Scuba Diving – September 2019

Ergonomics

Video Quality

Battery Life

SPECS

»Depth

100 feet

» 4K Frame Rates

30

» FHD Frame Rates

60, 30

» Image Sensor

8 MP

» Released

June 2016

SCORES

/ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 / 29

OLYMPUS
TOUGH TG-TRACKER

MSRP $349.99; no housing required
CONTACT getolympus.com

Testers loved this compact, candy-colored
camera for its straightforward controls,
awarding it top score for intuitive operation.
“Simple and clear,” one diver said of the logi-
cal menu organization and well-labeled
buttons. Divers were also fans of the 1.5-
inch fl ip-out display when it came to fram-
ing shots or choosing settings. “Screen is
crystal-clear,” one diver commented. “Kind
of retro, but would never buy this without it,”
said another. With no housing to fi nagle—the
Tracker is waterproof on its own down to 100
feet—setup couldn’t be simpler. The cam-
corderlike design is very compact, but leaves
little real estate for the controls; divers were
not fans of the tiny, cramped buttons. “But-
tons really small,” one diver observed. That
made it hard to change modes or settings
quickly, especially for divers wearing thick
gloves. Even when using the included (and
very good) pistol grip, divers complained
about the awkward two- handed operation
and that the record button was too far from
their thumbs. The camera has an underwa-
ter white-balance mode that automatically
triggers when it is submerged. Upon review-
ing the video, testers were pretty impressed
with the result, which preserved red and
yellow hues both in ambient conditions and
when used with an external video light. “Good
color,” one tester noted. “Looks champion,”
another said. Testers rated the footage as
very good for overall quality, but it suffered in
clarity, where it ranked as just good. “Not very
sharp” and “Footage seems a little soft” were
typical tester comments. The Tracker’s sim-
ple operation, durability and impressive bat-
tery life—more than three hours in our test—
make it an attractive option for documenting
long trips above or below the water.

»Ease of setup: How easy is
it to prepare the camera for
diving?
»Ergonomics of operation:
How accessible are the con-
trols? How comfortable is the
camera to hold and operate?
» Intuitive operation: Do the
camera’s menus and controls

make sense? Is it operating in

a way that easily allows you to

accomplish what you are try-

ing to do?

»Ease of capture: How well

can you tell what it is you are

shooting, and how easily can

you frame and record the

shots you want to capture?

»Special features: Does this

camera have any features

that make capturing media

easier?

Footage Comparison Testing

Test divers evaluated the

footage captured by the cam-

eras during ergonomic test-

ing and rated each camera’s

footage in the following cate-

gories, assigning a score from

5 (excellent) to 1 (poor), and

recorded observations and

comments about the quality

of the unedited media—which

had no color correction,

Cont’d on pg. 30 >>