Review: Olympus XZ-1 - by Soon Ruey


Soon Ruey

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Apr 7, 2010
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Hi guys....I received my Olympus XZ1 about 2 days ago and have been having lots of fun with it. Thought I would share my experience with it so far...:)

First of all I am an amature photographer. I have been using the Olympus 4/3 system (E510, E3 since 2007) and moved on to the m4/3 system since 2009 (EP1, EPL1). My main compact system has been the Canon G10 sice the day it was launched and I have 2 units. The canon G10 has been mainly used for my underwater photography as well as my walkabout camera.

When I first heard about the XZ1, I was not really impressed but as the specifications became available, I felt that I needed to try out this camera and prebooked a unit with Olympus Malaysia.

When my unit arrive, I was estatic......( I believe I was among the very first to receive a production unit)



The camera is a very pretty little thing....looks much like the S90 or S95, roughly about the same size as the LX5. It actually utilzes the same sensor as the LX5 but uses the True Pic V engine which is similar to the engine on the EPL2 and the E5.



The lens is an iZuiko lens that has an equivalent focal length of 28-112mm (ie 4x zoom).
 


At its widest end....


At the tele end.

I believe that a Tcon 17 will be available and as such, the maximum tele end can be up to 190mm (35mm equivalent)

The camera come with two rotating dials. One at the back and one around the lens. The one around the lens is very much like the dial in the S95.


This dial controls ISO in P mode, Aperture in A mode and Shutter speed in S mode. It also controls the Art Filters in Art mode and the scenes in Scene mode. In the M mode, the front ring controls aperture and the rear dial controls shutter speed. This is so much better than the EPL1 which has no dials at all!


In addition to the PSAM, Art, SCN modes, the XZ1 also has a candle (low light mode)
 

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The existing PEN accessories can also be used with the XZ1


With the VVF2


With the SEMA1


The camera comes with an integrated flash, however the flash follows along the lines of the LX5 rather than the EPL1. This flash can remotely trigger the FL50R, the FL36R, the Mertz 58AF1 etc...


The camera also comes with a beautiful 3 in OLED screen.


The f1.8 iZuiko lens is what made me decide on buying this camera.
 

The new dramatic tone ART filter is simply impressive....





This ART filter is also available on the new E5 and the EPL2.

In addition to the dramatic tone, the other ART filters include POP Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film,Pin Hole and Diorama (Toy Mode).


POP Art
 


Soft Focus


Grainy Film


Pin Hole


Dramatic Tone


Diorama
 

In addition there is the Super Macro mode that aloows a focusing distance of only 1cm. However in this mode, the lens must be at its widest end!







As you can see, colour reproduction is beautiful as well.



This is Super Macro Mode + Dramatic Tone.....:)
 

Just some random pictures before I continue further....









 





All the pictures have only been resize and no PP. All shot in JPEG and I did not use RAW though RAW is availble.
 

I forgot to mention that the camera does not come with an external charger but uses a 3Pin USB adapter and a USB cable.

This means that the camera can be charged from a socket or directly from the computer. The absence of an external charger means that the camera cannot be used when charging.


What is seen on the screen when the USB is connected to a computer.

The absence of a charger is quite frustrating for me. However an external charger is available at a cost of about about RM180/SG80 and a spare battery is also about RM180/SG80. What I have done instead is that as I have a Tough 6010 camera which uses the same battery, I use the Tough 6010 camera as a charger while I swap batteries and continue with the XZ1.

Like the other Esystem and PEN models, you can check the shutter count for the camera if you know how. For the XZ1, the method is similar to that for the EPL2 and the E5.


My shutter count after 24 hours of use...:) : 227 clicks
 

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There has been some talk of high ISO noise and for most P&S and compact cameras, this is the norm.

What I will is to pixel peep and then after that not pixel peep. :)

My simple set up...


ISO 100 Resized


ISO 100 100%crop


ISO 200 100% crop


ISO 400 100% crop
 

Thanks for the quick posting! Just want to check with you, all photos are straight JPG right? It looks over-sharpened from the images here.
 


ISO 800 100% crop


ISO 1250 100%crop


ISO 1600 100% crop


ISO 2000 100% crop
 

Looks good. Thanks for sharing! ;)
 

Thanks for the quick posting! Just want to check with you, all photos are straight JPG right? It looks over-sharpened from the images here.

In camera sharpening. Not controlled by me. Straight JPEG. Unfortunately noise reduction cannot be turned off.
 


ISO 2500 100% crop


ISO 3200 100% crop


ISO4000 100% crop


ISO 5000 100% crop


ISO 6400 100% crop
 

Generally if you pixel peep, then it looks like pictures are usable only up to ISO400 or ISO 800 if you are a bit more tolerant. :)

However if not pixel peeping...


ISO 100


ISO400


ISO800


ISO1600
 


ISO 3200


ISO6400

Generally, without pixel peeping, pictures look usable up to ISO3200 especially if only planning 4R pictures.
 

i went to courts at orchard today (the one in front of 313) and tried this camera.. i feel that the manual focusing is a bit weird.. not using the barrel on the lens but rather the rotating wheel.. ergonomically, i think it is ok, but a grip would make it better..
 

i went to courts at orchard today (the one in front of 313) and tried this camera.. i feel that the manual focusing is a bit weird.. not using the barrel on the lens but rather the rotating wheel.. ergonomically, i think it is ok, but a grip would make it better..
woah... think have to head down and try out this cam...