Olympus XZ-1 Review

Olympus XZ-1 Review: Olympus enters the high-end compact camera market with the XZ-1

Old Olympus fans will remember the good old days when Olympus was one of the pioneers of digital photography. Top models of the compact cameras were once called C-5060 or C-8080. What followed was a rather dark chapter in view of these cameras. But now Olympus is back again and with the XZ-1 has again added a high-end compact camera to its range, which impresses with an unrivalled high speed lens with F1.8 to F2.5.

Short evaluation

Pros

• Fast autofocus and fast frame rates
• Practical lens adjustment ring
• Versatile connection options for system accessories, including EVF, (wireless) TTL flash, lens accessories
• Brilliant, high-contrast, bright and fine-resolution OLED screen
• Unrivalled high speed lens with swing-in grey filter

Cons

• Great panorama mode is only moderately fun despite very good stitching results due to long computing time and low resolution
• Little grip on the slippery camera front and slippery rear e-dial
• Relatively small battery without external charger (charging via USB)

The CCD sensor could be the same as in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. The Olympus XZ-1 can also handle multiple aspect ratios (4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 6:6). But whether the multi-aspect effect comes into play here, as with Panasonic, is not exactly clear from the Olympus announcement. Panasonic uses the oversized sensor, which has slightly more than 11 megapixels, for a different part depending on the aspect ratio. At 4:3 somewhat narrower and higher than at 3:2 and 16:9. The result is a constant image angle. However, at the heart of the XZ-1 beats the powerful TruePic V image processor. The lens should come from the world-famous Tatsuno factory, where only the highest quality Zuiko interchangeable lenses have been manufactured since time immemorial. Olympus has 70 years of experience in this art. The image sensor is mounted on movable bearings, which allows up to 2 EV levels longer exposure without shake. The sensor, by the way, has twice as large pixels as the 1/2.3″ small CCD with 14 megapixels, which is so widely used. The XZ-1 allows up to ISO 6,400 – at full resolution, of course.

Olympus XZ-1 [Photo: Olympus]

Another detail of the i.Zuiko digital lens is the lens ring, which can be used to set various parameters. Owners of a Canon PowerShot S90 and S95 will know this. A highlight is the rear 3″ (7.5 cm) OLED screen. A display technology that was previously only used by Samsung, but is now set to conquer the digital camera world after smartphones. In OLEDs, the pixels consist of organic light-emitting diodes. 610.000 pieces on the XZ-1 display, eliminating the need for display backlighting. OLEDs have a higher contrast, are by nature independent of viewing angle and energy-saving. Also the readability in sunlight is quite good, whereby the colours are still displayed brightly.

But this hasn’t been the last treat yet: The XZ-1 has a TTL system flash shoe for all E system flashes, but can also control the FL36R and FL50R system flashes wirelessly with the integrated pop-up flash. But only in one group and on one channel. The interface known from the Olympus Pen E-P2, E-PL1 and E-PL2 is located under the flash shoe on the back of the camera, i.e. the corresponding accessories also fit on the XZ-1. This makes it a real system compact camera, which is virtually only lacking the interchangeable lens capability. An electronic viewfinder, a stereo microphone adapter and other accessories can be connected to the interface.

In terms of operation and features, the XZ-1 is aimed both at automatic photographers and those who like to turn the wheels themselves in order to achieve the best picture result. A program selector wheel, a control pad with knobs for directly calling important functions up to a rotary wheel around the control pad and the already mentioned lens ring everything is available. Nevertheless, the camera looks very tidy, which underlines the chic retro design in the optionally white or matt black housing.

An intelligent auto mode automatically selects the right scene mode if the photographer does not want to predefine it. Of course, faces are also recognized. If you want, you can also get deeper into photography with the help of the Live Guide known from the Pen E-PL1. The guide helps you to adjust the camera to the subject or to learn why you should adjust something and what it does. Exposure time and aperture can be controlled manually, and RAW as a storage format is not missing with such a high-end camera. In addition, the XZ-1 takes not only bracket shots, but also white balance bracket shots when you adjust it. Of course, the tracking autofocus must not be missing. Impressive macro shots can be taken up to 1 cm close to the front lens, even an AF auxiliary light is built in.

But also the art filters belong to the good sound with the better cameras from Olympus to give his pictures a special effect. The XZ-1 offers six different models, including Dramatic Tone, Grainy Film and Pinhole Camera. The filters can even be activated in HD video mode, because the XZ-1 can of course record moving image sequences in 720p. However, the relatively old and memory wasting Motion-JPEG compression is used. Movies and photos can also be displayed on suitable HDTVs via the built-in HDMI interface.

Ergonomics and workmanship

The Olympus XZ-1 is very elegant. It reminds a bit of a mix of the Canon PowerShot S95 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. For example, it has a lens adjustment ring similar to the S95 and, like the LX5, has an electronic viewfinder. The front shell of the case is made of metal, while plastic was used for the back. However, the difference can only be seen in the thermal conductivity due to the matt coating. The upper side of the camera is also made of metal and is pleasantly set off by the brushed optics. As an alternative to the matt black, the camera is also available in elegant, glossy white. Although the housing is not splash-proof, an optional underwater housing is available, i.e. nothing stands in the way of a dive to 40 m depth. The interface flap is not as successful. It just looks cheap and is made of plastic including the hinges. This is all the more annoying because you have to use the flap a lot, because the battery is charged via the USB interface. You should always have the original cable with you, because a standard cable does not fit. If you want to charge the relatively small Li-Ion battery (3.7 V, 925 mAh) outside the camera, you have to buy an additional charger. However, the camera uses energy so sparingly that the battery is sufficient for around 320 shots according to CIPA. The included AV cable also fits to the USB port, but you have to buy an HDMI cable separately, as usual, a corresponding interface (HDMI Micro, type D) is available.

 

The placement of the tripod thread is also worthy of criticism. Although it is made of metal, it is located outside the optical axis and directly next to the battery compartment. In order to remove the battery or the memory card, the XZ-1 must be removed from the tripod or the quick-release plate unscrewed. The card slot accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. In the test, the SanDisk Extreme III 30 MB/s edition also proved to be surprisingly fast, so that image storage does not prevent further photography.

On the front side of the camera, Olympus would have liked to have a surface with a better grip, an embedded grained rubber, etc., because with the smooth surface, the 265 g light camera doesn’t hold very securely. The back, on the other hand, offers the thumb a good hold thanks to the rubber insert. The lens adjustment ring is ergonomically very successful and locks in place audibly and perceptibly. Depending on the program, you can set the aperture, exposure time, ISO, art filter, subject program or similar. Only one configurability has Olympus “forgotten”. The lens cap, on the other hand, is rather of the cheap type, it is simply slipped over and clamps onto the fixed tube.

It falls off relatively easily, with the safety strap it dangles around disturbingly. But there is no error message when you switch on the camera. the lid simply falls off. Also less successful is the rear adjustment wheel, it is not so well operable. It is arranged around the steering pad, very small and slippery. If you press too hard when turning, which easily happens, a push of a button dissolves. The best way to twist it is with your thumbnail.

A real feast for the eyes is the 3″ (7.5 cm) OLED screen. Unlike an LCD, the organic light-emitting diodes do not require backlighting. This saves electricity, brings brighter colours, stronger contrasts and a natural viewing angle independence. With 610,000 pixels, the display also has a fine enough resolution. The aspect ratio is 3:2, so that the viewfinder image has a black border at 4:3 and 16:9, which is at least partially used by the screen displays. In terms of brightness, it does not outperform current LCDs. This means that in sunshine you can see your viewfinder image, but the dark areas of the image appear darker than they really are. Between the screen and the flash shoe there is an interface that also fits the optional 1.44 million pixel VF-2 viewfinder. This gives the XZ-1 probably the best viewfinder image of all compact cameras (for comparison: the viewfinder of the Panasonic LX5 only resolves around 200,000 pixels).

A constant point of criticism at Olympus, on the other hand, are the menus, which are not so clear. It doesn’t help that the main tabs on the left are now colored. You are still scrolling vertically. The fact that the menu nevertheless appears more clearly arranged than, for example, on a Pen model, is simply due to the fact that it is quite sparingly equipped with setting options (more about this in the next section). The practical quick menu, which can be reached by pressing the OK key and which lies directly over the live image, suffers from the same problem. You can also browse here, i.e. you don’t see the range of settings at a glance, but have to search first. However, it is not to be concealed that one can get used to it with intensive use.

Well done is the live image, which is updated very quickly and doesn’t draw streaks or jerk. A grid and a live histogram can be faded in, and there is also an exposure preview that works even when the flash is activated. It is very practical that the live image does not turn black when the exposure is too dark, but you can always recognize your subject.

Equipment

This shows that Olympus has not built such a sophisticated camera in the compact segment for a long time and that the camera was developed by the compact camera engineers, who barely broadened their horizons to the system cameras of their own company. Although there are many features and the necessary manual adjustment options, the XZ-1 does not come close to the variety of a pen, for example. An example of this is the ISO automatic, whose control range is nailed down to ISO 100-1,600. An adjustable upper limit would be very desirable, because above ISO 400 the image quality decreases noticeably as with all compact cameras. Manual, on the other hand, you have full control and can adjust everything in third steps between ISO 100 and 6,400.

The scene mode programs and especially the art filters are very successful in achieving their goals. You can select your effect with the lens adjustment ring, but you can also leave the scene recognition to the camera with the scene programs. With the art filters, one has to be careful, as some image details that could still be used for poster printing are lost due to the heavily exaggerated effects. However, the effects can also be applied later so that the original image can be retained. In the semi-automatic as well as in the manual mode, however, one has more control over the image, in addition colors and gradation can be adjusted for the individual claim, as long as one does not photograph anyway in the RAW format. If you have enough memory card capacity, you can record both formats simultaneously. Be careful with the factory settings, because the JPEG quality is only set to “N” like “normal”. The images will then only be about 2 MBytes in size, i.e. details will be lost due to compression. You should absolutely choose “F” like “fine”, then the pictures have about 5 MBytes per piece. The storage takes place anyway quite fast and happens in the background, i.e. one can photograph further.

The continuous-advance mode operates at 2 fps at full resolution, with 100 frames in JPEG format and “only” 31 frames in RAW format. Both are extremely good values for a compact camera in terms of the number, even if there is no “continuous run”. If you do without some resolution, the continuous shooting rate can be increased in JPEG mode. A little tricky is the activation of the exposure bracketing function. It is grayed out in the quick menu and cannot be selected until the step size between 0.3 and 1.7 EV has been selected in the menu. The XZ-1 then takes three pictures. This is a bit tight for HDR shots to cope with high-contrast scenes, but it’s also a shame that the XZ-1 doesn’t have an HDR function. For this she takes panoramas and “sticks” (stitches) the maximum of three pictures together directly. You have to trigger the first image by hand, then the XZ-1 automatically recognizes the swivel direction and triggers the second and third image if you have brought two virtual crosses into congruence. The camera then calculates for a very long time, but the result is error-free even with a detailed architecture (see example in the links below). It’s a pity, however, that the panoramas only have a resolution of about 4.6 megapixels. Given the long computing time, Olympus would have liked to have been able to work at full resolution. Here, the photographer continues to demand “handwork”.

Olympus has also succeeded surprisingly well in the video mode, where the company, unlike other manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung or Canon can not fall back on experience in the camcorder field. Thus, after a tiny delay, the autofocus focuses very gently and absolutely noiselessly on the new focal plane, if, for example, one has swivelled from an object in the foreground to the background. Zooming is slowed down, i.e. here too the camera ensures that the viewer is not dizzy. The zoom noise is also a little quieter, but gets onto the soundtrack. But this is only really annoying in very quiet environments. If you wish, you can switch off the sound recording completely in the menu. If an external stereo microphone is connected via the optional accessory shoe adapter, it can be acoustically decoupled from the camera or mounted far enough away from the zoom motor so that no more noise is recorded. The video resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels is sufficient, at 30 fps the videos are also fluid. The AVI Motion JPEG memory type is not quite as nice, because it consumes a lot of memory in relation to the quality. MPEG-4 would make the camera look better.

A little annoyance can be found in the sound settings of the camera. So you can choose between three keys, one of which has no key tones. The electronic trigger noise, on the other hand, can only be switched off if you lower the volume level to zero, but then you no longer have an acoustic confirmation of sharpness. In the playback mode, one also finds some image processing possibilities, even RAW photos can be converted within the camera into JPEGs, whereby various parameters can be specified. The double-exposure function, which can also be activated during shooting, also offers nice playing options.

Olympus, on the other hand, barely exposes itself to lightning. The guide number of 6.4 isn’t particularly high, but due to the enormous speed of the lens, the flash reaches 3.5 m in wide angle at ISO 100, and 2.5 m in telephoto. The ranges are doubled with an acceptable image quality at ISO 400. What is missing, however, is an automatic extension of the flash, so the photographer has to do this himself. But then the flash has an automatic function, a brightening function, can fire at the second shutter curtain and can also be used with longer shutter speeds. In addition to flash exposure correction, there are even manual power levels available, where there is no measuring flash (interesting, for example, with slave flashes). The slip-on shoe also allows the use of E-system-compatible TTL flash units. The internal flash also has the ability to control Olympus system flashes wirelessly. However, you are limited to one channel and one flash group, which is a pity. The wide-angle flash illumination is only acceptable. Especially the upper right corner and even more the lower right corner get visibly less light. At medium and long focal lengths, however, there is naturally little to complain about. By the way, the XZ-1 has a program memory slot on the mode dial so that the photographer can save his preferred settings and recall them at any time.

Lens

Some manufacturers offer wide-angle lenses with high light output. In the telephoto range, on the other hand, the lens aperture is usually very thin. The XZ-1 sets completely new standards here, as it is brighter at Tele (112 mm KB) with F2.5 than normal wide-angle cameras. There again, XZ-1 shines with F1,8 at 28 mm (KB). Thanks to the lens ring, the aperture can also be adjusted very comfortably, e.g. in the automatic timer. A fine third gradation is available up to F8.0. Within limits, you can use the camera in telescopic position even for portraits to provide a somewhat blurred background. But the Bokeh can’t quite keep up with real portrait lenses. The lens has six aperture blades that form a very asymmetrical hexagon when the aperture is closed. In long-term exposures, on the other hand, the closed aperture with its even number of lamellas can create pretty star-like effects on point light sources, which photographers can use to their advantage.

When the sun is shining, it becomes difficult to use the open aperture of the lens with a shortest shutter speed of 1/2,000 s and ISO 100, because there is too much light on the sensor. But Olympus has thought of this and installed a swing-in gray filter that can be activated via the quick menu. It swallows 3 EV levels of light, i.e. the amount of light corresponds to closing the aperture by 3 levels.

The autofocus speed of the lens is also convincing. In light conditions similar to a cloudy sky, the XZ-1 triggered in less than half a second with good contrast. The autofocus was also always fast and unerring in the practical test, and it makes hardly any difference whether you shoot in wide-angle or tele-photo. Even the pure release delay can be seen with 70 milliseconds, even if it does not set any records. We missed a concrete focal length indication on the screen, the zoom bar can only be classified as a big treasure. The range from wide-angle to telephoto is covered in a pleasant 1.7 s, up to 17 steps can be sensitively adjusted.

The close-up limits are also suitable for practical use. In normal mode, the XZ-1 focuses from 60 cm, but can also focus from 10 cm in wide-angle mode and from 30 cm in telephoto mode, allowing you to take good detail shots. The super macro mode, on the other hand, can only be activated in wide angle and allows a minimum focus distance of 1 cm from the front lens. However, this causes big problems with the illumination of the motif, apart from that the curvature of the image field distorts some scene modes very unsightly. The fixed part of the lens, however, has a thread for an adapter tube, to which an optical filter, a close-up lens or a teleconverter can be mounted. This expands the photographic possibilities enormously. The number of cameras with such an option is very manageable. In the menu there is an extra entry which should be activated when using the original teleconverter TCON-17. Without significant light loss, the telephoto focal length is extended by a factor of 1.7, i.e. to approx. 190 mm (35mm equivalent). It is important to activate this option for the mechanical image stabilizer, which uses sensor movements to reduce image shake. However, Olympus only gives a compensation factor of 2 light value levels, which is a bit meager.

Picture quality

The edge sharpness of the lens is amazing. Although a loss of resolution at the edge of the picture in the wide angle with open aperture cannot be argued away, one should not forget here that the aperture is 1.8 with 28 mm 35mm equivalent. When stopped down to F2.8, the edge blur is significantly reduced, slight improvements can still be observed with F4. At medium focal length (approx. 65 mm), on the other hand, edge blur plays no role; in telescope position, it reappears with moderate blur, but has already disappeared again at F4. If one considers the resolution using the MFT curve over different apertures and focal lengths, F2.8 results in the most uniform and best image in relation to the focal lengths. Here, the lens creates about 35-38 line pairs per millimeter at the image center and about 23-28 line pairs per millimeter at the image edge. At F5.6, the center and edges of the image are closest together with a range of 29-36 line pairs. At F8.0, slight diffraction blur becomes noticeable, and the camera cannot be dimmed any further. Thus the resolution of the XZ-1 surpasses e.g. the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 or Canon PowerShot G12 by a hair’s breadth.

The XZ-1 does not fully compensate for distortion electronically. Nevertheless, it is practically invisible at medium and long focal lengths and only disturbing at wide angles with very critical subjects. Chromatic aberrations appear predominantly at the lower end of the focal length range. Even dipping down does not help here to stop the color fringes that occur at least in the edge areas. At medium focal length, on the other hand, the lens is impeccable; at telephoto, the color fringes reappear in an attenuated form. An edge darkening occurs again with all measured focal lengths, it disappears completely by two stops, i.e. in the wide-angle at F2.8 and in the telephoto at F4.0. The medium focal length, on the other hand, is also very good openly and shows at most measurable, but by no means visible vignetting. The XZ-1 therefore shows a very “classic” behavior across all lens relevant parameters. The biggest weaknesses are in the wide angle, the lens is excellent at medium focal length, in the telescope position some problems appear again at least in an attenuated form. Compared to the competition, the lens is more positive than negative.

It’s a little different with the noise, for example. The large sensor with its moderate resolution in comparison to almost all pocket snaps has an advantage, but is still not able to perform miracles. Up to ISO 400 the image quality is quite good, up to ISO 800 still acceptable, above that the noise increases significantly. This results in an advantage of about one ISO level compared to the higher resolution tiny sensors. Compared to the competition such as the Panasonic LX5 or Canon S95, however, the Olympus has a slightly higher noise level. This may be partly due to the fact that the XZ-1 suppresses noise somewhat less aggressively, but the subjective image quality and fineness of detail speak for it. So the tuning of the XZ-1 is actually quite good in practice, unless you are an extreme noise allergy sufferer and prefer it a little softer. The noise character, i.e. the deviation of the disturbance pixels from the actual color as well as the “size” of the disturbances (related to a 20 x 30 cm printout) also clearly show that the acceptable limit is ISO 800. It is all the more disturbing that the ISO automatic uses up to 1,600.

The increase in noise is accompanied by a decrease in input dynamics and tonal range. Here, too, the measured values drop significantly from ISO 800 to 1,600. 9.8 f-stops dynamic range is achieved at ISO 100, 9 f-stops at ISO 800, but poor 7.6 at ISO 1,600. The tonal range (theoretical maximum of 8 bits) starts at 7.7 bits at ISO 100, 7.3 bits at ISO 800 and only 6.8 bits at ISO 1,600, so many fine gradations are wasted. The color reproduction showed a slight tendency to red and yellow tones, which are more strongly reproduced than in reality. This leads to a generally somewhat warmer color rendering. All in all, the XZ-1 doesn’t give any nudity to the image quality and also stands up to the comparison with the competition, whereby the XZ-1 makes up for the minimally worse performance in some areas with a better overall performance in other areas.

Conclusions

The XZ-1 looks as if Olympus has always built such high-end compact cameras. You don’t learn that kind of thing. Good workmanship, good equipment that satisfies both automatic users and ambitious photographers with manual adjustment options, and a phenomenally fast lens are on the plus side. You only have to cut back a little on the slippery rear wheel, the windy plastic flap in front of the interfaces, the placement of the tripod thread and the missing external charger (instead it charges via USB). The Olympus is very good in terms of performance and image quality and can easily keep up with the competition. Some weaknesses at the short end of the focal length are easily forgiven in view of the light intensity. The video function also works astonishingly “smooth”, especially since an external microphone can be connected via an optional adapter. The high-resolution optional electronic viewfinder is unrivalled. All in all, the Olympus XZ-1 is a camera that makes the purchase decision in this class a bit more difficult.

Firmware Update 1.6 for the Olympus XZ-1: Orientation Sensor Retrofitted

Olympus updates the firmware of the XZ-1 compact camera to version 1.6. The new camera software teaches the camera to either deactivate the orientation sensor in the menu or leave it switched on. So far the sensor could not be switched off. The update for the XZ-1 is done via an Internet-capable PC with Olympus software installed, the camera simply has to be plugged in via USB. If you still do not have the confidence to do so, you should contact the camera service or your specialist dealer.

Olympus XZ-1 Datasheet