This article features a selection of micro HHFS TG-5 images of plants, flowers and midges captured handheld in my yard. I had a lot of fun pushing my Olympus TG-5 Tough with these handheld in-camera focus stacked (HHFS) micro photographs.

This was one of the few times that I can remember trying the in-camera focus stacking option when shooting in Microscope mode. All images featured in this article are displayed without any cropping at all.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge. To view this article in a variety of other languages click on the Canadian flag in the upper right corner.

Before seeing the micro HHFS images in this posting it may be helpful to see a reference photograph showing the size of the tiny blossoms on one of our heather plants (above).

Since the TG Tough units are pretty much point-and-shoot, automatic cameras, there isn’t as much control as I’d like to have.

Having said that, using the incredible 7X magnification with this small camera is very tempting! The closest focusing distance with the TG Tough cameras is 1 cm.

When using the in-camera focus stacking function a photographer has no control over the number of images that are used in the stack.

Its also important to ensure that there is no subject or camera movement when using this mode.

That’s likely why Olympus (now OM) recommends using a tripod with this function.

As regular readers know, I hate using tripods so I took all of my in-camera focus stacked images handheld just to see what would happen.

I was actually quite surprised that I was successful with most of my attempts.

There were only 3 attempts when my TG-5 failed to complete the in-camera focus stacking function. No doubt I was the culprit.

I did get a few halo type artifacts on some of my handheld in-camera focus stacked images.

These tended to be with the most dramatic magnifications. There’s no question that I need a lot more practice with the microscopic mode with my TG-5.

Overall, I thought the image quality from this small 1/2.3″ sensor point-and-shoot camera was acceptable.

Especially considering that the output for in-camera focus stacking is a jpeg.

I wouldn’t produce any larger size prints with these files… but for online display or small size prints they’re decent enough for many folks.

The Olympus/OM series of Tough cameras are just plain fun. They are very durable, dustproof, freezeproof, splashproof, and waterproof to 15 metres. It is also shockproof from 2.1 metres (~ 7 feet).

For me, creating micro HHFS TG-5 images definitely falls under the category of just having fun. Sometimes doing something just because you can… is reason enough.

The Olympus TG-5 was the first Olympus camera that I ever owned, buying it over 7 years ago. I can still remember how surprised I was with the technology resident in this diminutive camera.

It felt great to reconnect with my TG-5. I’ll be popping it into my camera bag more frequently… just to add more fun to my photographic adventures. A tiny sensor can mean big fun!

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera equipment  noted in the EXIF data, in natural light. All images were created from out-of-camera jpeg files using my standard process in post. Handheld in-camera focus stacking (HHFS) was used for all of the images featured in the article. This is the 1,458 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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