'm not particularly interested in all of the trick "filters" and GPS (I have one), but I did test the auto-stitch panoramas and they were all without artifacts. The fact that the camera is so fast allows taking three images quickly, so that the scene has little time to change between images.
With my other cameras, I typically underexpose my images and shoot raw so that the skies aren't blown out. In preliminary shooting with this camera, it seems like the default values are as good as one can get with these JPGs.
PLUSES: the doors are double-latched and have a really tight fit. The OLED screen is wonderful. The lens is typical good Oly quality.
MINUSES: Because of the large screen, the controls are a little too tightly packed for my fat digits, but I prefer this large screen to having wider spaced controls and a smaller screen. The only real complaint I have is the cheesy in-camera charger. Oly makes an external charger that one can currently only buy on eBay ($40!) but this seems pretty lame in a top-of-the-line model when $100 cameras have the convenience of external chargers. Also, the one-of-a-kind charging connector to the camera requires you to keep yet /another/ special USB cable for each USB device.
I assume the charging issues will lessen as soon as decent no name chargers arrive and the real Oly charger becomes more widely available.
If it shot raw (no WP cameras do, that I know of) and if it had a grown-up charger, I'd rate it as a "5" but none of my complaints with it are very significant. I expect to like it more as I use it more.
UPDATE: Today the Oly charger is $84!! on eBay and $60 plus shipping etc. at B&H. What must it cost Oly to have these made in China, $5?
UPDATED 9/11/12 I recently bought the $40 (!!!) adapter to allow attaching tele and fisheye lenses. It also allows use of 40.5 mm filters and lens caps. Then it dawned on me: THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE CAMERA IN THE FIRST PLACE. As it is shipped, the camera offers no protection for the glass lens cover, which has a special coating to repel water. The plastic do-nothing ring that ships with the camera is useless. The "$40" threaded ring is functional and should have been integrated into the camera in the first place. Now I can use a lens cap on the camera like I should have been able to in the first place. To sell a $400 camera that requires another $40 plastic ring to be complete is really poor design. I'll remove one star in my rating.
Want Olympus TG-1iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom Discount?
The first part of this review is an "out-of-water" review; below it is a review of performance in and on the water.Design and controls:
--Design: attractive, functional. Tradeoff between small size and crowded controls worked out OK once you get used to it.
--Double-latch doors: good idea.
--Other users have reported easily losing the plastic ring around the lens because it has no click latch. Oly must have fixed this; mine makes a loud click when you put it on, and it requires pushing in on one spot while turning, otherwise it won't come off.* (At least not in the living room--but read on.) At any rate, if you lose it Oly says it's "cosmetic" and doesn't affect waterproof capability.
--Menus: OK once you get used to them. The quick Info menu is good.
--Display: the LCD is good, but like most of them virtually useless in bright sunlight. The onscreen display showing basic shooting settings and other info is good.
--The in-camera battery charging is a pointless complication (the camera comes with a plug-in charger, so why not just make it so you can put the battery into it and keep a charged one in the camera, instead of going through the process with an extra cord, etc.). Luckily there are aftermarket out-of-camera chargers available.
--The online manual (which I have downloaded in PDF) is woefully inadequate, poorly organized and tells you almost nothing. Perhaps they want everyone to just leave the controls alone. (For a good manual from a competing product, see the Canon D10 manual.) To compensate, Olympus has posted FAQs on their site; also some informational highlights.
Things to watch out for:
--This is the only camera I've ever seen in which the battery will slide in both ways (right way and wrong way) so the user has to be sure to check that the terminals are lined up or it won't charge. Another example of making things easy for the manufacturer instead of for the purchaser.
--JPEG default is set at Normal, which generates an image of something over 2mp, meaning that most of the data captured by the sensor is being thrown away. (If you set to Fine, you preserve about twice as much data--but you're still losing a lot.)
--Digital zoom or intelligent superzoom is noisy: I shot the same picture with full optical zoom and again with full maximum digital zoom. Then I enlarged both so that the subject had the same dimensions in each. The digital zoom image was full of noise. Stick to optical zoom and enlarge, if you want to, with one of the many PP programs available.
--Olympus recommends sending the camera in yearly to get the seals replaced. This will cost you about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the camera itself, each year. So maybe the most cost-effective strategy is to keep the seals clean and lubed with silicon, and gamble that you'll get 3-4 years of life before it dies from leakage. Just hope this doesn't happen on the first day of that big diving trip you've been looking forward to for years. (Although you could go online, order a new camera from Amazon with next-day air, and get it in time, maybe.)
--Other users have noted that the TCON will create horrible vignetting unless almost fully zoomed. So when you have the TCON on, you basically have a dedicated lens, with little flexibility.
--*The lens ring will fall off (mine did), regardless of the push-and-turn feature. If you're going in the water, I suggest leaving the ring at home so it doesn't get lost. According to Olympus, it's merely "cosmetic" so you aren't affecting the waterproofing. Keep the ring in case you want to resell the camera, or send it back.
The Good:
--Colors are very nice right from the camera at WB Auto setting.
--Burst shooting and, just as important, burst depth. With a class 10 card I got better than 5fps at full resolution, and I got 18 shots before the camera began to hiccup and slow down. After this, I still got about 3fps. This suits my goal of action shooting.
--I found that using the P setting, keeping ISO at 100 and EV at -1/3, I could shoot into glare without losing highlights, even though this camera really limits user control.
The Bad:
--Can't seem to control shutter speed. I tried the P setting using ISO100 (the idea being that the camera would use a balanced combination of fast shutter speed and smaller aperture); instead, on one shot the EXIF data showed 1/200 sec. and f/18 (still trying to figure out how the TG-1 goes to f/18); on the next shot it was 1/500 sec. and f/11. I did find that using the P mode, keeping ISO at 100 and EV at -1/3, I could shoot into glare without losing highlights.
--Can't shoot RAW, and can't shoot JPEG extra-fine, which limits enlarging and cropping.
--Images are very soft and fine detail (leaves, etc.) is often smeared.
Many of the positive reviews seem to be based on a different set of expectations--people wanted a toy to play with in the swimming pool or let their 3-year-old play with it. Or they are going to make prints at under 8inches or post online at 800x600px. I'm not expecting DSLR quality, but when a 12mp P&S camera like the FZ150 can take outstanding pix at full zoom, one does hope that a 12mp underwater P&S would have some decent capabilities.
Bottom line:
If you want to take pix in a wet or underwater environment, and you want rapid burst, all at a reasonable cost, this is probably your best option. Other water cams have high leakage/failure rates; for example the Hero has a reported 20% failure rate and they will not guarantee the product (read their rather arrogant warning/disclaimer on their product page on Amazon). The TG-1 appears to be the most reliable (least unreliable?), fastest burst, brightest lens, and about average image quality.
Here's what some professional reviewers had to say after the initial "gee whiz" reactions.
"The TG-1 does not offer what we consider to be manual controls--no manual focus, no priority or manual exposure modes. This is typical for a tough-cam, though it's off-putting to some photography enthusiasts who are drawn in by the f/2 lens and excited by the prospect of a more "serious" tough cam. This is not that camera--it's a standard tough-cam with a better lens and screen than any of its competitors."
Another reviewer, talking about IQ: "At its lowest ISO settings, the TG-1 seems to drift between over-sharpened or soft and smeary when photos are viewed at 100 percent. And really it continues that all the way up to ISO 800; above that things just gets soft and noisy.... Video quality is...basically like the video from a pocket video camera or higher-end smartphone."
Here's another: "We ran into glitchy performance with the TG-1, and it even crashed on us a few times. It typically occurred while we were switching between shooting mode and playback mode. The image on the LCD would hang for at least a few seconds, sometimes completely locking up the camera."
In-the-water review follows. Out of the water, it's a solid 3-star performer--average at best.
-----------------------
Ocean test: I would give this camera 2.5 stars in the water (not good), for the reasons listed below.
Before going in the water, I took a couple of hundred shots at the beach.
--As mentioned before, color is nice.
--I used P mode, ISO 100, EV-1/3 and got very good results in terms of WB and highlight preservation.
--Stationary objects came out pretty well, a little soft but acceptable.
--Shooting at moving birds (aiming down from a low cliff at pelicans gliding over water) was not so good, because the AF was poor, even though the AF box indicated that the shot was in focus. I was shooting 10-12 frame bursts at 5fps. The birds were about 80 feet away, and traveling across the field of vision, so there was little change in distance. Most of the images in each burst were out of focus, but every few frames in the same burst one would be in focus. So the AF is jumping all around and missing most of the time. (I considered the possibility of camera shake, but at 1/200sec this would be unacceptable IS; P&S super-zooms at 300mm (450mm equiv) show no camera shake even at 1/125 or slower.)
I then paddled out to a small surf break (with the camera in a neoprene belt pouch) and sat beside the break to take pictures of waves and surfers. I took another 200 shots or so.
--Got some very nice and interesting shots over the water toward the shore, focus was good and as usual color was great. This is basically the same as stationary objects (above).
--The good action pictures were very nice; a little soft but acceptable. The foam of the breaking waves wasn't blown out by overexposure, but at 100% it looked like a collection of small blobs, rather than foamy spray. My old Canon PowerShot SX100is (8mp P&S) did a much better job of detail in shots like this (from the shore, of course!).
-Some images had a weird bluish haze on a large part of the image--appears to be from the lens fogging up due to temperature change (water about 67, air about 75 degrees) as the camera was immersed and then out of the water. This was present in a minority of images, but it was serious; the images that had it were ruined. (No, it wasn't my hand over the lens.) I sent samples to Olympus for their analysis; no word back as yet.
--Just as with the pelican shots from the cliff, there were more OOF pictures than good ones, even though the AF box indicated that the shot was in focus. Again, I was shooting 10-12 frame bursts at 5fps. There was a lower percentage of OOF images. (See comments on possible camera shake, above.)
-The LCD was of little use most of the time due to the bright sun, so it was really hard to see the subject. (Not unusual with P&S cameras without a viewfinder, but Olympus has touted the visibility of their LCD. It seems no better than any other.) A true "point and guess" situation: when I tried to shoot birds flying overhead (using burst), I missed them and got only blue sky. I got a little better luck with a helicopter; in a burst of 10 frames I managed to get part of the helicopter in two frames. The surfers were a bit easier because you could track them by the wake they made going across the wave, but even then (from a distance of about 100 ft.) it was hit and miss.
*--Regardless of the push-turn latch on the lens ring, when I got back home and put the camera in fresh water, I noticed that the lens ring had fallen out somehow. I have ordered a replacement from Olympus. (It has been several days, and no word on when it will ship. Olympus Customer Service does not answer emails on this issue. Overall this is becoming a bad experience and will definitely affect my decisions regarding Olympus products in the future.) BTW the poorly-attached lens ring is a known issue; Olympus even has it on their Q&A/Info page online. Apparently they are in no rush to fix it.
I gave this camera one more try today; the results were no different. Some "OK" images, a lot of images with smeared detail and/or a harsh, artificial look (presumably due to in-camera sharpening, since I didn't change the settings from shot to shot in the burst). I even did some extensive PP with the best images; although with a lot of work I managed to get them quite a bit better, they were still inferior to images from other P&S cameras I have owned. With regret, I give up.
Bottom line: the TG-1 is probably very good for close range, stationary objects, swimming pools, water parks, warm water, underwater (no abrupt temperature fluctuations while shooting and no bright sun glaring off the LCD), and many types of still shots. It's also probably very good if you intend to post images online, email them, view them on a computer, or print them at some size under about 8-10in or so. For anyone considering this camera for viewing at 100%, larger prints, surf, breaking waves, flying birds and other ocean action shots (especially in the water), I recommend against it. I have decided to send this one back and wait for further improvements in the product. The basic concept and design are great, but the above items need work. It's truly a shame, because I love the burst shooting, the color and the handling, and the few reasonably good images make it tempting to keep the camera--but I just don't want to spend time and energy stalking that "special" shot, only to find it unusable for one of the reasons mentioned above.
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Later note: Doing more research, I find that for about $50 more than the TG-1, I can get a camera + housing combination that could well give better results. The Lumix ZS15 has full controls, has 16x zoom, has gotten good reviews on IQ, and it fits the Panasonic Marine Case. (There are cheaper cases, little more than a ziplock baggie, but I don't have the nerve to entrust them with a camera costing $200 or more. Why risk it?) Both items may be found listed on Amazon; if Olympus ever sends the lens ring so I can return the TG-1, I'll do so and try the Panasonic combination. I'm also attracted to the Lumix LX7 (not much zoom, but shoots RAW, has good burst), but haven't yet found a housing to fit it.
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Final update:
I finally got the ring from Oly and sent the camera back for refund. Had the ring been missing, Amazon could have charged me up to 50% restocking fee ("missing part")! For a defective item. I had to pay Oly $7 + shipping for the ring, and Amazon charged me postage since the problem wasn't due to their error. (!) At least they took it back.
I then ordered the ZS15 for $165 new on Amazon. I got it a couple of days ago; in good light it is very good for a small-sensor camera (although not the equal of the FZ150--full details in my 4-star review of the ZS15).
I have ordered two underwater housings: the full-dress Pany housing and an "econo" version which makes me nervous but which got good reviews and not one "it leaks!" complaint. When these arrive, I'll test them in the bathtub with tissue paper, and then brave the waves.
It's hard to understand why the underwater camera makers choose to put out these inferior products. My total cost for the ZS15 + housing is a shade over $400--for a package that is far superior to the dedicated underwater models costing almost as much. Why not put a first-rate camera in a waterproof shell and market that? It's really disappointing.
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