Olympus tough-cam excels at home too

— -- Waterproof tough-cams have improved by leaps and bounds, but most of them are still specialty cameras for the outdoors: Days at the beach, adventures on a mountain, a weekend at the slopes—whatever, as long as it takes place outside, in bright light.

Plenty of photographers could benefit from a rugged camera that works as well at home as it does on an expedition, and that's why the Olympus Tough TG-1 ($399) is a big deal. It's the first tough-cam that can really excel as an all-around family snapshot camera, because it can actually handle indoor and low-light scenes.

Its secret ingredient is the lens, featuring a bright f/2 maximum aperture. It gathers much more light than any other tough-cam lens, which helps it to take clean, crisp photos in most shooting situations.

The 3-inch OLED display is bright and vibrant and smooth, easily visible in bright sunlight and underwater. It's the best screen we've seen on a tough-cam, and the most energy-efficient, too. Handling is comfortable, the interface is straightforward, and it has the coolest, most striking set of effects we've seen in any compact camera.

To top it all off, it's rated to survive 40 feet underwater, drops from 6.6 feet, pressure up to 220 lbs., freezing temperatures, and grains of dust and sand. Those are all class-leading durability ratings.

The noteworthy flaw is color. Outdoor cameras should lean toward vibrant, over-saturated shades. The TG-1 does fine in bright lighting, but underwater tones are flat. It doesn't offer any other color modes, either. But color is pretty subjective, of course, and can always be tweaked in photo software. In any case, most casual photographers will feel comfortable with the slightly muted profile.

The TG-1 is the best all-around tough-cam right now. Anyone shopping for a rugged, waterproof, or otherwise durable camera should give it serious consideration, and if you want a great all-purpose camera that just won't break, it's a no-brainer. There are cheaper cameras that are better for purely outdoor use, including the Canon PowerShot D20 or Panasonic Lumix TS4, but the TG-1 is the total package.

—

To read Reviewed.com's in-depth analysis of the Olympus Tough TG-1, head to DigitalCameraInfo.com. Reviewed.com is a division of USA TODAY.