Made the Jump from GoPro to TG-5: Welcoming Any Advice

[coralcruiser]

I have the tg-5 and the pt-058 housing I have used it in the warm waters of Mexico at 80+ degrees and I use it all the time here in Alaska in temps down to 39 degrees , so I have had it in a wide range of temperatures. I have never once had any fog inside the housing and I don't use the packet, although I did once have a hair on the oring and partially flooded it. Minus that I take it out and charge it up at night and leave the housing open to fully dry out before placing it back into the housing before the dive. As far as turning it on and off I usually shut it down after I take the pictures, it starts back up pretty fast almost as fast as if you let it go to sleep on its own. I easily get 3 dives on a battery and could get more even in the cold. it.

I have never been able to get three dives on the same battery with my tg-4 and think it uses the same one as the tg-5. I keep it on and let it go to sleep while diving so wonder if that makes a difference. I do have it set to go to sleep on the shortest time setting though.

 

[krukster86]

I have been able to squeeze out 3 dives on 1 battery. I just limited my photo taking to a few short bursts of something I really wanted to take photos of, and letting it go to sleep vs turning it off manually. By the end of the third dive, the battery warning was flashing.

 

[Amy B-G]

Here is an imgur link to an album of some of my best photos that I took on my 6 day trip. After editing, I can understand the splurge for a good underwater flash. Since I only go on a dive vacation 1-2 times a year, it is tough for me to justify it...and for my wife to approve!

Olympus TG-5

What lens/port are you using for the over/unders?

 

[krukster86]

What lens/port are you using for the over/unders?

No special lens or port. Just the regular TG-5 in an ikelite housing. (Plus some patience and a lot of "throw away" shots that didn't work)

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Looking at picking up a TG-5 myself since my E-PM1 seems to have bit the dust and I have Guadalupe Island coming up in a month. I'm somewhat gunshy about shelling out for a full mirrorless or DSLR rig given how King Neptune loves gear sacrifices. Is it that much of a capability drop-off? At 12 MP the resolution is close to what my E-PM1 could produce and matches the Canon G15 that a friend of mine has managed to get some killer shots with.

 

[krukster86]

This is my first underwater camera system, so take what I say with a grain of salt:

In my opinion, the microscope mode of the TG-5 is where it shines. No need for purchasing a $$$ macro lens, dome port, or diopters. Regarding your comparison to older cameras, great shots are taken with mastery of lighting. On land, I can take beautiful shots with an old consumer DSLR and a couple of speedlites with remote triggers and light modifiers. I am 100% sure that the same can be applied underwater. Have you looked at refurb E-PM1s? I agree that shelling out for a new system is always more money than you originally anticipate.

 

[krukster86]

This may be a basic question, but I am interested in any opinions:

In my inaugural dive trip with this camera, anytime I shot a subject wide from far away (like the reef sharks), the video light I used was useless, and I had to do a lot of color correction and playing with Lightroom sliders to remove the washed out blues and help the subject "pop".

I have used red filters plenty of times with gopro video, but not for underwater photography. I also haven't really seen anyone else on my dive trips with a red filter for their camera rig. I understand that I will lose almost 1 stop of light, and I need to be shooting a subject that is well illuminated by natural light (my back to the sun). I am curious if a wet red-filter for my Ikelite housing is an option worth exploring.

I don't think I am ready for a flash strobe system...and neither is my wallet

 

[AngryMoth]

Does anyone have any tips for doing manual white balance with the TG5? I've taken down some white plastic and tried setting it at various depths but the images come out waaaay too red so I have been forced to stick to the underwater option. I struggled to get any sunlight in the calibration images so what the sample appeared quite grey, does that make a difference?

 

[Roger Hobden]

I don't think I am ready for a flash strobe system...and neither is my wallet

The dedicated strobe costs nearly as much as the camera itself.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

One of my dive buddies is big into underwater video. He has zip tied a piece of white plastic to the top of one of his fins.