Olympus Stylus TG-2 review

Photo quality should be the TG2’s strongest point, but while it’s by no means bad, it didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Well-lit scenes looked sharp and vibrant, but subtle textures were smeared by noise reduction. It’s by no means disastrous – and it’s a common problem for compact cameras – but we’d hoped for better from this 12-megapixel back-illuminated sensor. The Canon PowerShot D20 http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/digital-cameras/1296115/canon-powershot-d20 (see Shopper 301) gave better results in bright conditions. We also encountered problems with blooming around bright objects in the frame, although this may have been down to oily fingerprints on the window in front of a lens – a common problem for waterproof cameras that don’t have a lens cap.

There’s plenty of sharp detail and vibrant colour in this shot

This one is less successful, with a smudged appearance to the grass

There’s a strange, ethereal glow around these flowers, possibly caused by dirt on the lens

The bright lens came in useful in low light, with its f/2 aperture capturing almost four times as much light as the Canon D20’s f/3.9 lens. That’s only when both cameras were set to the wide-angle end of their zooms, though. The advantage was lost as we zoomed in, with the TG-2’s f/4.9 maximum aperture slightly darker than the D20’s f/4.8. Our indoor test shots were generally up to scratch, though, with presentable results up to ISO 800 letting us shoot in ambient sunlight without having to resort to the flash.

The wide-aperture lens helps to keep the ISO speed down in low light, giving smooth, noise-free skin tones in this shot

There’s a fair amount of smeary noise reduction at ISO 800, but this is nevertheless an excellent result

We didn’t have an opportunity to take the TG-2 for a dip in the sea, but we’d anticipate that the f/2 lens should come in useful in gloomy submarine environments. The Canon PowerShot D20 delivered better image quality in bright light, though, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has a superior video mode, more reliable GPS and lots of Wi-Fi functions. None of them is a runaway winner, so we’ll have to leave you to pick your favourite.