Have TG-6, should I switch from DSLR and dive it?

[Benthos]

I got a TG-6 for whitewater kayaking and just noticed there's kinda a cult following for diving them.

I dive a Nikon D90 DSLR and really dislike the size. Long swims, rough, surgy, cold water. I'd really like something small and easier to swim.

I used to LOVE my old Sea&Sea MMIIex. It was compact and you could swap lenses on 1 dive. Macro to 16mm fisheye. And the pics were great.

Is the the TG-6 worth building out? Are the wet lenses gimmicky or do they work. Do they make an adapter to use the Sea&Sea lenses on the new Oly housings?

Or is the DSLR much better, the Olympus just is as unwieldly and not worth it if I already have a DSLR?

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[tursiops]

I have an Olympus EM10 in a Nauticam housing with two strobes, three lenses/ports, and a WWL-1 wet wideangle. I also have a TG-5/PT-059 with a single MF-1 strobe and a wet-wideangle lens (Backscatter M52).

Every dive trip is a tough decision; I can do 90-95% of what I want to do with the TG-5. I'm happy using it, and only miss manual control, super-side stuff, and better viewing/focussing capability.

 

[hedonist222]

Looks like you answered your own question.

I went from a tg6 to a full range dslr because I found the Olympus to be throttled in terms of quality and depth.

 

[Benthos]

Does anyone know if the sea&sea lenses will fit an Olympus TG housing?

 

[tursiops]

Does anyone know if the sea&sea lenses will fit an Olympus TG housing?

Which Sea&Sea lenses are you talking about?
See also: Best Wide Angle Wet Lenses

 

[Ardy]

Looks like you answered your own question.

I went from a tg6 to a full range dslr because I found the Olympus to be throttled in terms of quality and depth.

That's interesting, did you go to Ni-Con or an Oly? Just got back from macro diving in Bali and there were 2 very good photographers who dumped, in one case a Canon DSLR and the other a Nikon to go to Oly DSLR's due to size and happy with the quality and ease of use v mirrored cameras.

The last time I was there, photographers at my amateur level had bought or planning to buy TG6's

 

[Ardy]

I got a TG-6 for whitewater kayaking and just noticed there's kinda a cult following for diving them.

I dive a Nikon D90 DSLR and really dislike the size. Long swims, rough, surgy, cold water. I'd really like something small and easier to swim.

I used to LOVE my old Sea&Sea MMIIex. It was compact and you could swap lenses on 1 dive. Macro to 16mm fisheye. And the pics were great.

Is the the TG-6 worth building out? Are the wet lenses gimmicky or do they work. Do they make an adapter to use the Sea&Sea lenses on the new Oly housings?

Or is the DSLR much better, the Olympus just is as unwieldly and not worth it if I already have a DSLR?

Any input would be appreciated!

A couple of thoughts while I don't have a TG6 BUT I am thinking about it. The divers I have spoken to claim they can get as good shots (mostly macro) as they could with an Oly DSLR. My reluctance is I like to use manual and as TG6 doesn't have that I won't jump. I read somewhere that the TG7 is planned to have a manual mode. don't know if that's true. Many here will know the answer.

 

[hedonist222]

That's interesting, did you go to Ni-Con or an Oly? Just got back from macro diving in Bali and there were 2 very good photographers who dumped, in one case a Canon DSLR and the other a Nikon to go to Oly DSLR's due to size and happy with the quality and ease of use v mirrored cameras.

The last time I was there, photographers at my amateur level had bought or planning to buy TG6's

I got a housing for my 13 year old full frame Canon 5d mkii.

tg6 (edited)

dslr (raw and unedited)

 

[Ardy]

Hi, good shots but I must say I have seen similar and better from good TG6 photographers.
I read an article 40 years ago, the interviewer had an Oly half frame film camera and whilst he was interviewing a very old French famous photographer, the old guy asked if he could try the camera out and immediately just shot off the whole film. The interviewer said they were all excellent photographs and there were no obvious subjects.

 

[FedeQ]

It has a tiny sensor and no manual mode, and the autofocus is just ok. it can be infuriating. But is super fun to use, you can get good results, a strobe and a wet wide angle lens can do wonders. I have the Backscatter m52 wet wide and i love it. Macro is amazing.