Small Olympus can take hard knocks

NEED A CAMERA to capture your outdoor adventures that can withstand a whole lot of rough-and-tumble abuse?
Olympus has come up with a compact action camera that is built to keep snapping no matter what you throw at it. 
The Stylus TG-Tracker can keep shooting good quality 4K video clips even if you drop it from a height of more than 2 metres. It’s crush-proof and can stand a pressure of 100kgf (kilogramme force) and will keep working in freezing temperatures to minus 10 degrees Celsius. 
As well, it will let you take that memorable picture under water and keep shooting to a depth of 30 metres without the need for an accessory housing.
Submerging the TG-Tracker to record the fun moment of your scuba or snorkeling trip is made easier by an underwater detector that automatically optimises white balance and other camera settings when it is used below a depth of half a metre.
It also has a Field Sensor System that uses five sensors for data-augmented video recordings that simultaneously show you where you are on a map or altitude/depth position, using the Olympus Image Track app.
The Field Sensor System simultaneously records GPS, compass, barometer (altitude/depth), accelerometer and thermometer data to provide an enhanced movie-plus-data playback experience in Full HD resolution on your smartphone or tablet. 
You can also use the camera as a pure data recorder in its log-only mode without having to turn on the camera. 
To capture that long, horizontal image, the camera comes with an extreme wide-angle lens that captures a 204-degree field of view. But the view is reduced to 161 degree when you turn on the camera’s built-in image stabilisation (IS) system. The view also drops to 94 degrees when you use it under water without IS turned on and 84 degrees when the IS switched on.
The battery allows you to record 4K movie clips for up to 90 minutes, although the Li-ion battery is designed to be easily replaceable so you can buy extra batteries for a long trip.
To record videos in low-light environments such as underwater, the camera has a LED flashlight above the lens with two brightness levels – 30 lumens for recording object in the one-metre range and 60 lumens for recording objects at 3.5-metres. The 30 lumen brightness can last about 30 minutes while the 60 lumens will light up the subject for just 60 seconds.
The camera uses a fast lens with a constant maximum aperture of f/2.0 and its equivalent focal length is 13.9m with fixed focus that works from 0.2 metres to infinity.
Apart from shooting 4K video at 30 frames per second, the TG-Tracker is also capable of shooting 1080p video at 60/30 fps, 720p video at 240 fps and 480p clips at 240 fps. It also captures still image at 8 megapixel resolution.
It comes with 1.5-inch tilt-out LCD display and uses a microSD card for recording video. Since it is designed for recording 4K clips, you it is advisable to go for a fast UHS-I format card with huge capacity.
The TG-Tracker is light and compact, at only 35 x 56.5 x 93.2mm and weighs 180 grams. It comes with a foldable grip for mounting the camera and holding, to minimise shaking. It also comes with a mount converter that allows it to be used with a third-party accessory.
I tested it by holding the camera in my non-dominant left hand using the holding stick and rode my bicycle to the front of my soi for about 10 minutes. It wasn’t difficult holding the camera because it is light and the stick was designed with a comfortable grip.
I found that the five-axis Image Stabilization was effective, giving a sharp, clear picture. The video became shaky sometimes when my hand swayed or when my bike ran over a bump – which I think is normal for an action cam.
The camera came with an easy setup to link it to my smartphone. Using the setup function to display the QR code and the OI Track 2.0 app to take a photo of the QR code, the app linked to the camera over Wi-Fi. The app copied the clips from the camera at 1080p resolution. 
To play 4K video, you must connect the camera’s HDMI port to your LCD TV’s HDMI port and play the clip from the camera.
Olympus TG-Tracker has a suggested retail price of Bt16,990.

Key Specs
- Lens: 204-degree angle of view; f2.0 fixed focus
- Image Sensor:1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS
- Image Processor: |TruePic VII for 4K
- Video Quality: 4k 30p, |1080 60p/30p, 720 240p/120p/60p/30p, 480 240p/120p/60p/30p
- Waterproof: 30m
- Shockproof: 2.1m
- Freezeproof: -10C
- Crushproof: 100kgf
- Dustproof: Yes
- Monitor Type: 1.5-inch Tilt-Out LCD Display
- Action Track Sensors: GPS, e.Compass, Accelerometer, Barometric Pressure Sensor, Temperature Sensor, Water Sensor
- Special Features: Data logging function, LED Headlight