Rock-hard camera

The Olympus Stylus Tough TG-3 is a highly competent compact camera that can withstand the rigors of an adventurer with an interest in photography.

The camera has a very durable design without sacrificing size, weight or image quality. The TG-3 is waterproof down to 15m, can be dropped on a concrete floor from a height of 2 meters and survives for a long time in -10 degrees of cold. It is dustproof and can even be jumped on.

Buttons and controls have been further refined from previous models and you can easily start the camera and take pictures with your ski gloves on. Some functions can even be set by tapping the camera on the helmet or turning it on with your hand.

The image sensor is a 1/2.3-inch type with a back-illuminated CMOS chip and provides 16 megapixels. Together with a TruePic VII image processor, you get a sensitivity of ISO 100 to 6,400 equivalents and you can take five full-resolution images per second in five seconds.

The camera has a 4x optical zoom lens with a focal length from 25 to 100 mm with a maximum aperture of f/2.0 at wide angle and f/4.9 at telephoto. There is also a digital zoom if you need more telephoto.

The fun microscope macro function allows you to take extreme close-ups as close as 1 centimeter. An innovative "ring flash" is also available as an accessory for macro photography. To avoid shaking, a mechanical image stabilization function is available.

In addition to GPS, the camera also has Wi-Fi, allowing you to quickly and easily share images with your phone or tablet. You can also watch your photo subjects live and make certain settings from the app available for IOS, Android and Windows Phone.

You can tag your images with GPS coordinates but also add information from an electronic compass and a manometer. The latter may seem a bit extreme but in fact it also warns you if you are approaching the maximum depth of what the camera can handle when diving.

The camera has a variety of programs for composition and format and can of course take 1080p full HD movies even in slow motion. Images and movies are stored on SD cards where SDHC and SDXC are preferred. Connect the camera to your TV with type-D Micro HDMI or to your computer with USB 2.0.

All these features mean that the battery life is shorter than other cameras but you can probably take 300 pictures before you can easily switch to a small spare battery. Although image transfer can now be done wirelessly or via USB 2.0, you could consider upgrading to USB 3.0.

There are several interesting accessories to add, with detachable fish-eye and telephoto lenses being an eyebrow-raiser, as they are very unusual for a compact camera.

Of course, this camera does not replace a system camera. But for those who want a durable, simple and fast camera that is somewhat expandable and above all takes significantly better pictures than many other compact cameras or the mobile phone, it is excellent.

Being able to have such a competent camera dangling from your climbing harness or ski jacket and being able to take it out safely in pouring rain without damage makes it unique.