Olympus TG-870

[Flysmallie]

Last week I purchased an Olympus TG-870. While I love the control I have with a DSLR I'm getting really tired of dragging it out of it's protected environment to take a couple of quick pics of some fish or scenery along the river. Plus on wading trips it's either not an option or a huge burden. So I dropped the $229 and took it out to see what it would do. For another hundred you can get the TG-4 which gives you manual control and RAW imaging. I was on the fence on that one for a long time but decided both were unnecessary. 

The 870 is 16 mp, 1080p video, waterproof to 50 ft., drop proof, crush proof. Has a flip up screen which has already shown to be very handy. And it has WiFi which is awesome. The wifi allows you to connect it to your smartphone and control the camera through an app. Take pictures, video, download images, all from your phone. It's a nice feature. 

It's a great little camera so far. I know that a lot of people are always looking for a good fishing camera and I think this is about the best there is for that kind of money. I have friends that have older versions of both the TG-870 and TG-4 and have been using them for a long time with no issues. 

Here's a stock photo of the camera and a link to it's website. http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/digitalcameras/tough/tg-870.html

Here are a few pictures I took on Friday with this camera. 

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[BilletHead]

   Nice Ronnie,

Us the same and it just isn't feasible at times to haul the bigger unit around. We started off with the Fuji Finepix XP 70 a couple of years back before vacation. Liked it so much before last years trip we hit Sam's club and they had a special on the newer XP 80  with an instant rebate at the register.  http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/xp/finepix_xp80/   Now we both carry them. Hate to admit it but mine is carried in my man bag (murse) and when I leave the truck in the outdoor world fishing, hunting or in the garden it is in my pocket ready for action. All the features are great. I even downloaded the App and use the phone as a remote for setting off the shutter. I am not a techie person at all. I find myself even grabbing the thing at home for use especially for posting photos on here.

BilletHead

[BilletHead]

     Dang it Ronnie you got me to looking around and they now have an XP90. The Macro on these new little cameras like we have is so neat. If you look into the center of this hybrids eye you can see the reflection of the camera lens and my thumb on the shutter button.

  Ready now to see more of your photos. Funny too having this little thing in your pocket makes you use it more too,

BilletHead

[Flysmallie]

8 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

Funny too having this little thing in your pocket makes you use it more too,

Exactly. I was really wanting one back in January and February while I was doing a bunch of wade fishing. I tried to make it work with a GoPro and/or phone but just wasn't satisfied. Gonna give mine a good workout on the beach in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the fish will cooperate. 

[Fish24/7]

big fan of Olympus cameras

I've got a  uz model and it's WAY better than any Kodak or Poloroid I had.

 

[Johnsfolly]

I mentioned to my wife that there is a way to get her Olympus Stylus Tough back she can get me the 870 upgrade. Those pictures look great. Maybe for our 21st anniversary or Christmas. Something to look forward to.

[JestersHK]

Man those pictures look really great guys!  Never knew they had rugged point and shoots.

[Flysmallie]

Thanks guys. I will admit that mine are post processed quite a bit. Like I said I was really trying to see what the capabilities would be of the camera and also what I could do with some new software. I recently installed the Nik Collection from Google. It's a collection of imaging tools that Google owns and is offering it for free right now. These are intended as Photoshop plugins but can be used as a standalone program as well. I'm currently running them as standalone. 

It definately doesn't replace a true editing program, but you can get some pretty good effects quickly after you've done basic editing. 

https://www.google.com/nikcollection/

 

 

[Al Agnew]

I've never understood why more anglers don't carry these waterproof point and shoots.  I've been carrying various models ever since the first waterproof ones came out, probably 15 years or more.  I've gone through, as near as I can remember, 2 Pentax, 2 Olympus, and am on my second Nikon.  They've all been good, but when you carry the thing everywhere in your shirt pocket, it eventually throws craps on you.  I've probably taken more photos with my point and shoots that all my other cameras combined, because they are so handy to carry and worry-free on the water.

[Flysmallie]

TG-870 Update:

Well it didn't take me long to screw that up. Went to the beach for a week and by day 3 it was already showing signs of moisture in the corners of the LCD. It became so bad towards the end of the week that it became useless. It still took great pictures you just couldn't see what you were taking pictures of. So it's back in it's box traveling to Olympus. We'll see how they handle that. 

My wife doesn't do well with cameras. It's a struggle for her to take a decent photo on her phone. I've bought her several point and shoots over the years and she just won't use them. She's absolutely dangerous with my DSLR. Plus she takes crappy shots. But she loves this Olympus. She was more upset about the moisture than I was. That says a lot for it. So I'm not giving up on it, but I don't really feel that I treated it that bad. We'll see.

Here's a few more shots from it. I'll keep you posted on how Olympus handles the warranty claim.