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Olympus TG4 macro monster

4season

Well-known member
New toy:


Very costly for a small-sensor camera by 2015's standards: Actually similar in price to an entry level APS-C mirrorless or SLR starter outfit if you shop around. But besides the weatherproofing and GPS, it does offer some unique features: Minimum focusing distance is 1 cm at all focal lengths! The old Ricoh GX100 came close, but Olympus ups the ante with the optional LG-1 ring light attachment and (JPEG-only) in-camera focus-stacking mode.

Not going to claim these are particularly artistic photos, but they're uncropped examples of how close 1 cm can be (flowers were a bit further away, but not by much). Olympus raw files processed in Olympus Viewer 3:


iPhone 4 Retina display:


 
V

Vivek

Guest
The old Ricoh GX100 came close, but Olympus ups the ante with the optional LG-1 ring light attachment and (JPEG-only) in-camera focus-stacking mode.
I suspect that Casio Exlim high speed cams offered this- "all in focus macro". Though I am not entirely sure as it is not explicitly declared as focus stacking.
 

4season

Well-known member
I guess Olympus Viewer 3 isn't going to become part of my preferred toolbox: I experimented with using it as a simple file converter so I could do the bulk of my post-processing in LR5 (yes I know LR6 supports this camera directly but I'm being a cheapskate). But Viewer seems to over-cook the files even with Sharpening and Noise Reduction supposedly turned off. So this evening I tried Adobe's DNG Converter: Much much better!

Both photos shot handheld and not super-sharp. But there was a light breeze blowing, and I don't know if a tripod would have helped me much anyhow. Rather pleased with the results. Images are uncropped.


 

4season

Well-known member
Think I'm just about done with insects and flowers, at least for now:



As I already have several cameras capable of very crisp, contrasty and relatively noise-free results, I'm thinking that the TG4's honest-to-goodness sensor noise is kind of an interesting look in it's own right.


 

4season

Well-known member
No flowers no leaves and no insects today, just a train-wreck of a composition (but I kind of like it anyhow):

 

4season

Well-known member
Not too bad for product photos either: The combination of close focusing at all focal lengths combined with deep depth of field makes this type of shot a breeze. The 35RC is a new arrival: Just got done detailing the exterior and doing bit of work under the top cover. Still need to replace rotted foam light traps and check the electronics.

 

cam

Active member
Glad to see this thread up!

I think I'm about to bite the bullet on this one as I just spent an excruciating week in Hawaii, wanting to take pics in the water... I'll be going back next month and knew I couldn't go back without a waterproof cam... In looking at what was available, this macro capable caught my attention as to what I might be able to do when I'm not in the water...

Cheers!
 

4season

Well-known member
Glad to see this thread up!
Welcome! I wrote a more in-depth review here.

The TG4's crazy macro focusing at all focal lengths really does take me places that would be difficult to reach with my larger-sensor cameras. I haven't even gotten it wet yet! But just from eBay product photo alone I think it will pay for itself quickly enough.

BTW, they don't go out of their way to mention it, but Olympus recommends annual factory service to replace the seals. In fact, it seems that there's no such thing as a totally maintenance-free waterproof camera from Olympus or anyone else.
 

cam

Active member
Welcome! I wrote a more in-depth review here.

The TG4's crazy macro focusing at all focal lengths really does take me places that would be difficult to reach with my larger-sensor cameras. I haven't even gotten it wet yet! But just from eBay product photo alone I think it will pay for itself quickly enough.

BTW, they don't go out of their way to mention it, but Olympus recommends annual factory service to replace the seals. In fact, it seems that there's no such thing as a totally maintenance-free waterproof camera from Olympus or anyone else.
Thank you!

Always appreciate the help, especially as I'm not usually an Olympus shooter -- though I'm friendly with the rep here -- and my guy is almost exclusively Oly.

I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but will probably do macros galore next week... Not that I've ever done them before, but it should be fun trying ;)

Any other tips, tricks, and samples would be welcomed to whet my appetite!
 

4season

Well-known member
Not much to add that I didn't already cover in my Amazon review, except maybe GPS:

GPS and GPS Tracking are turned off by default. They can consume a fair amount of battery power even when the camera is turned off. But they're also pretty neat features to have if you've ever puzzled over exactly where a photo was taken. I have not tried GPS Tracking and I'm not sure if the data file it generates is usable in anything other than O.I Track?

When sharing photos of your collection of Patek Philippe wristwatches, you might want to ensure that GPS coordinates are removed from the EXIF data! Unless you're okay with the world knowing it's location within a radius of a couple of meters. Adobe Lightroom can remove this data during the export process.

The camera may be rugged, but I doubt that the camera's metallic finish is. So I carry mine in a non-scratchy neoprene case.

Hope you like the camera!
 
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