Overall this is a fantastic camera for macro photos and underwater use; I've used it while swimming in lakes and tidepooling without issue, and apart from the user problem of shaky hands making macro photos difficult to get, I've been extremely impressed by the macro mode and the built-in focus stacking and bracketing.
There are two problems I have with the camera, after using it a lot for a few months. First, it's just not at all good at long-distance photos; my Google Pixel 7 Pro takes better pictures of things at distance, such as birds. That's fine, though; it's just a limitation you should be aware of.
The second problem I have, and more substantial, is with the GPS logging. For whatever reason, I find the Olympus TG-6 doesn't geotag the photo files themselves, even with the "Record GPS Location" feature set to "on" (I know the switch on the top of the camera and the Record GPS menu option are different - I turn BOTH on when trying to get geotagging data). All the camera does is create a log of GPS locations in a .LOG file, without timestamps, and the locations appear to be very inaccurate. I turned on the GPS recording and flipped the log switch before going for a lake swim recently, only to later find that zero photos were geotagged and that the .LOG file didn't have time (so I couldn't use it to easily geotag the photos) and was also just inaccurate once laid on a map, with most of the points on the edge or outside of the lake I was swimming in.
In the future I'll be sticking to my phone's GPS recorder for all geotagging purposes. I don't know what the intended use case is here, but despite an hour of googling I haven't found a way to get good data from whatever the TG-6 recorded on my excursion, and manually geotagging 151 photos is going to be a huge pain.
Apart from that weird issue, though, this is a wonderful camera that I've been very happy with, and luckily it's easy enough to just not use the GPS feature and use a proper track from your phone or other GPS device instead.
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Overall this is a fantastic camera for macro photos and underwater use; I've used it while swimming in lakes and tidepooling without issue, and apart from the user problem of shaky hands making macro photos difficult to get, I've been extremely impressed by the macro mode and the built-in focus stacking and bracketing.There are two problems I have with the camera, after using it a lot for a few months. First, it's just not at all good at long-distance photos; my Google Pixel 7 Pro takes better pictures of things at distance, such as birds. That's fine, though; it's just a limitation you should be aware of.The second problem I have, and more substantial, is with the GPS logging. For whatever reason, I find the Olympus TG-6 doesn't geotag the photo files themselves, even with the "Record GPS Location" feature set to "on" (I know the switch on the top of the camera and the Record GPS menu option are different - I turn BOTH on when trying to get geotagging data). All the camera does is create a log of GPS locations in a .LOG file, without timestamps, and the locations appear to be very inaccurate. I turned on the GPS recording and flipped the log switch before going for a lake swim recently, only to later find that zero photos were geotagged and that the .LOG file didn't have time (so I couldn't use it to easily geotag the photos) and was also just inaccurate once laid on a map, with most of the points on the edge or outside of the lake I was swimming in.In the future I'll be sticking to my phone's GPS recorder for all geotagging purposes. I don't know what the intended use case is here, but despite an hour of googling I haven't found a way to get good data from whatever the TG-6 recorded on my excursion, and manually geotagging 151 photos is going to be a huge pain.Apart from that weird issue, though, this is a wonderful camera that I've been very happy with, and luckily it's easy enough to just not use the GPS feature and use a proper track from your phone or other GPS device instead.
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Top reviews from Canada
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Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 3, 2023
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Overall this is a fantastic camera for macro photos and underwater use; I've used it while swimming in lakes and tidepooling without issue, and apart from the user problem of shaky hands making macro photos difficult to get, I've been extremely impressed by the macro mode and the built-in focus stacking and bracketing.
There are two problems I have with the camera, after using it a lot for a few months. First, it's just not at all good at long-distance photos; my Google Pixel 7 Pro takes better pictures of things at distance, such as birds. That's fine, though; it's just a limitation you should be aware of.
The second problem I have, and more substantial, is with the GPS logging. For whatever reason, I find the Olympus TG-6 doesn't geotag the photo files themselves, even with the "Record GPS Location" feature set to "on" (I know the switch on the top of the camera and the Record GPS menu option are different - I turn BOTH on when trying to get geotagging data). All the camera does is create a log of GPS locations in a .LOG file, without timestamps, and the locations appear to be very inaccurate. I turned on the GPS recording and flipped the log switch before going for a lake swim recently, only to later find that zero photos were geotagged and that the .LOG file didn't have time (so I couldn't use it to easily geotag the photos) and was also just inaccurate once laid on a map, with most of the points on the edge or outside of the lake I was swimming in.
In the future I'll be sticking to my phone's GPS recorder for all geotagging purposes. I don't know what the intended use case is here, but despite an hour of googling I haven't found a way to get good data from whatever the TG-6 recorded on my excursion, and manually geotagging 151 photos is going to be a huge pain.
Apart from that weird issue, though, this is a wonderful camera that I've been very happy with, and luckily it's easy enough to just not use the GPS feature and use a proper track from your phone or other GPS device instead.
There are two problems I have with the camera, after using it a lot for a few months. First, it's just not at all good at long-distance photos; my Google Pixel 7 Pro takes better pictures of things at distance, such as birds. That's fine, though; it's just a limitation you should be aware of.
The second problem I have, and more substantial, is with the GPS logging. For whatever reason, I find the Olympus TG-6 doesn't geotag the photo files themselves, even with the "Record GPS Location" feature set to "on" (I know the switch on the top of the camera and the Record GPS menu option are different - I turn BOTH on when trying to get geotagging data). All the camera does is create a log of GPS locations in a .LOG file, without timestamps, and the locations appear to be very inaccurate. I turned on the GPS recording and flipped the log switch before going for a lake swim recently, only to later find that zero photos were geotagged and that the .LOG file didn't have time (so I couldn't use it to easily geotag the photos) and was also just inaccurate once laid on a map, with most of the points on the edge or outside of the lake I was swimming in.
In the future I'll be sticking to my phone's GPS recorder for all geotagging purposes. I don't know what the intended use case is here, but despite an hour of googling I haven't found a way to get good data from whatever the TG-6 recorded on my excursion, and manually geotagging 151 photos is going to be a huge pain.
Apart from that weird issue, though, this is a wonderful camera that I've been very happy with, and luckily it's easy enough to just not use the GPS feature and use a proper track from your phone or other GPS device instead.
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Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 5, 2023
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 23, 2023
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Very good product, especially in macro pictures. Haven't tried it in water yet.
Returned this camera, found defect, its video will shut off by itself after 10 to 13 second when recording.
(Update Info) The same situation happened to the second purchase. I asked a nearby camera store and was told that the memory card must be fast. I bought a 64GB with speed of 200MB card in the store, and finally the problem was solved.
Returned this camera, found defect, its video will shut off by itself after 10 to 13 second when recording.
(Update Info) The same situation happened to the second purchase. I asked a nearby camera store and was told that the memory card must be fast. I bought a 64GB with speed of 200MB card in the store, and finally the problem was solved.
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Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 6, 2023
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 5, 2023
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 15, 2022
Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Aaron Smith
Likely the best rugged compact camera on the market
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2019Colour Name: BlackStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Aaron Smith
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2019
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.
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Rafael
Buenas fotos
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on February 10, 2020Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Joel Campos
Mi primera cámara.
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on October 15, 2019Colour Name: BlackStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Chris Topping
Tought and waterproof
Reviewed in Singapore 🇸🇬 on March 20, 2020Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase
Chris Topping
Reviewed in Singapore 🇸🇬 on March 20, 2020
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.
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Noemí
No me gustó el producto
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on December 6, 2019Colour Name: RedStyle: BasePattern Name: SingleVerified Purchase