Just as rugged as ever, Olympus debuts refreshed, improved Stylus Tough TG-870 waterproof camera

 

 

For the third year running, the new Olympus TG-870 offers up a rather rare feature for compact cameras that are designed to be dunked, dropped, and dinged: a full 180-degree tilting LCD screen. Keeping the same basic shape and overall design as its TG-860 predecessor, the new model's tilting screen remains just a tough as ever, but gets updated with double the resolution and improved brightness.

The camera's rugged specs remain unchanged: waterproof down to 50 feet (15m), shockproof from 7 feet (2.1m), crushproof up to 220 pounds (100kgf), freezeproof down to 14° F (-10°C), and fully dustproof. All your TG-860 underwater accessories, such as the underwater housing and handy underwater strobe, all continue to work with this updated model.

Olympus also keeps the same versatile 5x optical zoom lens with a 21-105mm-equivalent focal length range and built-in optical image stabilization. Coupled to the lens is a 16-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch type, backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor paired with a TruePic VII-branded processor, which is just like previous model.

Basic shooting and performance specs remain largely unchanged, though Olympus did add a handful of new filters and effects as well as improved GPS for faster synchronization.

Priced at about US$280, the Olympus TG-870 is set to ship from April 2016. Color schemes available will be Gunmetal Metallic, Metallic Green or Pure White instead of orange, black or white.

For all the details about this unique tough-cam, head over to our Olympus TG-870 Preview.