We have 1 red camera in stock still, plenty of housings. We should see more cameras in about 10 days.
Jack
TG-6
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We have 1 red camera in stock still, plenty of housings. We should see more cameras in about 10 days.
Jack
deeper thoughts
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Thnx i am goin to shoot them an email
I just bought a TG-6 & PT-059 last week. It started as a bit of an ordeal, but ended up very fine. I started buying the camera/housing from Amazon (yea, I know) due to being a LOT cheaper than other Canadian sites. I pre-bought but they said "released on Friday" (June 28). Well, on June 28 I got the email "delivery by Aug 15-Sep15". WHAT??? Maybe it will be sooner if they get stock, but still...
So started checking around. Long story short, my "go to" camera place (Vistek Calgary) had the camera showing "in stock" on July 4, so I phoned. The fellow actually went to the back room and brought out a black TG-6, red TG-6 and housing. I bought the red camera & housing then and had them shipped. It ended up only costing $23 more than Amazon (no, they won't match Amazon).
It came last week and I spent the week playing with it. It's really nice, but the manual is kinda junk. For example, the manual does not tell you the ONLY way to get 1cm focus in Aperature mode with close-up turned on is if you zoom to 1.2. Leave zoom at 1.0 and you only get 3" or so. (I verified this many times).
Also, I was a bit disappointed to see only 3 "actual" aperatures as has been mentioned before in this thread - f2, f2.8 and f8. It does change if you zoom, but I tend not to zoom underwater.
Thursday I put the housing in my 2ft long "submersion tube" with soft weights (empty housing) and let it sit for 6 hours. No leaks.
Today I put it all together, and went diving. Sadly, only 2ft visibiltiy and tons of snot in the water, but I was able to get some very fine photos anyway. I used Aperature mode, minimum shutter 1/125, max ISO 800 (so the flash will work more, but that's what flashes are for). I liked the photos and all had a nice dark background, which is what I want when doing macro shots.
I also was using only on-camera flash as I haven't decided what I want to do for external strobe yet (probably Inon S2000). I used a SOLA1200 on my left hand as dive light & video light, and it works really well.
Before I limited the max ISO to 800, I had it at over 6400 and the shots were extremely grainy, as expected.
I put the housing on a spare aluminum tray I have, with only left-hand ball grip. That lets me put my standard bungee lanyard & clip so I can stow the camera when I want. It was really easy to use underwater, and a lot of fun in spite of the horrid visibility.
-R
So started checking around. Long story short, my "go to" camera place (Vistek Calgary) had the camera showing "in stock" on July 4, so I phoned. The fellow actually went to the back room and brought out a black TG-6, red TG-6 and housing. I bought the red camera & housing then and had them shipped. It ended up only costing $23 more than Amazon (no, they won't match Amazon).
It came last week and I spent the week playing with it. It's really nice, but the manual is kinda junk. For example, the manual does not tell you the ONLY way to get 1cm focus in Aperature mode with close-up turned on is if you zoom to 1.2. Leave zoom at 1.0 and you only get 3" or so. (I verified this many times).
Also, I was a bit disappointed to see only 3 "actual" aperatures as has been mentioned before in this thread - f2, f2.8 and f8. It does change if you zoom, but I tend not to zoom underwater.
Thursday I put the housing in my 2ft long "submersion tube" with soft weights (empty housing) and let it sit for 6 hours. No leaks.
Today I put it all together, and went diving. Sadly, only 2ft visibiltiy and tons of snot in the water, but I was able to get some very fine photos anyway. I used Aperature mode, minimum shutter 1/125, max ISO 800 (so the flash will work more, but that's what flashes are for). I liked the photos and all had a nice dark background, which is what I want when doing macro shots.
I also was using only on-camera flash as I haven't decided what I want to do for external strobe yet (probably Inon S2000). I used a SOLA1200 on my left hand as dive light & video light, and it works really well.
Before I limited the max ISO to 800, I had it at over 6400 and the shots were extremely grainy, as expected.
I put the housing on a spare aluminum tray I have, with only left-hand ball grip. That lets me put my standard bungee lanyard & clip so I can stow the camera when I want. It was really easy to use underwater, and a lot of fun in spite of the horrid visibility.
-R
mattleach
Contributor
Just received my TG-6 from Optical Ocean today. Replacing my TG-4, looking forward to getting out and diving with it.
Here is my rig all set to go diving this morning...
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Still waiting on my backscatter order
Getting close to canceling and buying from someplace else
Getting close to canceling and buying from someplace else
deeper thoughts
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Just canceled the order
Will reconsider whether the upgrade is worth from the 5 to the 6
Will reconsider whether the upgrade is worth from the 5 to the 6
Yea, I cancelled my original Amazon order because the shipping dates were so 'iffy'. Likewise I called the local UW camera place and they could only say "maybe in stock next week". I called the camera store (in Calgary) and the fellow got one from the back room and was holding it when I placed my order. It shipped that day.
I've never owned an Olympus camera before (I wanted one when they released their first 35mm film camera decades ago but was a student with no money). This is my first Olympus, and I dove it two days ago. I was quite impressed with the photos it took underwater, even just using the on-camera flash. The housing is nice and I love being able to focus to 1cm in Aperature mode (no mode dial shifting), which is apparently the big photo change from the TG-5 to the TG-6.
I'd recommend calling around. If you want the Olympus housing (or you can use the PT-058 so they say), then a camera store can get both easily. The one nice benefit getting housing and camera from Olympus.
Mike1967
Contributor
Hey all
Just wondering what's the difference between the Olympus and Seafrog housings, is the Oly really worth twice the price?
Cheers, Mike
Just wondering what's the difference between the Olympus and Seafrog housings, is the Oly really worth twice the price?
Cheers, Mike
Not twice the price here. Converting $UDS to $CDN now the Seafrog is $241CDN, the Olympus housing is $329 CDN. Roughly 30% less.
The Olympus housing is for the TG-6, the Seafrog is TG-5 at present. Probably the same, but still...
Also, while both housings are probably made in Asia, the Olympus housing is backed by Olympus (and the local camera store that sold it). The Seafrog is backed by... Seafrog. I doubt I'd get the same service should I have an issue with the seafrog housing in a year or so.
As to actual differences, the Seafrog appears to latch at the shutter end, while the Olympus housing latches on the other end. Otherwise they look remarkably alike. The Seafrog also has a vacuum port, which the Olympus does not.
There is only one sliding lock on the Seafrog latch. The Olympus has a sliding latch AND a secondary lock. (This in addition to turning the locking mechanism to open once unlocked).
The Seafrog housing says in it's specs "both 52 AND 67mm lens thread" but I see no evidence of this on a close-up photo of the housing. I see only 52mm thread, same as the Olympus. It does not come with an adapter ring, so I don't see how the Seafrog can make that claim. (it even clearly says "52mm" on the red aluminum lens opening ring in the photo).
Since I already bought the Olympus PT-059 (for the TG-6) and have one dive on it already, I would stick with the Olympus housing.
The Olympus housing is for the TG-6, the Seafrog is TG-5 at present. Probably the same, but still...
Also, while both housings are probably made in Asia, the Olympus housing is backed by Olympus (and the local camera store that sold it). The Seafrog is backed by... Seafrog. I doubt I'd get the same service should I have an issue with the seafrog housing in a year or so.
As to actual differences, the Seafrog appears to latch at the shutter end, while the Olympus housing latches on the other end. Otherwise they look remarkably alike. The Seafrog also has a vacuum port, which the Olympus does not.
There is only one sliding lock on the Seafrog latch. The Olympus has a sliding latch AND a secondary lock. (This in addition to turning the locking mechanism to open once unlocked).
The Seafrog housing says in it's specs "both 52 AND 67mm lens thread" but I see no evidence of this on a close-up photo of the housing. I see only 52mm thread, same as the Olympus. It does not come with an adapter ring, so I don't see how the Seafrog can make that claim. (it even clearly says "52mm" on the red aluminum lens opening ring in the photo).
Since I already bought the Olympus PT-059 (for the TG-6) and have one dive on it already, I would stick with the Olympus housing.
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