Best Underwater Cameras for Scuba Diving (2026): DJI Osmo Action 5 vs Olympus TG-7

For recreational scuba divers, choosing the best underwater camera in 2026 is less about chasing professional features and more about reliability, ease of use, image quality at depth, and travel practicality. Once bulky DSLR rigs, complex housings, and interchangeable-lens systems are ruled out, the options narrow quickly. In practice, while there are several capable choices on the market, two camera systems consistently stand out — the DJI Osmo Action 5 and the Olympus TG-7.

For me, underwater photography and videography has become an essential part of every dive trip. I enjoy the whole process — from capturing shots to experimenting with techniques, editing, and sharing. Most divers I meet on the boats share that same enthusiasm, and this inclusiveness has been driven in large part by the rise of action cameras, which have sparked change and innovation across the whole industry, influencing how underwater cameras are designed and used today.

If you’re choosing an underwater camera for recreational scuba diving, this guide looks at the DJI Osmo Action 5 and the Olympus TG-7 through a very practical lens — wide-angle reef scenes versus close-focus critter photography. Rather than treating one as universally better, it explores where each camera excels underwater, where compromises appear, and how those trade-offs affect the way most divers actually shoot.

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Table of Contents

Click a topic below to jump directly to that section of the guide.

1.Making Your Choice - Critters or Reef

2.DJI Osmo Action 5 vs Olympus TG-7

3.Wide or Macro — Or Maybe Not

4.Frequently Asked Questions

Central Visayas - Highlighted Guides & Articles

Below is a selection of Central Visayas dive guides — covering key destinations like Panglao, Balicasag, Dauin & Apo Island, Moalboal, Malapascua, and Southern Leyte — plus a Bohol dive route to help you plan a longer trip. Each guide is based on real dives and focuses on what to expect, how to get there, and what makes each area worth diving.

Making Your Choice – Critters or Reef

I currently use the DJI Osmo Action 5, and my niche is shooting reef scenes. I very rarely take dedicated still images, instead capturing video footage on the move throughout the dive. The Action 5 is well suited to this style of underwater videography. With its 1/1.3" sensor, it delivers excellent low-light performance, supports up to 4K/120fps recording, and offers a 155° ultra-wide field of view. Combined with DJI’s colour temperature sensor and advanced stabilisation system, it captures expansive underwater environments and dynamic reef scenes with ease.

I have been diving with DJI Osmo Action cameras since 2023, completing hundreds of dives with them. Their compact size makes them easy to live with, they don’t overheat, and they remain simple to operate underwater. To this day, they have never let me down and have consistently delivered excellent results on every dive.

But is it everything I want? The answer is no. With their fixed lenses, action cameras have a relatively limited close-focus range, typically focusing from around 0.4 m (1.3 feet) to infinity. Move any closer to the subject and images become soft or blurry. In the world of underwater macro photography — where divers enjoy capturing tiny critters like nudibranchs — this limitation quickly becomes apparent.

When it comes to underwater macro photography for recreational divers, one camera consistently stands out — the Olympus TG-7. Of all the cameras I see on dives, this is the most common choice, thanks to its ability to focus extremely close, capture sharp detail of tiny critters, and benefit from a wide ecosystem of dedicated dive housings and lens add-ons.

So should we all rush out and purchase a TG-7? While this camera can focus from 1 cm to infinity, its in-camera lens design limits the wide-angle field of view to around 70°, which can result in cramped or cut-off scenes when shooting reef walls, wrecks, or schools of fish. This is why, despite its dominance in macro photography, the TG-7 often falls short for large underwater landscapes unless paired with a dome port or wide-angle wet lens.

DJI Osmo Action 5 vs Olympus TG-7

This table sets out the main differences between the two cameras, focusing on the features that matter most underwater — sensor size, stabilization, field of view, and focus distance — and also includes cost, so you can see the full picture of performance and price side by side.

Note: Pricing is approximate and may vary by region and retailer. Figures are included here only to give a broad comparison between the two setups.

Compromise & Options

We have considered two solid options for underwater photography and videography, but due to the inherent trade-offs between wide angle and macro, neither camera is perfect on its own. So do we really need to make a choice and accept the compromise? Let’s look at the options.

Wide or Macro — or Maybe Not

Beyond original equipment manufacturer (OEM) accessories such as official waterproof housings, there is now a well-established third-party market supporting both action cameras and compact systems like the TG-7. This includes dedicated underwater housings, macro lenses, wide-angle wet lenses, and dome ports designed to extend shooting flexibility underwater. Action cameras benefit from particularly broad third-party support alongside official accessories, while systems like the TG-7 rely more heavily on specialist third-party brands to deliver true wide-angle and macro expansion beyond the camera’s native lens.

With the wide range of accessories now available, it’s easy to move quickly away from the original simplicity these cameras were designed around. What begins as a reliable, easy-to-use, travel-friendly setup can soon become more complex and expensive as add-ons accumulate. These accessories can add real value and broaden what the camera is capable of, but they often do so at the expense of the fundamentals that make these highly capable systems so appealing to recreational divers in the first place.

So where does this leave us? I still shoot to this day with a very basic setup. Over time I’ve added video lights and a tray, but at its core I’m still using an action camera in a waterproof case. For me, it has never really been about the camera’s capability.

The biggest gains have come from learning the skills of underwater photography and videography — improving buoyancy control, working in strong currents, understanding backdrops and framing, reading lighting conditions, and developing a better awareness of the underwater environment and how it responds to diver interaction. That is where the real joy lies, and it’s something you simply don’t get straight out of the box.

Explore The Sites Hub Pages & Highlighted Articles

Use the three hub cards below to explore the main sections of the site — Living in the Philippines, Diving, and Filipino Society. Under them, you’ll find a selection of highlighted articles covering the topics readers visit most, from cost of living and visas to food, culture, and daily life essentials.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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