Take Great Picture With Olympus Xz1

Take Great Picture With Olympus Xz1

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The Olympus XZ1 is the hottest new camera within the high-end point-and-shoot category. Priced at $500 it takes the place of the Olympus LX-5 as the premier $500 compact, particularly because the LX-5 has since dropped to $399. The Olympus XZ1 packs a comparatively large sensor, an f/1.8-2.5 lens, 4x optical zoom, and an excellent 3-inch OLED display. It has nearly all of the features of Olympus PEN E-PL2 digital camera apart from the detached lens. The Olympus XZ1 even has a hot shot and accessory port.

Size is a vital issue with a point-and-shoot cameras, so its something to think about with Olympus XZ1. Its bigger than the S95 and the LX-5, however smaller than the E-PL2 or E-P2 PEN cameras. So its undoubtedly a compact digital camera, but its not pants-pocketable, and its dangerously near the size of the Olympus GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera with the pancake lens. Sure, that setup doesnt have as versatile a lens, but it surely does have an amazing sensor, and it takes wonderful pictures. The XZ-1 comes with a neck strap, but I think its a better size for a wrist strap, which says something good about its dimension/weight. For those that repeatedly carry bags the size will be not a matter of concern because its not large or heavy enough to feel like any more of an addition in a bag than the S95 or related camera.

When it comes to picture quality the Olympus XZ1 is very good. Pictures are sharp, colours are excellent, and pictures are taken with out hitch thanks to a fast, reliable auto focus. JPGs look nice, RAWs look even better, and the digicam takes superb photos as much as ISO 1600. After that there is more noise but photos are very usable. Macro on the digicam is okay, nothing too special, and whereas 4x optical zoom beats some of the competition it is still not great for the cameras size.

While picture quality is very good, video quality is sub-par. Its fantastic that the Olympus XZ1 can only take up to 720p but the resulting video isnt as sharp because it might be and the autofocus isnt great. It is a digital camera for taking still images.

The software menus are basically what weve seen from Olympus before, which is to say easy to use and relatively intuitive. There are some minor issues, for example, attending to macro/super macro means you have to go into the AF zone control and hit Info, after which choose your Macro mode. Things like this are annoying however overall the camera is easy enough to control if you can deal with having DSLR-like power in a digicam with out that level of physical controls.

As much as I love shooting with the Olympus XZ1I never forgot that, at $500, its an expensive camera. This makes minor points seem worse than they are. For example, for $500 Id prefer to see a lens cap that can keep on the camera. The one the XZ-1 includes is miserable. Id additionally wish to see a battery charger, not charging using an AC adapter and the USB port. And because the digital camera has an accessory port all of the cool extras (like an external audio input) are all paid-for accessories.

So, overall, the Olympus XZ1 is a fantastic camera if you are looking for a serious compact. Its fun to use and takes great images. That noted, the video needs work, and if you want something this size you should seriously be considering Micro Four Thirds. If you want to stick with a fixed lens, Id recommended the XZ-1 over the Canon G12 or the LX-5. The S95 has a size and price advantage so that will come down to user preference.

About the Author:
I enjoy writing reviews on variety of products.
If you need to get more review about Panasonic ZS10 and where the best place to buy this Digital Camera, just visit our site at http://www.panasoniczs10.com.



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