I have owned quite a few cameras over the years and all have had their pros and cons of course. My latest camera the Olympus TG-6 seems to have more Pros for the pound than most.

A Go-anywhere Camera
It is often said that the best camera is the one that you have with you. These days most people have a phone camera with them and each year they get a little better. I have created a blog post that discusses the merits of phone cameras along with other types of camera – Four Types of Camera, Which One Works Best for You? The TG-6 is dustproof, waterproof to 15 m, shockproof to 2. 1m, crushproof to 100 kg and freezeproof to – 10 degree Celsius. So different to previous cameras I have owned including my Nikon DSLRA digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a DSLR and other digital cameras. In the reflex design, light travels through the lens and then to a mirror that alternates to send the image to either the viewfinder or the image sensor. The viewfinder of a DSLR presents an image that will not differ substantially from what is captured by the camera's sensor but presents it as a direct optical view through the lens, rather than being captured by the camera's image sensor and displayed by a digital screen. DSLR is often (wrongly) used to describe cameras that are Micro Four Thirds or Bridge Camera - just because they look similar. This can bee seen when cameras are offered for sale. More and my current wonderful Olympus Pen-F.
Olympus TG Series on eBay.co.uk
The Olympus TG-6 also has GPS location logging built-in. Similar to a phone camera you can add GPS location data to your images, great for those that want to know exactly where the image was taken such as this using the camera when hiking and travelling. The location can, for example, be seen on the Adobe Lightroom map page.
A Full Range of Features
So why do I love the TG-6 so much? Well, there are three clear reasons.
First, you can truly take it anywhere. The small robust and waterproof body so you can take it out in all weathers. Perfect for city strolls, visits to the coast, out with friends and family or even swimming…. Just pop it into a pocket or bag every time you leave the house.
Second, it can capture some great photos. With a high-quality zoom lens and the ability to create RAWRAW is a file format that contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of a digital camera. RAW files are larger in size compared to JPEG files, as they retain all of the image data captured by the camera sensor without any compression. This allows for greater latitude in adjusting exposure, colour balance, and other image settings in post-processing, resulting in higher quality prints and digital images. One of the key advantages of shooting in RAW format is the ability to recover details in highlights and shadows that may be lost when shooting in JPEG format. Additionally, RAW files allow for non-destructive editing, meaning that changes can be made to the image without affecting the original image data. More images, your photographs should mee your requirements. Indeed I have successfully submitted photographs taken with the TG-6 to microstock sites including Shutterstock, Bigstock and Dreamstime. The camera is relatively simple to use but you can switch to Aperture PriorityIn this mode, the user can adjust the aperture and the camera automatically selects the best shutter speed to match it. In most cameras, the Aperture Priority mode is usually denoted by the letter 'A'. Most film SLRs were made as Aperture Priority - e.g. Nikon and Olympus. More, use Focus Stacking, HDR and panorama settings. I hope to produce posts about how best to use all of these features in the future.
Last, but not least. The camera has a fantastic Macro mode without the need to change lenses. You can even attach a purpose-made OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More LG-1 LED Light Guide to improve things even further.
Accessories
To complete and help me look after my new Olympus TG-6 I have purchased three accessories. This first is a small soft case – although it is very tough I still want to make sure I do not scratch or damage the camera whilst not in use. Second, on the same theme, I have bought a lens cap for the TG-6. This is a specially made unit (there are other types available) that was relatively cheap and seems to work well.

Last I bought the Olympus LG-1 LED Light Guide for macro photography. So far so good and I am very pleased with the results.
I have not bought a spare battery or a dedicated charger yet. They are available but I just plug it in via a USB in a similar way to how I use and charge a phone. You can read more about the TG series on our blog post that compares the different models.
A few of my first images – edited with Lightroom, etc.





Links
RW Jemmett Photography Directory
Olympus TG Comparison of Models – Are Older Versions Still a Good Buy?
Instagram #olympustg6
Buy an Olympus TG-6 and accessories
Buy TG6 and TG7 on Amazon
Photo | Title | Buy |
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OM SYSTEM Tough TG-7 Red Digital Camera, 12MP, Waterproof, Shockproof, Underwater and Macro Shooting Modes, high speed image sensor, 4K Video, 4x-wide-angle zoom (successor Olympus TG-6) |
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OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More PEN E-P7 Camera Kit, 20 MP Sensor, 5-axis image stabilisation, tilt HD LCD, 4K, Wi-Fi, color and monochrome profile control, silver incl. M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm EZ black |
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OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More OM-D E-M10 Mark IV Micro Four Thirds System Camera Kit, 20 MP sensor, electronic viewfinder, 4K video, powerful AF, Wi-Fi, silver incl. M.Zuiko Digital ED 14‑42mm F3.5‑5.6 EZ Pancake silver |
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OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More PEN E-P7 Camera Kit, 20 MP Sensor, 5-axis image stabilisation, tilt HD LCD, 4K, Wi-Fi,color and monochrome profile control, white incl. M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm EZ silver |
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OM SYSTEM OM-5 Micro Four Thirds System Camera incl. lens M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm PRO, 20 MP Live MOS Sensor, Improved 5-Axis Image Stabilisation, IP53, Handheld High Res Shot, Black/Black |
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OM System Tough TG-7 Digital Camera - Red (Successor Olympus TG-6) |
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OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14 mm F2.8 PRO Lens, Wide Angle Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More OM-D & PEN Models, PanasonicPanasonic K. K. (was: Matsushita Electric Industrial) is a Japanese company that uses the brand name Panasonic for its electronic devices, including digital cameras and analogue cameras in the past. Panasonic also use the brand Lumix. More G Series), Black |
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Canon EOS R100 - Compact MirrorlessTechnically speaking most DSLR, point-and-shoot and smartphone cameras are mirrorless, in that they don’t have internal mirrors. However, mirrorless camera is a specific term for a camera where the sensor is directly exposed to light and the photographer has a preview of the potential image at all times to view on an electronic viewfinder. For example the Olympus and Panasonic micro four-thirds cameras are mirrorless. More Digital Camera - 24.1 MP, 4K ResolutionRefers to the number of pixels, both horizontally and vertically, used to either capture or display an image. The higher the resolution, the finer the image detail will be. More - Dual PixelPixel is the smallest unit of programmable colour represented on a digital display. Every photograph, in digital form, is made up of pixels. Higher resolutions mean that there are more pixels per inch (PPI), resulting in more pixel information and creating a high-quality, crisp image. Images with lower resolutions have fewer pixels, and if those few pixels are too large (usually when an image is stretched), they can become visible. The word “pixel” means a picture element. However, the number of pixels is not the determining factor in how good a camera is. More CMOSA CMOS (Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor that is one of two types of sensors used in digital cameras, the other being CCD. CMOS sensors are equipped with “rolling shutters,” which expose different parts of the frame at different points in time. This can lead to skew, wobble, and partial exposure in photographs. However, neither technology is a clear winner over the other in overall image quality. CMOS sensors consume around 100 times less power than equivalent CCD sensors leading to longer battery life. CMOS cameras are now more popular and currently used in most modern digital cameras. CMOS sensors can be fabricated on a standard silicon production line and are therefore less expensive compared to CCD sensors. More AF, DIGIC 8 Processor - 6.5 FPSFPS stands for frames per second and determines the speed at which a camera can take photos/frames. It is especially important for sport and wildlife photographers, who may need to be able to shoot rapidly to make sure they capture perfectly-timed images. More FPS is considered an advantage and can be a differential factor in choosing a camera. More Continuous Shooting - Face & Eye Detection, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS |
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OM SYSTEM OM-1 Micro Four Thirds System Camera incl. M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO II, 20 MP BSI Stacked Sensor, 5-Axis Image Stabilisation |
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