Olympus Stylus Tough TG-850 flips out (pictures)

With a new ultrawide-angle lens and flip-up LCD, the TG-850 makes it easier to capture the great outdoors and more of it.

Joshua Goldman

Jan. 29, 2014 3:11 p.m. PT

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Olympus Stylus Tough TG-850

The TG-850 is waterproof down to 33 feet, shockproof from 7 feet, crushproof up to 220 pounds, freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and dustproof. Out in front is an ultrawide-angle 5x f3.5-5.7 21-105mm lens with a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor behind it.

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Flip-up screen

It would be great if camera makers could fit an optical or even electronic viewfinder into its rugged point-and-shoots for use when you're shooting outdoors in full sun. That hasn't happened yet, but the 3-inch 460K-dot resolution flip-up LCD on the TG-850 should at least help by making it easier to use at different angles, and it's something you won't find on other rugged compacts. The screen goes up 180 degrees, too, so you can capture selfies all day and night.

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Shooting modes

Shooting modes on the TG-850 include: Intelligent Auto (iAUTO), Program Auto (P), Super Macro, 18 Scene modes including 4 for underwater, 11 Art Filters, Panorama, Hand-Held Starlight, and e-Portrait.

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Thinner than usual

Rugged cameras tend to be a bit chunky, but Olympus' redesigned lens configuration helped make the TG-850 smaller at just 1.1 inches thick.

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Double locks

Two locks help keep you from accidentally letting water and dust into the camera.

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Silver, black, and white

The $249.99 TG-850 arrives in March and will be available in silver, black, and white versions. Also, although it doesn't have built-in Wi-Fi, you'll be able to use a Toshiba FlashAir SD card to connect via Wi-Fi to iOS and Android devices using Olympus' Image Share app.