[SECTION]INTRODUCTION[/SECTION]

 

 

Surviving the onslaught of the mobile phone camera, the TG-7 is the latest of the Olympus/OM System range of tough, waterproof and shockproof compact cameras. Be it the mayhem of a party, the pervasive sand of the beach, the lure of brightly coloured fish whilst snorkelling or just a camera that can be with us all the time, rain or shine, then the TG-7 is bidding for a place in our repertoire of kit.

The temptation of a camera that can survive being submerged to 15m depth or dropped on a hard floor from 2.1m whilst braving temperatures down to -10C is pretty obvious. Let’s weigh that up now against the small sensor, the small perhaps fiddly controls and the practicality of the design and see if this is the camera we can take anywhere, anytime and in any conditions.

 

OM System TG-7 Features

First impression of the TG-7 is that it is quite sturdy, weighing in at 222g and measuring just 113.9 x 65.8 x 32.7mm. Nonetheless, there is room for a decent sized 3” LCD monitor and a variety of dials and buttons. By necessity these are quite small, but firm enough in action so that they will not be operated accidentally. 

This is a camera for action and for fun, as well as potentially a serious recording tool that is durable enough to use in rough environments such as building sites as well as having the obvious advantage of being waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof. There is a special Construction menu that has to be switched on that covers the options for use in construction and industrial surroundings. This includes, for example, settings to reduce the effect of an excess of dust motes in the air.

The camera is waterproof down to 15m and is rated as IPX8. Shock resistance is rated at 2.1m, crushproof to 100kg load and freezeproof to -10C. This would seem to happily cover snorkelling, days at the beach, use in wet weather and basically make the camera an ideal constant companion in all conditions.

The top plate carries the usual shutter release and zoom control, as well as a dial to adjust parameters such as the aperture when set to A setting. There is a Log switch and when enabled this creates up to 99 logs at once, covering location, height above sea level, etc., and when the switch is off these are saved to the SD card and can be read in the OM System App. 

The back of the camera carries the mode dial and covers A (aperture priority), P (program), green auto, plus scene modes, underwater modes, microscope modes, video shooting plus two custom user modes. There are also buttons for playback, info displays, menus and a useful four way controller for some common settings and adjustments. 

The baseplate has the battery/SD card compartment and the side of the camera has an access door for connectors. Both of these doors have a double locking system and seem very solid and secure.

There is a small built in flash and the lens is covered by a double glass design that is described as anti-fog. The 4.5–18mm f/2-4.9 lens has a “35mm equivalent” field of view of 25-100mm, a reasonably useful range. Oddly, when using A setting only three apertures can be selected, being f/2, f/2.8 and f/8 at the widest angle and f/4.9. f/6.3 and f/18 at full zoom. However, this is a small 1/2.23” sensor and there will be plenty of depth of field. 

The 12MP CMOS sensor is backlit and an ISO range of 100-12800 is available. There is sensor shift stabilisation. Closest focus is quoted at 10cm in the normal range and 1cm macro, and in addition the microscope settings are capable of some incredible close ups, especially when coupled with the built in focus stacking facility. 

Video is catered for by offering 4K 30p and FHD to 120fps. SD is up to 480fps. The choice of 16:9 ratio is also available. 

Connectivity is via Bluetooth or WiFi as well as HDMI and USB connections, although in the case of the wired connections the waterproof door has to be opened. Charging is via USB, although a battery charger is available as an optional extra.

 

OM System TG-7 Key Features

• 1/2.23” 12MP CMOS Backlit sensor
• ISO 100-12800
• Shutter 1/2s – 1/2000s
• Electronic shutter 5fps
• Mechanical shutter 20fps
• Waterproof to 15m depth
• Shockproof to 2.1m drop
• Crushproof to 100kg
• Operates to -10C
• 4.5-18mm f/2-4.9 anti-fog lens (Equiv. 25-100mm)
• Sensor shift IS
• RAW capture
• Pro Capture
• Focus Stacking
• Microscope function
• LCD 3” 1040k dots
• Media: SD, SDHC (UHS-I), SDXC (UHS-I), SD WORM, PGS WORM, Write Once

 

OM System TG-7 Handling

There is an amazing variety of options built into the TG-7, and those who wish to experiment will find plenty to keep them going. There are the scene modes, of course, more of which later, and a favourite mode can be selected which will be returned to when scene mode is selected again.

The front element of cameras such as the TG-7 are always a bit exposed, but there’s no avoiding this and with care they seem to survive well enough. There are quite a few OM System accessories available, including supplementary lenses and a waterproof housing that extends the range underwater from 15m to 45m. 

The Microscope setting merits special mention and some incredible close up shots can be easily achieved. Focus stacking always works and keeps everything sharp even when shooting macro subjects with depth to them.

If we want to know where we are GPS can be switched on, and it can be quite fascinating to know what the air pressure was when shooting any particular image. Generally not particularly useful perhaps, but just another small detail on offer for those who need it. 

As mentioned, the camera is small, although reassuringly chunky, and some may find as a consequence that the controls are a bit fiddly. This is no worse than any other small camera though, and has the advantage that the reasonably firm action of these controls means they will not be caught accidentally. It is much easier to set things without meaning to on a mobile phone, so the TG-7 scores in this respect.

 

[SECTION]PERFORMANCE[/SECTION]

OM System TG-7 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
 

OM System Tough TG-7 Sample Photos

Lens Performance – It’s not possible to do the usual Imatest testing with a compact camera, but a general idea of image quality can soon be discerned. In terms of sharpness, the lens can be very sharp and seems to fare best when using it at closer range. Macro performance is particularly creditable.

CA is present as purple fringing, especially at the edges, but it does depend very much on the subject matter as to whether this is obtrusive or not. There are software solutions that will help if need be.

Bokeh is not something that we look to with such a small sensor, in any event there being plenty of depth of field, thus making out of focus backgrounds hard to achieve. However, those backgrounds do come out quite well, perhaps not a bokeh master but creditable enough for a small camera.

Flare is interesting. The extreme lighting flare test reveals masses of multi-coloured artefacts, but normal use does not really show this up as a problem. The lens is very exposed, so no chance of using a lens hood and even if that were possible it would just get in the way. If we work with the flare then some interesting effects might well be possible.

Distortion is also well controlled, and this is especially useful when documents are being copied. 

The lens is being asked to do many different things, from microscope settings to infinity, and it covers all these very well.

 

OM System Tough TG-7 ISO test images

 

ISO Performance – With such a small sensor some noise might seem inevitable, but this is offset by the 12MP image size. In fact, noise is impressively low up to ISO 400, although it can be just seen from ISO 200 onwards. Sharpness is well maintained up to ISO 400. ISO 800 and 1600 show low levels of noise and sharpness suffers slightly as well. ISO 3200 makes this very obvious, but it is still a viable level where necessary. ISO 6400 is basically losing it, with high noise and low sharpness, but by ISO 12800 the image surrenders into a mass of noise and “mushy” sharpness levels. 

 

OM System Tough TG-7 White-balance test images

 

White Balance – There is an efficient batch of white balance controls, with the option to “retain warmth” in the menus, always a good idea as we tend to prefer warmer rather than colder images. Presets are AWB, Sunny, Shadow, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Underwater: Shallow, Underwater: Mid Range, Underwater: Deep, Flash, four custom settings and Kelvin colour temperature, 5400K by default. The settings work well, sunny being useful to maintain the look of unusual lighting, perhaps early or late in the day. Shadow prevents a purple cast in deep woodland shadows. Cloudy mimics the warming effect of an 81A or Cloudy filter, always useful for warming up daylight images.

 

OM System Tough TG-7 Digital filters

 

Digital Filters – Picture modes cover i-Enhance, Vivid, Natural, Muted, Portrait, Monochrome, Custom, e-Portrait, Underwater, Pop Art I, Pop Art II, Soft Focus, Pale and Light Colour I, Pale and Light Colour II, Light Tone, Grainy Film I, Grainy Film II, Pin Hole I, Pin Hole II, Pin Hole III, Diorama I, Diorama II, Cross Process I, Cross process II, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone I, Dramatic Tone II, Key Line I, Key Line II, Watercolour I, Watercolour II, Vintage I, Vintage II, Vintage III, Partial Colour I, Partial Colour II, Bleach Bypass I, Bleach Bypass II and Instant Film. 

In addition to this, there are various Scene Modes, under the groupings People, Motion, Indoors, Nightscapes, Scenery and Construction. This is all a mighty set of options indeed, so plenty for the user to experiment with.

 

 

Video – The video options are fairly basic, but there is 4K 30p at 16:9 ratio, FHD up to 120fps and SD up to 480fps. 

[SECTION]VERDICT[/SECTION]

 

Value For Money

The [AMUK]OM System TG-7|OM System+TG-7[/AMUK] is priced at £499.

The main competition comes from Ricoh/Pentax with the following models:

• [AMUK]Ricoh WG-6|Ricoh+WG-6[/AMUK], £399
• [AMUK]Pentax WG-90|Pentax+WG-90[/AMUK], £379

There is also a heavy duty model for industrial use that is available via different supply chains or the Ricoh website:

• Ricoh G900SE, £1299

The TG-7 might be a tad more expensive than some, but a careful examination of what it offers will be the deciding factor as any of these cameras is likely to serve well for a long time and any slight cost differences will be lost over time.

 

OM System TG-7 Verdict

Apart from any specialised uses that the TG-7 might be put to, the largest demand may well be from those wanting a fun camera that can be taken anywhere, be it underwater, the beach, the fairground, the night club, and come up with bright, sharp images without fuss and without any worry about it being damaged in the melee of the event. There is a vast selection of settings and options to help with making the photography simple, or a reasonable range of more hands on controls to satisfy those with a more traditional approach.

In summary, a highly versatile compact camera that can be slipped in a pocket and taken anywhere and everywhere. Recommended.

 

[REVIEW_FOOTER]R_features=4.5|R_handling=4|R_performance=5|R_value=4|R_overall=4|A_level=4|A_text=Recommended – A camera for all conditions, above and below the water, and a worthy constant companion|E_id=8016[/REVIEW_FOOTER]

View the OM System TG-7 camera specs in the equipment database.