Olympus TG-860 makes subtle, substantial improvements, now features WiFI/GPS connectivity
posted Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 1:58 AM EDT
Olympus has officially announced the TG–860. A successor to the company’s ruggedized TG–850, the TG–860 keeps an almost identical design alongside similar specs, but adds a fair share of incremental improvements over its predecessor.
The Olympus TG–860 features the same design of the TG–850, including the 180-degree articulating screen — the first of its kind in a rugged point-and-shoot. Aesthetically, the only difference you’ll find is the addition of a new function button that can be customized to control designated settings (and the movie record button can now also be customized).
The TG–860 keeps the same lens, sensor and processor setup as the TG–850: a 21–105mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-5.7 lens, 1/2.3-inch type, 16-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor and a TruePic VII-branded image processor.
As for the adventurous side of things, the TG–860 improves upon its its waterproofing, bumping its depth capability to 50 feet (15m), a 17 foot (5m) increase over the TG–850’s 33 feet (10m). The remaining durability features stay consistent with its predecessor: it’s shockproof from 7 feet (2.1m), crushproof up to 220 pounds (100kgf), freezeproof down to 14° F (–10°C) and dustproof.
The most notable addition to the TG–860 is the addition of WiFi and GPS connectivity. As with most connected cameras, the WiFi connectivity will allow you to easily pair the camera with smartphones via a dedicated iOS and Android app. The app can remotely control the settings of the camera, transfer images and even let you use your phone as a liveview device. The GPS connectivity allows you to track your adventures and include the location metadata in the image files.
Video capabilities of the TG–860 remain largely unchanged, with the only differentiator being a new Sportscam feature aimed at consumers who plan to use the TG–860 as an action cam.
In addition to the camera, Olympus unveiled four new accessories that are sold separately: an underwater case that expands the TG–860’s underwater capabilities down to 147 feet (45m), an underwater flash to enable true underwater flash photography, a silicon jacket for protecting the camera from scratches on land and a sports case that allows the camera to be easily attached to a backpack or belt.
Priced at USD$280, the Olympus TG–860 is set to ship in April of 2015 three different colors: black, orange and white. To take a thorough look at what changes have been made, you can head on over to our first look of the Olympus TG–860.
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