Olympus Stylus TG-2 review

Rugged, waterproof cameras are ideal for all sorts of occasions, from extreme sports to the beach to boozy nights out. However, underneath all that protection, their lenses and sensors tend to be fairly ordinary. Olympus’s TG-2 looks more promising. Its 12-megapixel back-illuminated sensor bodes well for keeping noise at bay. The f/2 lens gathers lots of light, reducing noise even further when shooting in gloomy conditions. These are the kinds of specifications we’re more used to seeing on cameras designed for photography enthusiasts. Could this camera deliver the best of both worlds?

This supremely sensible looking camera, has spawned this …

… quite possibly the most ridiculous promotional shot we’ve seen of late

The design is suitably butch but there aren’t many concessions for keen photographers. The mode dial includes an aperture-priority mode, but there’s not much chance of playing with depth-of-field effects with a small 1/2.3in sensor. Shutter-priority and manual modes would have been more useful for controlling motion blur, but are absent from the mode dial. Instead, there are scene presets and creative filters, plus two Custom positions that allow various parameters to be saved and recalled quickly – perfect for switching between underwater and beach modes. The Super Macro mode can focus just 1cm from the lens, even when zoomed right in. This gives a truly microscopic view, with objects just 5mm wide filling the frame. It wasn’t easy getting good results in this mode but we had lots of fun trying.

This close-up of a peacock feather demonstrates the power of the TG-2’s remarkable Super Macro mode

GPS is built in, but there’s no power management so the camera stops tracking its position when it’s switched off. It was quick to get its bearings again when we hadn’t moved far from the previously tagged location, but after longer journeys it took up to 10 minutes to get a satellite lock.

It’s a fast performer, starting up in just over a second and capturing a photo every 0.8 seconds. Continuous shooting was fast at 5.3fps, and kept going for 26 frames before slowing slightly to 4.2fps. It can also take 100 3-megapixel shots at 15 or 60fps. These impressive turns of speed are perfect for action photography. Slow motion video is available too, but the resolution is limited to a disappointing 640×480 pixels.

Normal-speed videos are at 1080p and 30fps, and picture and sound quality are generally up to scratch. The autofocus was sometimes slow to respond, though, and adjusting the optical zoom caused the picture to judder. The left microphone is located near the corner of the camera, and listening back to our video clips, it was clear that we had often accidentally covered it with a finger.

Photo quality should be the TG2’s strongest point, but while it’s by no means bad, it didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Well-lit scenes looked sharp and vibrant, but subtle textures were smeared by noise reduction. It’s by no means disastrous – and it’s a common problem for compact cameras – but we’d hoped for better from this 12-megapixel back-illuminated sensor. The Canon PowerShot D20 https://www.expertreviews.com/uk/digital-cameras/1296115/canon-powershot-d20 (see Shopper 301) gave better results in bright conditions. We also encountered problems with blooming around bright objects in the frame, although this may have been down to oily fingerprints on the window in front of a lens – a common problem for waterproof cameras that don’t have a lens cap.

There’s plenty of sharp detail and vibrant colour in this shot

This one is less successful, with a smudged appearance to the grass

There’s a strange, ethereal glow around these flowers, possibly caused by dirt on the lens

The bright lens came in useful in low light, with its f/2 aperture capturing almost four times as much light as the Canon D20’s f/3.9 lens. That’s only when both cameras were set to the wide-angle end of their zooms, though. The advantage was lost as we zoomed in, with the TG-2’s f/4.9 maximum aperture slightly darker than the D20’s f/4.8. Our indoor test shots were generally up to scratch, though, with presentable results up to ISO 800 letting us shoot in ambient sunlight without having to resort to the flash.

The wide-aperture lens helps to keep the ISO speed down in low light, giving smooth, noise-free skin tones in this shot

There’s a fair amount of smeary noise reduction at ISO 800, but this is nevertheless an excellent result

We didn’t have an opportunity to take the TG-2 for a dip in the sea, but we’d anticipate that the f/2 lens should come in useful in gloomy submarine environments. The Canon PowerShot D20 delivered better image quality in bright light, though, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has a superior video mode, more reliable GPS and lots of Wi-Fi functions. None of them is a runaway winner, so we’ll have to leave you to pick your favourite.