Olympus TG-3 arrived

[DaveinMpls]

The Olympus Tough TG-3 camera just arrived and the battery is charged. I tried a few closeups using the stacking function. The manual gives remarkably little information.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_secti ... .asp?id=98

I shot a few images of a ruler at an acute angle sitting on a sheet of medium sandpaper using a cheap little tripod.

Initial thoughts:
1. Single photos taken in Custom mode at highest resolution and "Fine" setting are about 8 MB in size at 4608x3456 pixels (16 MP) with very shallow depth of focus at closest setting and with perhaps soft corners, possibly due to curvature of field (taken at full optical zoom (100mm equivalent))
2. The in-camera "Focus Stacking" (symbol is a ladybug) function is a setting across the top of the screen in "Microscope" (symbol is a stylized microscope) mode
3. Using the in-camera stacking setting, a single photo at center of focus is saved with the stacked image, but both are about 3.6 MB at a resolution of 3200x2400 pixels (8MP). I do not believe there is a way to increase the size of the images taken in the "Microscope" mode
4. The in-camera stacked image frames are captured in less than a second.
5. In the next to last Menu option on the last Menu page, you can select "Focus BKT Setting" but choosing 10, 20 or 30 frames does not appear to alter the number captured for an in-camera stacked image in the "Microscope" mode using the "Focus Stacking" setting, but do affect the images taken in the "Focus BKT" setting
7. In the same "Menu": "Focus BKT Setting" you can choose "Focus Range" as Narrow, Normal or Wide. These appear to function only in the "Microscope": "Focus BKT" setting
6. As expected, the depth of focus increases dramatically for the in-camera stacked images. The single image has about three 1/10 mm marks in focus compared to about 26 1/10 mm marks in the stacked images from my crude test. Orange-blue longitudinal CA is apparent in the out of focus areas of the stacked image

Obvious questions:
Does the camera capture images for out of camera stacking at the higher 16 MB file size?

Nope - 8 MB only. The TG-2 allows single images in the "Super Macro" (symbol is a flower and small "s") mode at 12 MP, but lacks focus stacking features entirely

Do the "Focus BKT" image stacks have better quality when stacked in a computer?

It will take a few days of testing to determine this, because there are options for 10, 20 or 30 images taken with Small, Standard or Wide focus steps. The camera slows down dramatically after taking the first dozen images, even with a high-speed SD card. A tripod is strongly recommended in this mode. It is raining hard, so field tests will have to wait

Also Note: The circular LED light guide (LG-1) which fits around the lens transmits lights from the focus-assist LED and appears so dim as to be nearly useless at reasonable ISO settings, even at VERY close distances. It is designed specifically so you cannot use it with the onboard flash. Bummer.


I still have TONS to learn about the camera and am not prepared to upload any images yet. I will add updates as I learn more.

Cheers,
Dave in Mpls

Edit 1:
1. It is clear that single frames and stacked images in the "Microscope" mode are not only lower resolution but have large amounts of lateral CA compared to single images in 16 MP "Aperture" mode
2. Aperture is changed by a neutral density filters, because resolution is unchanged switching from f4.8, f6.3 or f18 when zoomed in (100mm equivalent) when taking closeup images
3. The corner resolution of single frame 16 MP closeups at 100mm equivalent is better than I expected
4. I would like to capture higher quality images for stacking in the computer using 16 MP modes, locking focus (by pressing the "OK" button), and moving the camera while in continuous shooting mode, but the instruction book says that focus lock is availabe only in "Microscope" (low resolution), or the "Screen" modes: "Snapshot", "Wide1" or "Underwater Macro"

[Yousef Alhabshi]

Thank you for your detailed review.. much appreciated. I was waiting for someone to do some tests on this camera.. & by seeing your inputs, I can assure that you're the best guy to do so

Can't wait to see your results