PHOTO QUALITY. This 16-megapixel rugged and waterproof camera captured images with good quality. We judged this model very good for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym; good for performance under natural light without a flash, such as shooting under an overcast sky.
FLASH. The Stylus TG-860 captured flash shots that were good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate most subjects that are closer to the camera, but had some problems with distant subjects. The flash also has good, relatively even coverage.
LENS. This camera includes a 5x zoom lens, bit more zoom than a standard 3x. The lens also has very wide-angle (21mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZER. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. In low-light settings, it performed very well and rarely produced blurry photos.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Olympus Stylus TG-860 powers up very quickly.
VIDEO. The Olympus Stylus TG-860 takes only fair video, lower quality than many in its class. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 60p. As for sound, it captures fair audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. It has a rugged body. It claims to be waterproof. It has HDR (high-dynamic range) settings. It has a built-in GPS tagging feature. The display also swivels; this can be helpful when shooting self-portraits or hard-to-reach shots.
