Ergonomics and processing is because the Olympus XZ-1 very elegantly. It somewhat resembles a mixture of the Canon PowerShot S95 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC LX5. It has e.g. a similar lens focus ring as the S95 and absorbs an electronic viewfinder as the LX5. The housing front shell consists of metal, rear plastic was used on the other hand. You will notice the difference but at most on the thermal conductivity due to the Matt coating. The top of the camera is also made of metal and sets off pleasantly with the brushed look. As an alternative to the Matt Black, the camera in an elegant, brilliant white is available.
Splash proof, is not the case although but an underwater housing is optionally available, i.e. in principle nothing in the way is a dive to a depth of 40 m. The interface valve is not so well managed. It has just only cheap and is including the hinges made of plastic. This is all the more annoying, because you must use the fold much, because the battery is loaded via the USB interface. You should always have the original cable that doesn’t fit a standard cable. Who (mAh 3.7 V, 925) wants to load outside the camera a relatively small for a camera Li-ion battery, must buy an additional charger. The camera but so economical concerns with energy that the battery for approx. 320 shots CIPA. ranges. Fit the supplied AV cable to the USB port, an HDMI cable you must buy however as usual separately, an appropriate interface (HDMI micro type D) in any case, it is available.
The placement of the tripod thread is worthy of criticism. While there is metal, is however outside the optical axis and also right next to the battery compartment. For the removal of the battery or the memory card, you must so remove the XZ-1 of the tripod and screw the quick-release plate. The card slot takes up cards type SD, SDHC and SDXC. In testing it proved with the SanDisk Extreme III 30 MB/s Edition also surprisingly quickly, so that prevents the images will be recorded not in the other shooting.
On the front of the camera Olympus can use like or the like a firmer surface, a sunken case rubber, because with the smooth surface approximately 265 g light camera is not very safe. The back offers you rubber ply the thumb, however, good grip. The lens focus ring, tangibly and audibly snaps ergonomically very succeeded. Depending on the program here provides a aperture, shutter speed, ISO, art filters, scene selection etc. Only a configurability Olympus “forgot”. The lens cap on the other hand is rather cheap kind, he is just over though and attached to the fixed tube. He falls off relatively easily, with the security tape he dangles from annoying around. There are no error message, when you turn the camera. the cover is then simply off. The rear command dial is also less successful, it is not so good. It is arranged around the pad, very small and slippery. You press what easily happens when turning too much, resolves a push of a button. The best it can be rotated with the thumbnail.
The 3 is a true feast for the eyes “(7.5 cm) large OLED screen. Otherwise than in a LCD, organic light-emitting diodes without backlight come from. This saves power, brings brighter colors, bolder contrasts and one natural angle independence. With 610,000 pixels the display is resolved also fine enough. The aspect ratio is 3: 2, so that each there a black border in the viewfinder when 4: 3 and 16: 9, but at least in part used from the screens. The brightness of her it not exceeds current LCDs. That is at the sunshine can be seen in his view, but the dark image areas are darker than they are in reality. An interface to which also the optional, 1.44 million pixels fit fine viewfinder VF-2 is located between screen and hot shoe. Thus the XZ-1 has the best view compact cameras (for comparison: the viewfinder of the Panasonic LX5 resolves just times around 200,000 pixels).
The not so clear menus, however, are a permanent criticism at Olympus. Since it also helps that the links arranged main riders are now colored. Still is in addition vertically scrolled. It is simply because that the menu is still easier as e.g. on a pen, that it is equipped with options quite sparingly (more on this in the next section). The practical quick menu, which can be reached by the pressure on the OK button and which is directly above the live image, suffers from the same problem. Also here is scrolled, i.e. one sees the setting range not at a glance, but have only to look. It is but not secret that you can get used in intensive use quite it.
The live image, which is updated very quickly and attracts no streaks or jerky is well done. A grid, as well as a live histogram can show, also a preview of exposure is there that works even with the Flash. It is very convenient that the live image to darker exposure is not black, but you can always see his motive.
Facilities shows part here is that Olympus has built long no such sophisticated camera in the compact segment, or that the camera was developed by the engineers of compact camera, that to have thrown little outside the box to the system cameras of the own House. While there are many features and also as far as possible the necessary manual setting possibilities, because of the diversity the XZ-1, however, does not match such as a pen. As an example the ISO automatic is called here, whose range is nailed on ISO 100-1600. An adjustable ceiling would be highly desirable, because of ISO 400, the image quality as with all compact cameras decreases significantly. Manually, however, has full control and can be 100 and 6,400 set in third level between ISO everything.
The scene modes and in particular the way filters are very successful. Per lens focus ring, it selects its effect, can leave the scene recognition system in the scene modes of and the camera. When the type filter, you have to be careful, because part image details are lost when the heavily exaggerated effects that you could still use for poster printing. The effects can be applied but later so that you can keep the original image. In the Halbautomatiken, as well as in manual mode, however, you have more control over the image, also color and gradation for the individual claim can be customized if you shoot in RAW format not anyway. If you have enough memory card capacity, can simultaneously record both format. Care should be taken at the factory default settings for the JPEG quality is available only on “N” as “normal”. The images are only approx. 2 MB big, i.e. details are lost because of the compression. You should choose, necessarily “F” as “fine”, then the images are less than 5 MBytes per piece. The storage is done so or so quite fast and happens in the background, which means you can shoot more.
The burst mode works at full resolution with 2 pictures / s, in the JPEG format 100 images, on RAW, however, can be made “only” 31 at the time. Both are from the forth number for a compact camera is very good values even if there are no “cycle”. You waive some resolution, the serial frame rate in JPEG mode can be increased even. The activation of the exposure bracketing is rather tricky. It is grayed out in the quick menu and can be selected only if you previously EV chose the increment from 0.3 to 1.7 in the menu. The XZ-1 makes three images. For HDR shots to deal with very high-contrast scenes that is somewhat scarce, a pity, that the XZ-1 has no HDR function. For this purpose, it absorbs panoramas and “glues” together (stitcht) directly the maximum of three images. You must trigger the first image by hand, then the XZ-1 detects the swivel direction automatically and raises the second and third image, if one has two virtual crosses in cover. Then the camera expects a long time, but the result even when detailed architecture is accurate (see the example in the links). It is a pity, however, that the panoramas resolve only about 4.6 megapixel. At the long calculation time, Olympus like to can work with the full resolution. Here “Handmade” remains in demand by the photographer.
Amazingly good also the video mode succeeded Olympus, where the company in contrast to other manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and Canon not on experience in the field of the camcorder can access back. So the auto focus is after a tiny delay very gently and absolutely silent on the new level of focus sharply, if one has panned for example from an object in the foreground to the background. The zoom is slowed, i.e. again provides the camera for the later Viewer is not dizzy. The zoom noise is this also a bit quieter, but with the device on the sound track. This is really annoying but only in very quiet environments. If you would like to can also completely disable the recording in the menu. If you connect an external stereo microphone via the optional accessory shoe adapter, can decouple it acoustically from the camera or far enough from the zoom motor away to install, so no noise will be included. The video resolution is sufficient with 1280 x 720 pixels, 30 fps videos are also liquid. Not so pretty that is saving form type AVI motion JPEG, because it is consumed much memory in relation to the quality. MPEG-4 would be better to the camera.
A minor annoyance in turn is found in the sound settings of the camera. So, you can choose between three keys, with at least one requires no keypad tones. The electronic Auslösegeräusch, however, you can only disable if you lower the volume level to zero, but there are no acoustic af confirmation. In the playback mode you will find also some Bildbearbeitungsmöglichkleiten, even RAW photos can change within the camera in JPEGs, with various parameters can be set. Nice ways to play is also arising from the double shot mode which can be activated even during recording.
When the Flash again, Olympus is hardly a nakedness. The Guide number of 6.4 is although not particularly high, but by the enormous maximum aperture is specified the Flash in the wide angle ranges 100 3.5 m still at ISO far, in the tele it needed for 2.5 m. The range is doubled for an acceptable image quality at ISO 400. But what is missing is an automatic out of Flash, the photographer must do so already himself. But then the Flash has an automatic, a fill function, can fire the second curtain and also with longer shutter speeds are used. In addition to a Flash exposure correction are even manual power levels available, where there is also no measuring Flash (interesting for example in the slave Flash). But also E-system compatible TTL flash units can be used by the Aufsteckschuh. The internal Flash has the ability to wirelessly control system flashes of Olympus. However it is limited to a channel and a set of Flash which is rather a pity. The Flash illumination in wide angle is only acceptable. First of all she right upper and the lower-right corner get even more from less visible light. Medium- and long focal length there is, however, by their very nature to little objectionable. By the way, the XZ-1 has a program storage on the mode dial, so that the photographer can himself here his preferred settings save and retrieve at any time.
Objectively, you will find lenses bright in the wide angle from some manufacturers. In contrast, tele, the lens opening fails usually very lean. The XZ-1 sets here completely new standards, but at Telephoto (112 mm KB) with F2, it is 5 lichtstärker than normal cameras in wide angle. There again is the XZ-1 with F1, 8 at 28 mm (KB). Thanks to lens ring, the aperture in the aperture can be adjusted also very pleasant. To F8. 0 is a fine third gradation available. Within limits, you can provide a somewhat blurry background with the camera in the telephoto position even in portraits. The Bokeh can however not quite compete with true portrait lenses. The lens has six aperture blades, which formed at closed aperture to a very asymmetric hexagon. In long exposures, however, so closed aperture can ensure thanks to their straight fin number pretty asterisk effects on point light sources, what you sent can use as a photographer.
In sunshine, it is difficult to use the open aperture of the lens, because too much light on the sensor comes in a shortest shutter speed of 1/2000 s and ISO 100. Olympus has it but thought and used a pivoting filter which enable the quick menu. He swallows 3 EV to light, so is closing the aperture to 3 levels of the amount of light.
The auto focus speed of the lens knows how to convince. Lighting conditions, that approximately correspond to a cloudy sky, sparked the XZ-1 with good contrast in less than a half-second. Also in the field test the auto focus was always afloat and purposefully, it makes little difference whether you shoot in the wide angle or telephoto. Also the pure shutter lag is evident with 70 milliseconds, even if it sets up no records. We missed have a specific focal length specification on the screen, you can scale the zoom bar at most as great Schätzeisen. For this to pass the range from wide angle to telephoto in pleasant 1.7 s, up to 17 steps can be sensitively set.
The local setting boundaries are also practical. In normal mode, the XZ-1 from 60 cm is focused, is able to focus but in wide angle from 10 cm and the tele from 30 cm, which you can make already good detail shots. The Super macro mode activating only in wide angle and allows a minimum focus distance of 1 cm from the front lens. However this brings great problems with the scene illumination with, besides the field curvature very ugly distorted many motif. However, the tightly related part of the lens provides a thread to the recording of a Adaptertubus as an optical filter, a close-up lens or a teleconverter can be mounted on the turn. The photographic possibilities expands enormously. The number of cameras with such option is extremely manageable. In the menu, there is an entry that should be enabled when using the original Telekonverters TCON-17 extra. Without significant loss of light, the telephoto focal length by a factor of 1.7, so on approx. 190 mm (small-format equivalent), is thus extended. Enabling the option is important among other things for the mechanical image stabilizer, which reduces with sensor movement image Verwackelungen. Olympus specifies however only a compensation factor of 2 EV steps, which is somewhat thin.
We have built an own, based on DxO test lab in Lübeck image quality in December 2010, which the hinzugekauften DCTau laboratory testing should be replaced. This brings greater flexibility in the tests on the one hand, on the other hand the development of a user-friendly output in the form of the familiar or in the future much improved laboratory testing time, which is why we have currently a need can not offer still such. But, the Olympus XZ-1 is the first camera that we have tested only in the new lab test. When compared with DCTau, it should be noted that when the dynamic range in the DxO test higher values out come as in DCTau, a measurement of the artifacts on fine structures no longer exists. This is measured as the Flash illumination as well as the tendency to color fringing and colour reproduction at all.
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