The OM System Tough TG-7 underwater compact camera and its predecessors, such as the Olympus Tough TG-6, have built up a substantial ecosystem of accessories.
Some of these add increased damage protection, while others improve the cameras’ capability for particular types of photography (such as macro or underwater) or provide scope to be more creative.
In this article, I’m going to take a look at the most popular Tough accessories from OM System. I’ll give an outline of what they do and my opinion on how useful they are.
Probably the biggest-selling underwater housing for a camera ever made, the PT-059 increases the depth to which you can safely take your TG-7 from 15m to 45m (from 50ft to 150ft) – making it much more useful for scuba divers.
It’s worth bearing in mind that, to maintain the waterproof rating of your Tough camera, OM System recommends getting the internal seals serviced every year – which isn’t cheap. So keeping it safe inside an underwater housing, even when using it in shallow water, makes sense.
The OM System PT-059 is also supported by a substantial range of third-party accessories, such as lighting trays and wide-angle wet lenses. As underwater housings go, it’s light, relatively low-cost, well-made and comfortable to use. That’s why they are the underwater housing I recommend most often to TG-7 users.
See my full OM System PT-059 review
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If you’ve owned a conventional compact camera before getting a TG-7, something that you will notice early on is that there isn’t a lens cover that closes when you turn the camera off.
The surface of the lens is exposed, which isn’t ideal if you want to pop it in your pocket when not in use. You will find you get fingermarks on the lens and there is an greater risk of scratching the lens surface than with other cameras.
The LB-T01 deals with this by fitting onto the camera in place of the original removable lens ring. You then have a manually operated lens protector that opens and closes with a twist of its outer ring.
It won’t fit inside an underwater housing but, as TG accessories go, it’s bordering on a must-have.
Like the lens barrier, this adapter replaces the removable lens ring on any TG camera from the TG-1 to the TG-7.
Fitting the CLA-T01 opens up a big range of extra accessory options for increasing the capabilities of your Tough. The adapter has 40.5mm screw fitting to accept the TCon-T01 Teleconverter and the FCon-T01 or T02 Fisheye Converters.
You can also use it to fit filters such as protective UV filters, like the OM System PRF-D40.5 Pro, or third-party options with a 40.5mm thread such as circular polarizing and ND filters.
If that wasn’t enough, it will also accept a 40.5mm lens cap such as the ones made for the OM System 14-42mm kit lens – so you can keep the lens protected despite not being able to have a lens barrier fitted.
If you have the CLA-T01 adapter, then you can fit the TCon-T01 x1.7 teleconverter, which ups the TG’s 100mm maximum equivalent focal length to 170mm.
For wildlife and sports photography, it will give valuable extra reach, but bear in mind that increasing the focal length will make camera movement more likely to cause blur in your pictures.
While this lens can be used underwater, I don’t recommend it as it’s best to reduce the distance to a subject whenever possible to help keep images sharp and colorful.
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This converter screws onto the CLA-T01 adapter and gives an exceptionally wide angle of view to your Tough. With the camera zoomed to its widest, you get the circular fisheye effect; zooming in removes that, but you will have some barrel distortion.
This lens can be used for underwater photography when on the camera without an underwater housing. It will give a narrower angle of view, because everything appears closer underwater.
You can also use this lens with an Ikelite underwater housing that can be fitted with a domed port to accommodate the lens. The dome port corrects for the effect of water, giving an angle of view the same as in air, but you are tied to shooting wide-angle pictures for a whole dive when using it – because the lens is within the airspace of the housing.
Like many accessories, this circular diffuser fits onto your TG using the fitting that the removable lens ring occupies. It carries the light from the built-in LED to give a close-up light source.
Without the Light Guide in place, you can use the LED as a focusing light when light levels are low and you are still able light subjects with the built-in flash. Adding the Light Guide means that you have to use the LED as the light source to achieve your exposure.
Where subject and camera movement aren’t an issue, that will be fine. But for most still macro photography, if you need even light from all directions, I’d go with a ring flash diffuser.
In my view, where the LG-1 would be useful is in shooting macro video. You can set the LED to be on constantly and then, with the TG-7 or TG-6, use Super Macro Focusing to get very close to your subject.
The LG-1 can be used underwater, but only when using the camera without a housing.
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Similar to the LG-1 Light Guide in appearance, if you want to take macro images this is definitely the better option of the two. It will give you an even light at a short distance from the camera, with the movement-freezing benefit of flash.
While ring diffusers and flashes do have a tendency to reduce texture in images, the light is also softer and doesn’t produce as much glare from shiny surfaces (such as beetle carapaces) that I’ve found the bare built-in flash of the TG camera often does.
This is one of those accessories that some people will find absolutely essential – in particular people using the TG for scientific or medical photography – while a lot of the folk who bought the camera for its toughness when doing outdoor activities won’t need at all.
Like the LG-1 Light Guide, the diffuser can be used underwater when the camera isn’t in a housing. I would suggest you take care when using them, because they aren’t anywhere near as robust as the camera itself.
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This silicone rubber cover for the TG-7 adds considerable extra protection. While the TG-7 has a drop-proof rating, hitting rocks or concrete from even a fairly short height is likely to put some scratches on it – and unless you are very lucky, it’s likely to end with a trip to the repair shop or an insurance claim.
This cover gives you access to the controls, including having gaps for the dials and zoom, but adds some extra padding to much of the camera.
It does make it bulkier, and you’ll have to remove it to fit some accessories.
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This a wrist strap that is buoyant enough to keep your TG camera floating at the water surface. Obviously it’s attached safely to your wrist, you don’t need it to keep your camera floating.
However, if you should accidentally let your camera go or drop it in the water, the CHS-09 will stop it plummeting into the depths. It’s also a well-padded wrist lanyard that would be nice to wear when using your camera for snorkelling.
And for people doing other water activities like kayaking, or using the Tough in everyday situations where they don’t want it attached to their wrist all the time, the float feature is helpful.
As someone who’s accumulated a multitude of cameras, lenses and other equipment, individual cases aren’t something I tend to go for. But if your TG is your one and only piece of camera kit, this case might be for you.
I’d suggest that it’s more suitable for storing and travelling, rather than for when you want it ready to use. The TGs are quite weighty little cameras and they do have an impressive ability to find their way to the bottom of a bag, where a hard drop can cause damage if the padding isn’t sufficient. I’m speaking from experience on that one.
This case would definitely prevent damage in transit but, as someone who can’t stand having things bouncing around on the outside of a backpack, I probably wouldn’t use the built-in carabiner to clip it on.
Likewise, having a substantial hard case attached to a belt or the waist strap of a rucksack probably isn’t going to be comfortable.
I’ll be honest, I was completely unaware of this accessory before I started writing this article! It’s a relatively new piece of kit released for the TG-7 that gives you a protective cover/holder that can be attached to a belt or backpack strap, combined with a carabiner attachment and a spiral cord.
The spiral cord means that you can take the camera out of the holder, but still have it attached to you to prevent it from being dropped.
I can see this being useful for those doing outdoor sports such as climbing, hiking and kayaking, where they want the camera easily accessible with one hand but dropping it would be a disaster.
See our guides to the best waterproof cameras and to the best underwater housings
