Review of the Oly XZ-1

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scottfiji

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I got a few XZ-1 cameras in stock this week at the store, so I've been using the XZ-1 all day yesterday and today, trying out the video, macro, various modes, etc. and I've put up a review.

Olympus XZ-1 review

I hope you find it helpful. Let me know if there is anything you'd like me to add to it.

Scott
 
Hi Scott, Read your review. It's a great review.
In comparing to the E-PL2 you mention the XZ-1 has a better lens. Might be helpful to explain how it is better ( wider, better resolution, etc), especially in light of the next sentence stating that the E-PL2 lens is better at macro. I'm thinking of getting that lens for my E-PL1 and would be interested in what you think.
Also, I'm surprised that you don't mention the effect (if any) of the larger sensor of the E-PL2.
I liked how you compared it to the S-95, which is clearly it's real competitor.

The XZ-1's inability to fire the strobe in supermacro is a real concern that I was not aware of. Glad you highlighted it as a lot of folks might want to match it up to their INON strobes for supermacro.

As soon as you can you have to get an underwater picture in the review though!
 
Damn! I've been waiting for this camera for quite a while and now I will have to return it as soon as it arrives at my door on Monday!
It's back to square on for me since having the ability to fire my strobes in supermacro is a must......
 
Humm, according to the review, this lens, in macro, is actually better at the long focal length, if that is true, it is a surprise, as I know of no P&S that does not loose magnification as you zoom out. SLR lens usually are fixed minimum focus, so with them magnification is at the maximum MM setting.

Odd here, because it could not be fixed (or difference would be much greater between 28mm and 112mm. But the fact that it show any improvement is a huge plus.

I usually shoot macro at around 90 mm..to give some working distance, if what is posted is true, then this is much better an the S95 (perhaps not at 28mm, but I don't use that)...add a wet lens and one should be good to go.

The other thing that is not listed, is that with a S95, macro is a narrow range of distance... and as you zoom out this gets very small. With say a LX-5, macro is not so limited, you can still focus out farther. The S95 makes using an add on macro very difficult because of this (as focus range is so narrow.)..wonder how the Oly does in that regard?

The other thing not listed and the one that makes the most difference with add on wide angle is the lens travel.. how much and were the 28 -35 is in this travel.

If the lens, for example, starts out back at 28mm, and moves a lot to maximum, then the port will have to be way out, and one cannot use wide angle add ons. If the lens does not move or the wide angle is near to the maximum, then they work really well. How much and how the lens moves is the big issue here. The LX-5, for example is farthest in at around 50mm and moves out going in either direction. at 24 it is just a bit behind it's maximum zoom.
 
So now the question for me is should I get the housing for my E-PL1 and go with the 14-42 only as I can't afford the other more expensive lenses or should I go with the ZX-1?
 
thanks everyone for the comments, I made some updates to the review.

Pufferfish, thanks for your excellent feedback / commentary!

>> The S95 makes using an add on macro very difficult because of this (as focus range is so narrow.)..wonder how the Oly does in that regard?

I'll check that out this weekend.

Scott
 
tagging along.
 
Damn! I've been waiting for this camera for quite a while and now I will have to return it as soon as it arrives at my door on Monday!
It's back to square on for me since having the ability to fire my strobes in supermacro is a must......

The internal strobe would be blocked by the lens in supermacro, so Olympus engineers apparently decided to disable internal strobe on supermacro -- but probably to allow external strobes to work via the hotshoe. This is something that can be verified with just an ordinary flash, outside the housing. They did that on previous generations with supermacro, in particular the C-series. I don't agree with the design choice, but that seems to be what they chose to do.

They should have left it optional, since would be possible using fiber cable to trigger an external macro flash that would illuminate the subject, or even re-direct the light from the internal flash via a fiber snoot for macro.

I prefer to use wired TTL, so I am waiting for a housing that supports that. It's not released, but the Ikelite housing should support external flash on supermacro, assuming the firmware allows it.
 
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The internal strobe would be blocked by the lens in supermacro, so Olympus engineers apparently decided to disable internal strobe on supermacro -- but probably to allow external strobes to work via the hotshoe. This is something that can be verified with just an ordinary flash, outside the housing. They did that on previous generations with supermacro, in particular the C-series. I don't agree with the design choice, but that seems to be what they chose to do.

They should have left it optional, since would be possible using fiber cable to trigger an external macro flash that would illuminate the subject, or even re-direct the light from the internal flash via a fiber snoot for macro.

I prefer to use wired TTL, so I am waiting for a housing that supports that. Ikelite will for sure. It's not released, but the Ikelite housing should support external flash on supermacro, assuming the firmware allows it.

I'm hoping that enough people will complain about this to Oly that they will release a firmware update that can possibly fix the problem. I don't care about supermacro on land but my YS01 strobes obviously need the internal flash.......
 
It's been a number of years, but I'm thiking Oly used to block the strobe in supermacro mode due to the mentioned fact that the strobe would be blocked by the lens... but you could put the strobe in "slave" mode so it'd at least fire. You'd lose the ttl exposure but you could at least trigger an external strobe and bracket your exposures. Might that be the case here?


Edit: Just did a search of the archives, there's threads on this fix. Here's one http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/olympus-outlet/92401-super-macro-5060-7070-a.html
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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