Review: Olympus TG-610 Tough Digital Camera
By Branko Miletic
Olympus has just launched its Quicksilver-branded TG-610 tough series of digital cameras- giving this brand a real Australian outdoorsy flavour.
The TG-610 is a tough little nut and is made for those that live and play in the more rugged end of life’s spectrum.
The Quicksilver branding is designed to further underline the camera’s waterproof attributes, and at the same time also give more credence to the outdoor appeal of this newest of digital snappers from Olympus.
So in terms of the real standout attributes, the TG-610 features:
- Waterproof to 5m, shockproof to 1.5m and even freeze-proof down to – 10°Celsius.
- Wireless uploading of images to any website or computer.
- Magic Filters for artistic effects in still images and/or movies, which can be done directly in-situ on the camera.
- HD Movie & HDMI Control – high-definition video for broadcast-quality movies.
- 3D Photo Mode which captures two shots of a scene from two different angles to create still photos that can be viewed in 3D mode (on a 3D-capable TV of course!).
The camera also has 14 megapixels of resolution, which is respectable in anyone’s book and uses 5 x wide-angle optical zoom lenses that at the same time employs dual image stabilisation- so no worries when jumping off the side of a cliff- the shots from the TG-610 should come out looking just fine.
Using the camera though was not as straight forward as using other digital cameras. Why? Well, a lot of the buttons on the Olympus TG-610 look like something out of the late 90s- I know this is supposed to be a rugged camera, but some of the buttons were a bit retro.
The camera itself was easy to use- in fact I gave it to me 6-year old first and she worked out how to turn the camera on, take pictures and view the previous shot with relative ease.
Now I also didn’t try out the tough specs- because if something goes wrong, I am liable for the camera, however let me say that all tough digital cameras have to pass certain MIL or US military specs and as such, the TG-610 should be OK for the young and uber-active.
So my only gripe were the clunky buttons and perhaps also the late-90s styling – retro may be in but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. All-in-all, the Olympus TG-610 is an easy to use solid little performer in an ever-increasing field.
Pros: tough, easy to use and good picture output
Cons: clunky buttons and a style-free design
3.5 out of 5 Shacks
