Adding a Fisheye Lens to the Olympus Tough Waterproof Cameras

If the built-in lens on your Olympus Tough TG-6, TG-5, or TG-4 isn’t as wide as you’d like, there’s a waterproof fisheye adapter lens that you can snap onto the front that will instantly add a super wide-angle perspective.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5
Text & Photos By David Coleman
Last Revised & Updated:

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The Olympus TOUGH TG-5 waterproof adventure camera has a built-in zoom lens. When you combine with the 4.5mm lens with the small-sized sensor, you get the equivalent field of view of around what a 25mm lens would look like on a full-frame camera (ie. 35mm equivalent).

Olympus is now OM System

In 2020-21, the photography business of iconic camera brand Olympus was spun off and sold. The core remaining Olympus brand is focusing on medical and scientific products. The camera and photography side was then rebranded as OM System, with the first cameras and lenses under that brand coming out at the end of 2021.

While 25mm is relatively wide, there are times you might want even wider, especially when shooting underwater.

OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS Fisheye Tough Lens Pack (Lens and Adapter) for...
  • Waterproof to 50 feet
  • Wider viewing angle with extended focal length of 19mm

Olympus has their own solution: a waterproof fisheye lens that snaps onto the front of the camera. It’s compatible with all of the Olympus Tough TG series cameras going back to the TG-1. I’ve been using it on the TG-5.

Pros

  • Adds ultra wide-angle fisheye perspective quickly and easily
  • Works underwater
  • Simple to use
  • Compatible with all recent Olympus TOUGH TG-# models

Cons

  • Bulky (on such a small camera)
  • Partially blocks on-camera flash
  • Smudges and water drops on glass can negatively impact image quality

UPDATE: Since I originally posted this, OM System has released the Olympus TOUGH TG-6. It’s only a minor upgrade, and this lens adapter will also work on the newer model.

The pack is a bundle of two products that work together.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5

The first is the adapter that lets you connect the lens to the camera. Its model number is CLA-T01 and it’s just a metal adapter ring—there’s no glass. In most instances, it’s not going to do you much good by itself, but there is one advantage to using it alone and leaving it attached to your camera: it lets you clip on a lens cap (one is included with the CLA-T01; its product number is LC-40.5 and it’s a 40.5mm cap). Without the adapter there’s no way to clip on a lens cap.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5
Close-up of the CLA-T01 adapter.
Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5
The CLA-T01 with a lens cap.

The most important part of it is the FCON-T01 Fisheye Converter. That is the lens itself. In addition to the main lens itself there are front and back caps for it.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5
The FCON-T01 lens.

It’s basically a piece of glass. There are no moving parts. No aperture blades. No focus or aperture rings. So there’s not much that can go wrong. At the same time, there are limits to its flexibility and some things to watch out for.

It comes with front and back caps.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5

How Wide?

Since the point of this lens is to add a super-wide perspective, I’ll start with some examples of what difference it makes. Below are some side-by-side shots with and without the fisheye attached. With a magnification of 0.76x, it brings the effective focal length out to 19mm.

Olympus TG-5 without Fisheye Lens Adapter

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter


Olympus TG-5 without Fisheye Lens Adapter

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter

In addition to the wider perspective, an obvious difference is the distortion with the bowing of the horizon.

Size and Weight

The lens snaps onto the front of the camera. Even though it’s only a little over an inch deep, when attached to such a small camera it makes the whole package quite a lot larger, bringing it closer to a small mirrorless setup. It will still fit in large pockets, but it’s nowhere near as compact as the camera without the lens.

Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5
Olympus Fisheye Lens for TG-5

And, relatively speaking at least, it’s quite hefty. It weighs about 4 1/2 ounces (130 grams, approximately). That doesn’t sound like a lot, but relative to the camera itself, it’s half the weight of the camera alone (8.7 ounces / 247 grams).

Olympus CSCH-126 Silicon Jacket for the Olympus TG-5 Tough Camera with FD-1 Fisheye Lens Attached
It’s compatible with the Olympus silicon skin.

Waterproof

The fisheye lens pack works well enough above water, but it probably makes most sense for underwater use. Because of the natural magnification when shooting through water, the extra width that the fisheye offers comes in handy for underwater shooting.

According to Olympus’s own in-house testing, it has a waterproof rating equivalent to IPX8, which means it can be used up to 65 feet deep (20 meters) of water for at least 60 minutes.

That makes sense, because this is basically glass that simply attaches to the camera. Attaching it doesn’t expose any of the camera’s interior—it’s a purely external attachment.

Doesn’t Reduce Aperture

Unlike something like a teleconverter, which reduces the usable aperture range, this lens doesn’t. You can still use f/2 and f/2.8 (you’ll have to use smaller apertures if you zoom in because the camera doesn’t use a constant maximum aperture throughout the zoom range). Of course, adding extra glass to the front does in fact cut down on the amount of light hitting the sensor—that’s just physics—and it has to come from somewhere, but the exposure is compensated in the calculations for shutter speed and ISO so as not to change the usable aperture range.

It doesn’t magically improve the TG-5’s low-light performance, but at least it minimizes the impact.

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
This shot is of an aquarium.

Sharpness

If you add a large chunk of glass to the front of the lens you can expect to lose some sharpness. And you do with this lens. I was pleasantly surprised with how sharp it remained in much of the center of the frame, but it’s definitely very soft around the edges.

Here’s an example shot at f/8 (click on it to load a full-size version).

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
This shot illustrates two things: how the fisheye distortion can bend horizons and also that while quite sharp in the middle of the frame, things get very soft around the edges.

Distortion

The lens does add quite a lot of distortion, as you’d expect. It’s most noticeable when shooting out of the water, especially when there are straight lines like horizons or buildings.

Whether that bothers you is entirely a matter of preference. But here are some examples of the kind of bulging fisheye look you can get.

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter

It also very much depends on where you’re pointing the lens. If you angle the lens down from the horizon, for instance, you’ll get a definite bow in the horizon.

But this shot was taken with the same setup from the same spot but just centering the horizon vertically in the frame. It’s the midpoint of the distortion so results in an essentially straight horizon.

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
This shot illustrates two things: how the fisheye distortion can bend horizons and also that while quite sharp in the middle of the frame, things get very soft around the edges.
Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
From the same vantage point without the fisheye adapter lens.

Using it Out of the Water

It does work well above water, with some caveats that aren’t unexpected. You do lose some sharpness, and the edges of the frame get quite soft. It also accentuates chromatic aberration (purple fringing) (just the basic lens, without the fisheye adapter, does exhibit some purple fringing in some circumstances; the fisheye adapter makes it more prominent and more common).

Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter
Olympus TG-5 with Fisheye Lens Adapter

Using it for Split Over/Under Photos

The front face of the fisheye lens is quite large. That makes it easier to do split over/under photos, where part of the frame is below the water and part is above the water. It’s still a bit tricky—trickier than when using a large dome port, for instance—but it can be done.

One thing I did find though is that it can throw off the camera’s focusing system. So the results can be a bit hit and miss. Here’s an example where the focus got confused.

Example of a split over-under photo taken with an Olympus fisheye lens adapter on an Olympus TG-5 waterproof camera.

Another issue I’ve run into is that the extra surfaces add more places for water droplets to stick to and an even shallower depth of field. So it’s pretty easy to end up with water droplets on the glass interfering with your photo.

Example of a split over-under photo taken with an Olympus fisheye lens adapter on an Olympus TG-5 waterproof camera.

Notes & Things to Watch Out For

Compatibility. The adapter is compatible with all of Olympus’s TG-X series from TG-1 through TG-6. The packaging has a sticker that says it’s compatible with the TG-3 and TG-4. It’s also compatible with the TG-5 and TG-6, but the packaging materials haven’t yet caught up with the newer models.

Using Flash. The lens is large and partially obscures the flash. You can still shoot with the flash, but you’ll end up with a darker part of the frame that’s in the lens’s shadow.

Possible Interference. Some of the camera’s functions, like autofocus, stabilization, and automatic exposure might get a bit thrown off by the lens with inconsistent results.

Smudges & Water Drops. Because the front element of glass is large, flat, and flush with the front, it’s very easy to get finger smudges, sunscreen, and water drops on it. Combined with the very close focusing that the super-wide angle brings, those can easily interfere with the image quality. I found this to be a fairly persistent issue.

Zoom. The camera’s zoom function still works with the lens attached, but in many cases it probably doesn’t make much sense to use it because unless you need the very wide perspective that the fisheye lens gives, you’ll get better quality without the lens attached.

Specifications

  • Magnification: 0.74x
  • Weight: 4.4 ounces / 125 grams
  • Depth: 1.1 inches / 27.2mm
  • Outer Diameter: 2.6 inches / ø65
  • Waterproof Rating: IPX8 (20 m / 65.6 feet of water for 60 mins according to Olympus in-house testing)
  • Dustproof Rating: IP6X (Olympus in-house testing)

Price & Availability

Since I originally wrote this, OM System has released the Olympus TG-6. It was only a minor upgrade, and many of the features, specs, and performance remain unchanged. Both are great cameras.

You can find them at B&H Photo and Amazon.

OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS Fisheye Tough Lens Pack (Lens and Adapter) for...
  • Waterproof to 50 feet
  • Wider viewing angle with extended focal length of 19mm
OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS FD-1 Waterproof Flash Diffuser, white for TG-Series...
  • Improved light distribution makes your subject stand out
  • Perfect for capturing moving subjects up close and for shooting underwater macro
ULBTER Screen Protector for Olympus TG-7 TG-6 TG-5 TG-4 TG7 Red Black,...
  • ✪LCD Screen Protector perfectly fit for Olympus TG7 TG6 TG5 TG4 Waterproof Camera . Not for other...
  • ✪9H Hardness - Longer tempering time, which made the screen protector has a higher hardness. Prevents...
Lens Protector Cover for Olympus TG-7 TG-6 TG-5 TG-4 TG-3 TG-2 and TG-1...
  • 【Replaces LB-T01 Lens Cap】:***Tips:According to feedback from some customers, cleaning the lens cover...
  • 【Rotates to Open or Close】:Rotate the lens cap counterclockwise to open the cap for shooting. Rotate...
JJC LB-T01 Lens Cap Cover Protector for Olympus TG-7 TG7 TG-6 TG6 TG-5 TG5...
  • The lens cap is dedicated to Olympus Tough TG-7, TG-6, TG-5, TG-4, TG-3, TG-2 and TG-1 camera. It...
  • It can remain attached to the camera at all times and opens and closes by rotating the outer ring. Warm...
OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS LB-T01 Lens Barrier For TG-Series Cameras
  • Protects lens surface from scratches and dirt
  • Turn the lens barrier to open and close for instant shooting

Images and product information from Amazon PA-API were last updated on 2023-12-02 at 17:28. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

Profile photo of David Coleman | Have Camera Will Travel | Washington DC-based Professional Photographer

Text & Photos by David Coleman

I'm a professional photographer based in Washington DC. Seven continents, up mountains, underwater, and a bunch of places in between. I've been shooting for 30+ years, and my my photos and time-lapse videos have appeared in a bunch of different publications from major newspapers to magazines and books, billboards, TV shows, professional sports stadiums, museums, and even massive architectural scrims covering world-famous buildings while they're being renovated. You can see some of my travel photography here and here.