I disagree from long experience with Sony - I have an interchangeable lens Sony mirror camera and use a mix of both Sony and Canon lenses as well as a lens from another company that only does lenses. There are a range of excellent adapters available that will fit pretty well any lens onto a Sony e-mount. never had a problem.
Not that expensive for the quality you get.
None of my universal hotshoe attachments work with Sony. Its a well known issue.
I mean Panasonic and Olympus systems you dont even need lens adaptors for their m4/3 setups because it is the same and they read each other for full functionality.
Yes there are lens adaptors for Sony to other brands but that wasnt what I was talking about. Also my work is in low light which Sonys display and viewfinders did not work in. You can read my blogpost about it that I linked.
It is also well known that Sonys “weatherproofing” is laughable. They have gotten better on the newest models but still not on par with other brands.
Sure there are folks who love Sony and swear by em and thats fine! It simply has limitations which do not work for me or most people I know doing similar work in similar fields to me.
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Reporting on my first few days with my new TG-6 
Love the size and weight. It will take me a while to get used to all the dials and buttons, coming from a DSLR I’ve been using almost exclusively for about 10 years. Quite a learning curve, but I just need some time to play with it, and study the manual, I hope.
I don’t plan on using it underwater, but I do like the waterproof and shockproof features. I’m hard on my cameras. One concern is that there is no protection for the LCD screen or the lens. They offer a lens cover but it is chronically out-of-stock where I am, apparently.
As for my photos, nothing outstanding yet, but a few quite acceptable ones using the Microscope mode.
The Maianthemum developing seedpods just look brown to the naked eye (from standing) so I was surprised by the photos.
The Jack-in-a-Pulpit is better than I have been getting with my DSLR.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the Olympus TG-6.
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I carry cameras in a neoprene soda can sleeve for protection…free and perfect for the job xD it tends to fit the point and shoot size perfectly with just a bit of friction to not just fall off!
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Wow. I never even knew about the TG-6, but after reading about it’s rugged versatility and impressive features, I’m adding it to my “look for a local second-hand deal” listing. Thanks!
I have mine in hand, been playing with it some.
Anyone had any luck with it’s wireless flash trigger function? I can find very little online or in the manual about it. I have lots of external flashes that work on radio triggers and just trying to figure out if I can make it talk to each other. I also have one that fires upon seeing a flash of light (flash triggered rather than radio) but it doesn’t seem like that is synching either, and not sure why. It fires but isn’t captured in the camera.
Also not figuring out how to set the shutter speed manually. There isn’t an S mode, and P mode doesn’t let you program it like I’m used to on Pentax. Their manual has been no help here either.
I have a rigid zip-up sunglasses case which fits my TG6 perfectly.
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Okay, I am now an owner of a nice TG-5 (used, but in good shape) for 3 weeks now.
And I admit that I have one because I found it listed at a great deal ($100) with ‘severely scrached lens’ – which is what the picture showed. In fact, the lens is covered by a protective glass cover which has an anti-glare coating on it. This coating is what was toast on the camera I looked at. I took a little goo remover to it when I got home, and it’s all clean now, no scratches on the glass.
And I have to say, that what a lot people said here is true: the TG shooting experience is (for the most part) SOOOO much nicer than lugging big, expensive, not-rainproof gear about. I absolutely love just slipping it into my pocket with me and ready to shoot any little prize that wanders within range. Fantastic, especially the micro mode with the stack processing. I find the AF-MF jog a little hard to handle sometimes, but I’ve got a good feel for it by now.
The other thing that makes this different for me than perhaps most other uses is that I chose this camera because it is supported by DxO PureRaw RAW file processing software, which I already owned for my Sony. What does that mean? It means for me, I can shoot comfortably (and I often do) in the darkened understory at 10000 ISO, without any flash, and I know that the details will come out once I run it through PureRaw. It’s those post-800 ISO settings that allow me to get quick, flashless captures, very dependably.
TWO biggest cons to the whole thing? Stacked processing requires a steady hand if you don’t have a tripod and it requires the subject to be almost motionless. Whenever this fails during the half second or so it takes to shoot those shots, you get a big red exclamation and a message that the stack processing failed.
I can live with that. And I do. What does irritate me, at times – is when I have three or four failures in a row, the camera will very often lock up. It doesn’t shut down, it just refuses to respond to any controls. The only way out is to pop the battery out and back in.
It’s been pretty hot lately, and I figure that the stack processing simply overheats the camera processor which must be working all kinds of tricks to keep cool enough. So that’s my peeve one.
Peeve two? And it’s the biggest: the pale-purple blob. Yep. It has been the subject of many Olympus forum discussions for years now. And the problem has existed since the TG-4 right through to the TG-6. It’s best described as a washed out mauvish/gray fuzzy blob right in the centre of the shot. You can actually see it on screen before shoot (that’s some consolation), and it’s triggered by… well, there’s a lot of guesswork here.
Most say it’s brought on only when there is a high contrast dark centre focus point and when the zoom is in use. Or certain lighting conditions… or ISO speeds, or… microscopic spybots. Who knows? Apparently, Olympus knows, but they can’t fix it. There’s even been talk (maybe action?) about a class action suite from disgruntled owners.
The most common explanation is that the blob is actually an optical reflection of the surface of the small sensor off the back of the lens. Which is why it would be almost impossible to fix with just firmware updates.
In any case, I have some great shots ‘almost ruined’ by the blob. But I spend a few minutes with Pshop and get most of it back (but I know what I’m doing there). My other strategy is to shoot very small things off center using a frozen MF setting and try to steer things between the edge of the frame and the blob. Not always possible or practical.
I’ve read of people who have returned their units (under warranty) several times without getting any fix, so I don’t think it’s a QA assembly problem.
It will be interesting to see if the pale blob ‘tradition’ continues into the TG7.
Speaking of interesting, I’d love to here from others here about any blob experiences they’ve had with this, otherwise, excellent little camera.
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The blob on our TG6 only shows up if you zoom in. It doesn’t have much of a zoom anyway so we don’t zoom and it’s not an issue. (I think it’s some kind of reflection or refraction, might be UV)
A small gorillapod helps to keep things stable and can even be a handy handle getting it out of the bag.
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Would you mind showing an unprocessed image here to get an impression of the ‘blob’?
Does it appear both on Macro and ‘normal’ shooting?
I have only once and recently had this blob. It’s a kind of relief that other people have had it as well. It was the macro function zoomed in and rather dark.
Later I wondered if I should have used flash or the ring-light. Normally darkness isn’t much of an issue in Spain. ;-)
I find that I use the zoom in about 90% or more, of my obs shots. I use the Tg mostly in the microscope mode, for bugs and critters between 1-5mm in size, most of the time. So that’s usually full zoom micro.
The little tripods are nice, but not too practical for chasing bugs around a tree trunk, or for something waving in the breeze on a leaf. And most things are very skitterish enough without adding flash or other lighting, so I rely on the high ISO range.
Like I said, it’s workable, but at the same time, very frustrating when the ‘blob’ covers most of your targeted subject.
Sure. From yesterday shooting.
Here’s the first shot (ISO 10000, 1/160s:
On the next shot I moved out to try and capture this fly (about 1-2mm in length) using offsetting the ‘blob’ to the side.
You can still see remnants of the blob in the second fly.
Then I did a full zoom for this shot:
That’s the one I’ll probably work with. Most of the blob affects only the dark shadowed areas. But this is a well lit scene, and I will get it much worse in shadowed settings. I’ll try to show some more later, I have to run. But yes, it doesn’t matter if it’s macro, micro, or wide normal or if it’s in P, Auto, or what have you. All modes. It’s triggered by the subject’s darkness relative to the surroundings, and to some extent the amount of zoom (and gloom).
Still, beats lugging a bag of gear, anyday. Here’s a quick fix up of that shot I just posted. Give me a sec. Photoshop RAW, remove purples/magentas, Pshop brush matching in color mode, quick go at brushing in with Burn tool.
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If you turn the LED on before shooting, and/or use flash, the blob often disappears, I find.
I’ve been using the TG-5 for about 5 years and have never noticed the purple blob. So, if it is there in my photos, it’s certainly not a major issue. Something I do that may effect this is I always have the flash diffuser on the camera. Maybe that helps block the purple blob or maybe I’m just oblivious to it. It could also be a high ISO thing. I rarely allow my camera to go above 800 ISO and prefer not to go that high. If it is that dark, I use the flash.
As far as focus stacking goes, I usually only use stacking when I’m very close to something. If it is something on the ground that won’t move, it is usually very easy to just brace the camera against the ground. If it is a small flower or something that may blow in the wind, I hold the stem and brace the holding hand against the camera. If it is too windy to hold something steady, it just won’t work. I also do stacking with the flash diffuser, which works great. The big issue with that is that there can be long pauses between the flashes if you do a few stacked shots in a row, which means you need to hold the subject and camera that much more steady. If you stack with flash, it’s probably best to only try one stack a minute or so to give the camera a breaks to speed back up again. I don’t have the LED attachment but presumably that speeds up the lighted stacking, though probably doesn’t look as nice as with the flash.
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