Olympus TG-4 announced: a flagship rugged cam with RAW, Live Composite, Underwater HDR
posted Monday, April 13, 2015 at 12:00 AM EST
Olympus brings the follow-up to last year's rather fun and impressive TG-3 waterproof/rugged camera with the appropriately named Olympus TG-4. With an altogether unchanged exterior styling and control scheme however, the improvements to this year's models are all under the hood, with new scene modes, faster GPS, and a big feature that's sure to please many enthusiasts: RAW capture.
The Olympus TG-4 is not only Olympus' first, but also the industry's first rugged, waterproof compact camera with RAW file capture capabilities, which is a very nice addition for users looking to maximize image quality but still have a camera that can take a healthy beating right out of the box. The TG-4 also gets refreshed with additional advanced shooting modes, including a new Underwater HDR mode, and a Live Composite shooting mode which made its debut on the E-M10. The camera's GPS is also improved for faster location acquisition, and adjusting your autofocus point with AF Target selection is accomplished with a few presses of the directional arrows.
Apart from the under-the-hood changes, the Olympus TG-4 shares the exterior styling and ruggedness specifications, as well as the same wireless connectivity features, as the TG-3. The lens maintains a versatile 25-100mm-equivalent focal length range, which opens to a bright f/2.0 at the wide-end. The imaging sensor is still the same 16MP chip from the TG-3 and the TruePic VII image processor gives the camera an ISO range of 100-6500 and a 5fps burst rate.
Set to be available in May 2015, the Olympus TG-4 ships in black or red versions with a list price of US$379.99 (CAD$399.99), which is slightly higher than the US$350 list price of its predecessor. For all the details on Olympus' latest and greatest rugged compact camera, head over to our Olympus TG-4 First Impressions Preview or take a look at our initial real-world gallery images.