More of the Olympus TOUGH TG-820 Review

By Chuck Hajdu

The Olympus TOUGH TG-820 iHS camera that we're  reviewing is available in black, silver, red and blue colors and really looks great. It has a very solid feel that instills confidence that it really is tough.
The tough capabilities of this 12MP sensor camera are:

· Waterproof to 3 feet

· Shockproof fro 6.6 feet

· Freezeproof  down to 14 Degrees F

What’s in the box:

· TG-820 iHS Digital Camera

· USB Cable & Charger (F-2AC)

· Instruction Manual & Software CD

· Audio/Video Cable

· Wrist Strap

· Lithium-Ion Battery (LI-50B)

· Warranty Card

The basic specifications of the TG-820 are very impressive for a camera with it’s tough attributes:
CMOS: 12 Megapixel - CMOS, 1/2.3 size
Lens: 5.0-25.0mm (28-140mmequivalent in 35mm photography)
Zoom: 5X Optical, 4X Digital
Aperture: f3.9 (W) - 5.9 (T)
Shutter: Auto: 1/4-1/2000 (Night Scene: up to 4 Sec)
Storage: 46.8MB Internal, SD/SDHC/SDHC cards

Our first impression of the TG-820 was that it is a well designed, solidly built product. It has a much more solid feel that many of the competing products we’ve tested, especially the Pentax Optio W90 which felt much cheaper. One of the first things you’ll notice is that Olympus uses a retractable lens cover rather than just using a hardened piece of glass to protect the lens. We’re not sure how fine, blowing dust and sand will affect the cover so that may be something users in those environments need to be aware of.

The access door that you have to open to get access to the battery slot, the SD card slot and the HDMI and charging slots is very impressive. Unlike other designs we’ve seen on other cameras,  it requires the user to move two different release tabs, one horizontal and one vertical, in order to unlock the door. You have to unlock the horizontal “safety” tab in order to be able to move the vertical Lock/Unlock tab. Nothing can guarantee total safety but this is as close to fool-proof as any system we’ve ever seen. It should keep you from accidentally opening up the door while you’re underwater or in a bad weather situation.

The wrist strap that comes with the TG-820 is typical of the ones you will find supplied with most point-and-shoot cameras. It’s not what we have come to expect with tough cameras. The carabineer straps that Pentax uses are much better and we wish Olympus would switch to that style!