Underwater Camera

bfluegiebfluegie Registered Users Posts: 736 Major grins

I currently have an Olympus Tough TG-2 that I have used a couple of times while snorkeling. I am going to do some more snorkeling in a bit and I am wondering if it is worth it to upgrade. I’m considering a new TG-5 or possibly a used (eBay) TG-4 or maybe a TG-3. These cameras have RAW capability starting with TG-3 so my camera only takes jpeg files. All are 12 megapixels except the TG-4 which is 16. Not sure why they dropped back down to 12 for the TG-5, but it does list a higher ISO rating in its specs. All have the same sensor size. Most of the other differences (video resolution, fps) are probably not too interesting to me. Probably famous last words (“Darn, that turtle was really swimming. Too bad I didn’t have 20 fps instead of 5”). Almost forgot, the TG-4 and TG-5 have some kind of manual focus which might have helped me a little when I was swimming with dolphins with lots of suspended particles. The TG-2 autofocus couldn’t cope. But I don’t know how well one can manage manual focus when underwater wearing a mask that doesn’t completely correct one’s prescription.

So, is anyone familiar with these cameras enough to know if the RAW capability and manual focus are good enough reasons to upgrade? I want to, but do I really need to? And really, to a gear junkie is there any other answer than YES? But I’m a retired gear junkie so I must spend wisely now. Also feel free to suggest other underwater options.

Thanks in advance for any info.

~~Barbara

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