Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
Initial impressions of the Olympus TG6
When my Canon G12 died, I was bereft. It was my first serious digital camera; it served me faithfully for over a decade; it was my go-to camera when I ran the Airguns of Arizona blog for over 8 years, and it was my go-to camera when someone in the household needed a quick picture of something (Small sensors have their advantages, including – usually – great depth of field). I obtained it when this forum was still know as Serious Compacts, but the advent of smart phones with good built-in cameras has gutted the market for serious compacts.
Back then, someone on Serious Compacts had said that their philosophy was “take a camera everywhere and see what happens,” and that seemed like a good idea. So the G12 traveled with me often. It was the G12 that allowed me to capture a rare cloud form, a horseshoe vortex.
So a replacement for the G12 was needed. A Fujifilm XP90 – small, light, and weatherproof – was already in my possession, and I tried to love it; I really did. But in all honesty, it is my “I don’t care” camera. I don’t care if I fall into a rocky creek bed with it: no biggie. Something that produced better technical image quality was needed. Tilman Paulin suggested the Olympus Tough cameras; KEH had a TG6 used in excellent + condition; I whisper some magic numbers to them, and it’s here.
Bottom line: I like it! It’s smaller and lighter than the G12, which makes it more pocketable, more likely to travel with me discreetly but ready for quick deployment.
It is ruggedly built: Olympus says it is “Waterproof, Shockproof, Dustproof, Crushproof and Freezeproof.” The designers must be positively anal about keep water out: there are two hatches, one for battery/memory card, the other for HDMI/USB. Each has a lock . . . and each lock has another lock to prevent inadvertent opening of the hatch. All the zooming of the lens takes place inside the sealed environment of the camera so no grit or dust can get in to muck up the works. This is a camera you can take out in a blizzard or a downpour.
Most of my opportunities so far have been in low-light conditions, and, so far, I am pleased.
More later.
Cheers, Jock
When my Canon G12 died, I was bereft. It was my first serious digital camera; it served me faithfully for over a decade; it was my go-to camera when I ran the Airguns of Arizona blog for over 8 years, and it was my go-to camera when someone in the household needed a quick picture of something (Small sensors have their advantages, including – usually – great depth of field). I obtained it when this forum was still know as Serious Compacts, but the advent of smart phones with good built-in cameras has gutted the market for serious compacts.
Back then, someone on Serious Compacts had said that their philosophy was “take a camera everywhere and see what happens,” and that seemed like a good idea. So the G12 traveled with me often. It was the G12 that allowed me to capture a rare cloud form, a horseshoe vortex.
So a replacement for the G12 was needed. A Fujifilm XP90 – small, light, and weatherproof – was already in my possession, and I tried to love it; I really did. But in all honesty, it is my “I don’t care” camera. I don’t care if I fall into a rocky creek bed with it: no biggie. Something that produced better technical image quality was needed. Tilman Paulin suggested the Olympus Tough cameras; KEH had a TG6 used in excellent + condition; I whisper some magic numbers to them, and it’s here.
Bottom line: I like it! It’s smaller and lighter than the G12, which makes it more pocketable, more likely to travel with me discreetly but ready for quick deployment.
It is ruggedly built: Olympus says it is “Waterproof, Shockproof, Dustproof, Crushproof and Freezeproof.” The designers must be positively anal about keep water out: there are two hatches, one for battery/memory card, the other for HDMI/USB. Each has a lock . . . and each lock has another lock to prevent inadvertent opening of the hatch. All the zooming of the lens takes place inside the sealed environment of the camera so no grit or dust can get in to muck up the works. This is a camera you can take out in a blizzard or a downpour.
Most of my opportunities so far have been in low-light conditions, and, so far, I am pleased.
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More later.
Cheers, Jock
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