Olympus XZ-1 F/1.8 - First Encounter

[Oly5050]

I think the benchmark should be Panasonic LX5 and Canon S95, as long as can match these 2 then ok liao..

Actually according to olympus rep, the xz1 is a class above the lx5 n s95. The reason is bec its a f1.8 to 2.2 lens. The f2.5 only occurs at the last 1-2 mm of the zoom range. A f1.8 lens req manual polishing.

 

[Fit44]

Actually according to olympus rep, the xz1 is a class above the lx5 n s95. The reason is bec its a f1.8 to 2.2 lens. The f2.5 only occurs at the last 1-2 mm of the zoom range. A f1.8 lens req manual polishing.

The Olympus Rep is absolutely right! having own a S90, G12 & LX5 myself, XZ-1 IQ beats them all! For those who knows about the IQ that EPL-1 with Pany20mmF1.7 lens can produce, you can get it from this Camera!

 

[Oly5050]

the water color effect is pretty bad at 200. looks like the old casio cameras. seems to me that the loss of details is not due to the handshake.

U mean iso200 is bad? I dunno where u made ur assessment but its good till at least 800.

 

[Oly5050]

Ok just to summarize, the oly rep says the following :

1. Largest sensor in the compact camera range
2. Fastest lens which remains fast even after zoomed. F1.8 to 2.2 with 2.5 at the very end thus averaging at about f2 most of the time.
3. Image stabilization for both movie n stills combined - mechanical n electronic combined
4. Underwater AWB - app no other manufacturer offers this
5. Bokeh effect comparable to the sony nx5 - based on my own assessment

 

[Oly5050]

Here are some shots from the XZ-1 taken at the Hands-on session.

XZ-1 at ISO 100

XZ-1 at ISO 100

EPL2 at ISO 1250 (for comparison)
​

 

[bblurrr]

Actually according to olympus rep, the xz1 is a class above the lx5 n s95. The reason is bec its a f1.8 to 2.2 lens. The f2.5 only occurs at the last 1-2 mm of the zoom range. A f1.8 lens req manual polishing.

If I am the XXX brand rep, I will also claim that the camera I am selling is above other brand based on only one feature of the camera.

 

[Ben Ang]

thanks for the time and effort! :thumbsup:

i'm not seriously considering a compact, but its nice to see what it can do. with some skill, i m pretty sure it ll put up very decent A3 prints... i d say if you re a photographer (image-centric) and not a measurebator (pixel peeper) it ll do great!

bokeh, even at f1.8 is unappealing.

in compacts, faster apertures are almost exclusively for more light and not shallow dof..

 

[DiGdUb]

some shots taken at chinatown.

 

[DiGdUb]

 

[theory87]

Digdub, nice pics. Other than IQ, how is the other aspect of the cam?

 

[DiGdUb]

Digdub, nice pics. Other than IQ, how is the other aspect of the cam?

I like the bokeh and thinner dof. just hope that olympus can update the software to allow easier changing of iso and to adjust the level of noise reduction.

 

[napalmdog]

I like the bokeh and thinner dof. just hope that olympus can update the software to allow easier changing of iso and to adjust the level of noise reduction.

yeah if only NR is adjustable I'll buy this asap. pics are nice but am I right to say not as sharp as the LX5? seems closer to S95 sharpness.

 

[DiGdUb]

yeah if only NR is adjustable I'll buy this asap. pics are nice but am I right to say not as sharp as the LX5? seems closer to S95 sharpness.

I've not tried the lx5 before, so can't comment much on the difference.

 

[Soon Ruey]

yeah if only NR is adjustable I'll buy this asap. pics are nice but am I right to say not as sharp as the LX5? seems closer to S95 sharpness.

In most tested reviews, images are sharper than LX5.....


Focus Numerique tested the Olympus XZ-1 and the results are astonishing! The lens is super sharp even wide open (at f/1.8)!!! Distortion is minimal. The only moderate issue is Vignetting. Image quality is good from ISO 100 to 400. Dynamic range is a little bit less than the Panasonic LX5.

Full report here :http://translate.google.com/translat...metrie-11.html

 

[nelson-tan]

The quality is pretty good when lighting is sufficient.

Shooting in RAW helps you to control the sharpening and noise reduction, which mitigates the issue to some extent. So long as you remember that it's a compact camera with a smallish 1/6" sensor, the performance is actually quite admirable...

I did a review on it at http://photographyhappenings.blogspot.com/2011/02/olympus-xz-1-review.html

 

[raymondluo]

Nelson, quick question on video- which in the reviews I've read have been very brief on. Is there a way to lock exposure during video and if unable to specify the shutter speed (i understand the camera doesn't provide manual video controls) is there a workaround it? E.g during photo mode lock exposure at 1/50, so during video it will take the settings. This is the workaround for the Pentax K7 which doesn't have manual controls for video as well.

 

[nelson-tan]

Hi Raymond, just played around with the camera in video mode... seems that there's no way to lock the exposure or specify the settings in video mode. I may be wrong, but I don't see any way of tricking the camera as of yet. The good news is that the camera adjusts the exposure very quickly, so even when moving from bright outdoors to dark environment, the exposure doesn't get off much.

 

[raymondluo]

Well that's a bit of a bummer there, I was hoping to at least be able to lock exposure so I can define the shutter speed- That's pretty crucial to videography. Every Achilles comes included a bad heel I guess!

 

[DiGdUb]

i notice when zooming in or out during video shooting, the internal mic will tend to sound muffled until the zooming stops. i think its to prevent the high pitch motor whirring sound from being picked up during zooming.

 

[FilterFunk]

may i ask the bro/sis(s) here which camera/wrist strap that you are using for the camera? the one that came with the camera? or?

i realised i cant use the regular-sized camera straps as the eyelet for the camera strap is too narrow.. :sweat: