Olympus Tough TG-7

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This is my new Olympus Tough TG-7. It will be the camera I use specifically for field work. It replaces a Panasonic ZS-40 that is not weather, water, and dust resistant.

This little camera came into my inventory last weekend. It is the replacement for an aging (and not well) Panasonic ZS-40. The latter served as a travel and field work camera for a several years, but was set aside a couple of years ago because of my dissatisfaction with its image quality.

I pulled it from storage a couple of years ago for a big field project. I found it inferior on a job site because it is susceptible to dust and sand. In fact, I thought it was damaged by a few grains of sand in the lens body. However, it seems to be working.

I did an important field walk a couple of weeks ago. I did not make any images or field notes. I should have. I did not want to use my phone as a camera. I should have.

What this told me is that I need a purpose-built tool for making images when I am working in the field. I need to ramp up my field notes as well, and back them up with images. So, that is my self-chastising for this failure.

That set me looking for a suitable replacement for the Panasonic and for my iPhone. Aside: I think the latter might be on its way out as well. More on that another time.

After a bit of research (a couple of hours), I decided that the Olympus Tough TG-7 might be an appropriate candidate. It is waterproof, dust proof, and drop resistant. (Supposedly, it is drop proof to two meters.) I chose red because it is more readily visible than black and less susceptible to solar heating.

After a few test shots, I ordered additional batteries and a lens hood/filter adapter. I will keep a UV filter on the camera despite it having protective glass over the lens.

I am carrying it on daily outings so I can learn to use it. It is quite capable and has a reasonable zoom range (optical). I am taking it to the field next week for its first thorough test as I need to document an extensive field walk on new projects.

My initial impression is that this is a solid compact camera. Despite the small sensor size (1/2.3 inches), the image quality seems much better than it should, based on previous experience. The SOOC JPEGs look good and I have posted several on this weblog already (the Daily Doggo being the most recent).

Not that the camera needs another review, but i will post my thoughts on the camera for my use-case later this summer, once I have more experience with it. There are lots of technical reviews out there, so I will provide a more subjective review based on my experience with the TG-7 in field use.

I think this is a good purchase and well worth the cost. We will see.

Now The Girl is ready for her daily outing. I think I will hit Subway for a breakfast sandwich and we will go up to our Spooner Summit site and get in a good hike. Then I can attend to completing my preparations for several days in the field.

Life is good. I am grateful.

Daily Doggo

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A serendipitous capture of The Girl apparently sticking her tongue out at me. Shot with Olympus TG-7 and SOOC.

We are hiking up near Spooner Summit on USFS lands these days. The heat, ticks, and other hikers drove us from our routine at Silver Saddle Ranch to elevation. Well, mostly it was the ticks that made me move higher.

Ticks are exceptionally bad this year. In fact, it is the worst that I recall. I am not sure exactly why this is the case nor do I know if this is an anomaly, a periodic occurrence, or a trend. I just know that I removed more ticks from her (and me) this year than any other I recall.

The hikes up near Spooner are better for me anyway. I thought that she needed to walk on the flat as she still favors the injured leg. But, her vet assures me that her surgery is healed. So, her favoring of that leg must be residual soreness or psychosomatic. She hurt for so long that it might have become habit.

She loves the Spooner hike. There are abundant chipmunks to entertain her. I am still reluctant to let her chase hard and I am also reluctant to let her get more than about 30 meters from me. The last year and change of rattlesnake and coyote encounters has me gun shy.

I am carrying my milsurp Patrol Pack II. I have two canteen pouches affixed to the sides. Each of these will hold a 1 liter Nalgene bottle nicely. I keep a few emergency items in the pack as well, just because.

I am carrying the little Olympus TG-7 on these walks now. I want to familiarize myself with the camera (learn to use its features). That means practice. I have field work coming up and that will mean putting this equipment to work. That is the reason I bought it.

On this particular outing she asked for water at our turn-around. I always pause at this location for a water break anyway. She loves to roll around in the DG and gave me the look in the header image. I was ready and made the capture.

The little Olympus makes better images than I expected. They are far superior to the Panasonic ZS-40 that I used to use. That camera, while handy, is not well-suited to field work and does not make very good images.

I love the look The Girl gave me. Well, I love The Girl.

I am grateful. Life is good.

Blue Speedy

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Again, the Speedmaster Triple Date with a blue-striped NATO. This strap is ribbed nylon and is nowhere near as comfortable as the seatbelt nylon NATO straps.

I made this image a couple of weeks ago. My wrists do not get along well with bracelets because of a protruding bone. A bracelet causes the watch head to bump the bone, which irritates the skin.

I never noticed that this is different than most wrists. Hmmm… I suppose I am unique.

Daily Doggo

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I am working with a new compact camera, an Olympus Tough TG-7. I added a flash diffuser to the to the kit and used it to make this capture. I think I was beyond the working distance. Olympus TG-7 SOOC.

On Saturday, I took delivery of a new camera. It was purchased as my primary work/field camera. It is an Olympus Tough TG-7 compact. I will do a first impressions review of it shortly. But, I think it will be what I need.

The Girl posed for me. So I made a capture.

Life is good.

Remainders 31 May 2025

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After the flower comes the fruit. Desert peaches, shot with Fuji X-T5 and the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 at f/8, SOOC.

For now, a weekly schedule of remainders is too ambitious for me. I have enough required project work that my fun stuff has to take a lower priority for the season. Nonetheless, I will want to post items of interest that come up during my day once in a while.

  • The Ghost Phone is a real thing for individuals who want to reduce the amount of spying by Big Tech (and perhaps others).
  • This article on wisdom is worth a read.
  • I have an affinity for aphorisms. Hanlon’s Razor is one of my favorites.
  • The Classical Guitar Store is just what it sounds like. This is interesting.
  • Neil Armstrong’s Speedmaster sold for $2.2MM.
  • I have long thought I would like a Solo Stove for camping and for the house.
  • Omega Speedmaster watches are among my favorites. I really like both the 1957 Reissue and the Moonwatch.
  • This Aliner camper is kitted out to be a communications trailer.
  • A suitable object of lust.
  • I do not post about politics, as a rule. However, sometimes something makes me think about my beliefs and values. In general, I consider myself a Libertarian. However, I am more like a Classical Liberal. The term liberal has been subsumed by the far left to mean something other than what it really means. Such is the nature of language, I suppose, despite my disdain for perverting good words.
  • I sometimes (often?) forget how to subset a R-Project variable. This is a reminder of one way.
  • Another vital package for my R work is zoo. It provides functions for working with time series. A lot of hydrologic work is working with time series data.
  • I do a lot of analytical work in R. Part of what I like about the tool is that it produces very nice graphics, with some work. For an analysis I am working on, I needed a graph with dual y-axes (dual ordinates) for two variables that I think are related. Not knowing how to do this, I found some direction here.

Well, that will finish the month of May. I will start another Remainders list for June shortly.

Daily Doggo

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I love this soft face! I stepped out the back door and noticed her pawing the sand in the yard. I had a Nikon D750 in hand with a Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 affixed to it. I made a few grab shots and this one was the keeper. Post in PhotoLab 7 with light editing.

The Girl seems to be on a plateau in terms of her knee surgery recovery. I notice that she does not have the stamina that she did pre-injury and if we push too hard then she will be lame the remainder of the day.

So, we are adjusting our hikes again. I like to have some relief in my hikes to challenge my legs and CV system. But the climbs seem to leave her more sore afterwards. Although we hiked a little up at our favorite Spooner location yesterday, I kept it short. We often walk the river trail now and I try for about two miles. It gives her plenty of opportunity to sniff and mark and is good.

Life is good.

Blue Seatbelt Nylon NATO

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A capture of my Speedmaster Triple Date with a seatbelt nylon NATO affixed to it.

My Omega Speedmaster Triple Date is the first nice watche in my small collection. It came with a stainless steel bracelet that is sized to fit my wrist. However, like most humans, my wrist dimensions change over the course of a day such that a bracelet is either too loose or too tight.

And, I have little tolerance for a loose bracelet because of a bit of bone on my wrist that is more prominent than in a lot of people. A loose watch with any mass will bounce into it multiple times a day, which results in some discomfort.

As a result, I prefer my watch to be relatively immobile on my wrist. That means that bracelets are not my best choice for affixing a wristwatch to my wrist.

A leather, rubber, or cloth strap will work much better because they are readily adjustable as my wrist circumference changes during the day. They also have a little inherent give to them that means they will change length slightly with my changing wrist geometry.

I have learned a bit about NATO and Zulu nylon straps. They provide another way of adding some color that can complement my wristwatch.

And so I have my Speedy on a seatbelt nylon NATO in blue. This straps complements the blue dial of my Speedy nicely and I like the combination. Plus, the strap is very comfortable against my skin.

I also think that a blue strap with some gray or silver might also be a nice color combination for the Speedy. I will spend some time this weekend shopping.

Salt and Pepper

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While out for breakfast, I noticed the salt and pepper shakers on my table. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Voigtlander 27mm f/2 at f/4 and processed in PhotoLab 7.

While out for breakfast a few days ago, I noticed the light on the salt and pepper shakers on my table. This resulted in a grab shot using the X-T5 and the Voigtlander 27mm f/2 lens. I selected an aperture that would give enough depth of field for the shakers but provide a little subject isolation.

For this capture, I used the RAW mode and then post-processed the result in PhotoLab 7. The adjustments were all minor and I used a PhotoLab preset for the black and white conversion.

The little Voigtlander pancake lens can do the job if I do mine.

Breakfast was good. The Girl and I had a nice hike after. She enjoyed the bulk of my bacon.

Life is good.

Signs

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The Girl and I have walked past this sign so many times. But, Sunday evening I noticed to late afternoon Sun illuminating them brightly. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Voigtlander 27mm f/2 at f/8. No post.

The Sunday evening Sun really illuminated the street signs at the corner of my cul-de-sac. I noticed it a little earlier in the day. So, I determined to take The Girl for an evening walk and grab a capture if the lighting remained strong.

Well, it did, so I did. Along the walk, The Girl had a chance to exercise and to do a little training, sans collar. It was good for both of us.

The capture reminds me a bit of some of Alex Kilbee’s work. He likes angles quite a lot.

Zuiko 50mm f/1.2

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She clearly wants something, but I do not remember what it was. Captured with Sony A7iii and a Zuiko 50mm f/1.2 wide open. Light post processing with Snapseed in my iPhone to render the image in black and white.

An Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/1.2 lens came into my possession a while back. It is in regular rotation whenever I carry the Sony A7iii. While a little soft wide open, that f/1.2 look is highly desirable. The lens deserves some additional testing as well as the other f/1.2 lenses in my inventory. These include legacy lenses from Nikon, Konica, and Canon, as well as the Zuiko.

Life is good!