Any way to shoot up the shutter speed on TG4/TG3?

[nudibranco]

I think this camera has a nice potential especially for macro. But I find it too limiting in the fact that it offers only manual setting on the Aperture mode and not on the Shutter speed. For underwater I would think it is more valuable to manually set the speed rather than the diaphragm especially with a strobe...

I am used to DSLRs and I also have a nice OM-5 with all sorts of strobes and accessories and so I am used to set all the best possible options for UW shooting.

So i discovered the TG4 is a great small compact option (my partner is using one). But UW is hard to make it do what you want. I tried various methods to trick into higher shutter speed (while keeping diaphragm fully open or partially fully open in A mode):
1) larger AEL exposure setting (rather than SPOT) to let more light come into the sensor and hopefully choose faster speed (especially looking toward the sun and the surface)
2) setting up to -2 diaphragms on the exposure compensation while using the largest diaphragm setting on the A mode
3) shooting strong video lighting to trick it into "too much light!"
4) increase slightly ISO setting

Frankly I never get a speed over 1/100 and often get 1/30 to 1/60....on the average with horrible results in quick moving shots... Usually I always shoot a minimum of 1/160th or faster with my large rig...

Any ideas on making this little nice camera do what I want???? (and screams to Olympus for not understanding this...!)

Andrea

 

[Skeptic14]

I shoot with a tg-4 setup and agree that it would be nice to have a shutter priority; the lack of manual control is probably one of this camera's biggest weaknesses. That said, I regularly get shutter speeds of 1/200, occasionally 1/320, and 1/100 is pretty normal. Shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/80 aren't uncommon when I'm deep in low light situations though.

What mode do you shoot in typically? I've had good success with macro mode with good subject proximity and getting high shutter speeds.

 

[nudibranco]

usually 90% of the time in A mode and some microscope mode...
I realized I had most shots in SPOT mode setting (I use that on my large system).
Probably by setting to the larger Exposure sensing (larger) it might think more light coming in and use a faster speed...

 

[snapper5]

I too find the lack of ability to set shutter speed incredibly frustrating with this camera. I used to leave the ISO on auto but although this does increase the shutter speed if you shoot on f2.8 in A mode, the quality of images at anything over ISO400 is abysmal, so now I'm back to limiting it to ISO400. In an age where my Nikon D5 (I run a UK PR photo agency for my day job), can shoot at ISO10,000+ and still produce exceptional quality images, Olympus must have the option of putting a higher quality sensor in the TG-5. We. can only hope.

 

[KeithG]

have you experimented with using "sport" mode?

For auto cameras this gives a hint that you will need fast shutter speeds in order to freeze the action.

 

[bluespotted]

have you experimented with using "sport" mode?

For auto cameras this gives a hint that you will need fast shutter speeds in order to freeze the action.

Having the same issue. In sports mode you cannot set the white balance to UW.

 

[tursiops]

Having the same issue. In sports mode you cannot set the white balance to UW.

Shoot RAW. Correct WB in post.

 

[Chris Ross]

What conditions are you shooting under? My daughter has a TG-4 in the olympus housing and in clear tropical waters gets reasonable shutter speeds at f2.8 and ISO200. This is the Exif:

Caption OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Make OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Model TG-4
Software Version 1.0
Exposure Time 0.0031s (1/320)
Aperture ƒ/2.8
Exposure aperture priority (semi-auto)
ISO equivalent 200
Exposure Bias none
Metering Mode Matrix
Flash Fired No (enforced)
Focal Length 4.5mm 25mm=35mm equivalent
Color Space sRGB
FocalPlaneXRes 7513.451110839844
FocalPlaneUnits 10
White Balance Manual
Focal Length (35mm) 25
Date 2017-07-24 13:37:45 +0000
Viewing Direction 256° (magnetic north)

Conditions were about 10m depth in clear tropical waters.