Olympus TG-870

Olympus TG-870 is Olympus's Ultracompact camera originally launched on January of 2016. It has a 16 MegaPixel, BSI-CMOS 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a maximum resolution of 4608 x 3456.

Olympus launched this camera as a way to improve the previous Olympus TG-860 (Read Full Comparison)

The TG-870 places at #5 out of 151 in Ultracompact cameras & all round #572 out of 1465 for cameras in our collection. Remember to use our Smart camera finder to find camera listings based on your personal criteria.

Below is a chart of different criteria used in the scoring system.

The Olympus TG-870 is part of a family of cameras. You can see the detailed range below.

You can see the TG-870 from several angles in the gallery underneath.

Below is a shortlist of pros and cons of the Olympus TG-870 based on things that are generally viewed as important in a camera.

The Olympus TG-870 features the TruePic VII processor chip. The sensor spec on the Olympus TG-870 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to resolve 4608 x 3456 pixels at aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The camera has Image Stabilization (Optical). In body stabilization is superior than digital stabilization since the latter can lead to cropping.

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The BSI-CMOS sensor has 16 megapixels and has a native ISO range of 125 to 6400. This ISO can be extended digitally to a high of 12800. Unfortunately, RAW photos are not saved which means that you have less room to maneuver in post.

The picture below displays the TG-870's sensor dimensions compared to other common sizes. The TG-870 sensor has a crop factor of 5.8 and is highlighted in green.

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To get a sense of specific aspect ratios, you can refer to the visual below.

Olympus TG-870 weighs about 0.49 lb (221 gr / 7.80 oz) & the over all size of the camera is 113mm x 64mm x 28mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.1"). The weight of normal Ultracompact camera is 121 gr and the Olympus TG-870 is weightier compared with its rivals.

Photography Glossary

Below is a visual of the Olympus TG-870 alongside a soda to help you get a feel for its scale.

The top view directly below will provide the button arrangement on the TG-870.

The TG-870 has a fixed lens and a focal range of 21-105mm making it a 5.0 x zoom which won't be significant but it could be useful in a few scenarios.

At the widest 21mm, it has an aperture of f3.5 making it kind of slow and not the best for low light events and you will likely struggle to get good bokeh. You will likely also have to up the ISO setting causing noisy photographs. At the tele end, 105mm comes at f5.7 making it very sluggish and you might need to set slow shutter speeds.

The TG-870 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Cameras with NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility can be used wirelessly through smartphones. You can send photos and usually change camera settings without the hassle of connecting directly to the camera.

Many applications even give a Liveview and click the shutter when you aren't close to the camera. If the camera contains a HDMI port, it can be attached to an external monitor. Nearly all cameras will allow you to charge the battery through the USB socket.

The maximum video resolution on the Olympus TG-870 is 1920 x 1080 and you can capture in MPEG-4 and H.264 format. 1080p resolution delivers a great balance between quality versus file sizes but FULL HD won't give you any room to downsample. The camera doesn't feature a microphone and / or headphone jack which means you get no control over the sound. It is probably best to take a look at a different camera in case you require better sound for your video clips.

Olympus TG-870 has weather sealing making it a fantastic option for use during tough climates. This can be particularly beneficial in case you are unsure about the elements you may face during outdoor photography.

The Olympus TG-870 has a 3 inch tilting display screen boasting a resolution of 921 thousand dots.

Unfortunately the display screen is not a touch screen.

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The View Finder details for Olympus TG-870 are below:

• ViewFinder None

Viewfinders are very useful during bright outdoor situations which may make the camera display washed out and very difficult to see.

Olympus TG-870 has the ability to shoot continuously at 7.0 fps. The maximum shutter speed is 1/2000s.

Olympus TG-870 has only built-in flash lacking external flash ability.

Olympus TG-870 has just Contrast Based AF & doesn't have Phase Detect AF. Phase Detection autofocusing is a lot snappier & accurate compared with Contrast Based autofocusing. The camera has Face detect which can be handy for portraits.

It also has Tracking AF for things that move. Olympus TG-870 does not have manual focusing. Manual focusing option can be useful during low light conditions or you want more accurate depth of field control.

The battery (Li-50B) in the Olympus TG-870 is fashioned to last for 300 shots based on the CIPA standards which is above average for its category. The general Ultracompact camera battery life is 214. Nikon L32 has the highest possible (320) battery life within this class of cameras.

Following is a number of Ultracompact cameras which have the strongest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Nikon L32
TG-870 vs L32320 nonono

Olympus TG-870300 nonono

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Panasonic FP5
TG-870 vs FP5260 nonono

Sony TX20
TG-870 vs TX20250 nonono

Sony TX55
TG-870 vs TX55250 nonono

The following illustration provides a summation of the Olympus TG-870 for different kinds of photography. To read more, have a look at the specific section below.

The Olympus TG-870 receives a points total of 36 which is awful, meaning that it is just not good to use for portraits. Shooting portrait images favors heavily to sensor resolution, RAW support in addition to the capability to work with external flash.

With a above average score of 65, the Olympus TG-870 is a very decent option to use in street photography. A decent street photography camera comes with a perfect balance of image quality and portability.

A moderate sports photography score of 51 indicates the Olympus TG-870 is reasonably acceptable for taking pictures of sports. A camera should have very good focusing plus fast shutter speeds for sports photography.

Weight is pretty critical when buying a camera for travel. All round, the Olympus TG-870 gets a above average 69 as a travelling camera which is a respectable choice to buy for your travels.

In case you're planning to buy a camera for landscape photography, the most critical aspect will no doubt be image quality. The Olympus TG-870 with it's reasonable rating of 50 as a landscape camera is fairly appropriate amongst its competition.

A vlogging camera preferably should offer a articulating display screen, microphone input and ideally IBIS. Taking everything in to account, the Olympus TG-870 is just not good as a vlog camera as it gets a awful score of 32.

If you are looking for replacements to the TG-870, below is a range of the highest rated cameras which fall in to the class of Ultracompact.

The diagram just below will give you an overview of the TG-870 compared to it's top rated competitors mentioned above.

These are some more cameras you might have a look at as alternate options. To review a thorough comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.