Olympus XZ-1

While the Pen range of compacts with interchangeable lenses is still going strong, Olympus has launched another new toy to attract the attention of advanced photographers. The XZ-1 is an expert compact that may not look like anything out of the ordinary, but this camera is full of nice surprises

Handling

Launching with an RRP of £400, the Olympus XZ-1 is definitely aimed at the high-end, expert-level market. The camera has a fairly simple interface, a compact body and is pleasant to handle. However, some of the options clearly show that this camera is as suitable for beginners as it is for advanced users. As well as all the usual expert settings, including a dial for choosing the exposure mode (P, S, A, M), the XZ-1 also features the kind of automatic scene modes typically found in mainstream compacts, as well as creative filters and an Auto Intelligent mode. 

Similarly, the settings accessible via the click-round wheel on the back of the camera are standard options (flash, focusing, self-timer and exposure correction) and there's no way of directly accessing certain more advanced functions like exposure metering, white balance or saved exposure settings. Is that really such a big deal? For picky expert users it'll no doubt be a drawback, but for photographers looking for a functional, high-end compact for use on the move, it really shouldn't be too much of a problem, especially since the control ring around the lens offers a quick and easy way to change the main setting in each of the priority modes—a really nice touch.

The Olympus XZ-1 has a nice OLED screen with a good definition and wide viewing angles. The on-screen image is smooth and seamless, which is good news, since the XZ-1 doesn't have an optical viewfinder. Those of you who feel the need can pick up the good but rather pricey VF-2 electronic viewfinder that hooks up to the camera's hot-shoe (that can also be fitted with a stereo microphone or a lamp for macro photography). 

Responsiveness

The camera starts up quickly, the autofocus is nice and responsive in most situations (except in video mode in low light), and the camera saves photos quickly too. In other words, the XZ-1 ticks all the boxes in this section of the test. 

Picture Quality

With the good-quality, fast Zuiko Digital lens (a brand usually only seen in SLR and micro four-thirds lenses), we were expecting the XZ-1 to come off pretty well in our picture quality tests. The results are just as good as expected too: the Olympus engineers have really got the best out of the zoom. At full aperture (f/1.8 nonetheless) the images are crisp, sharp and quite simply excellent. Plus, the really great news is that image quality is consistent across the frame. Sharpness is lost slightly as you start to zoom but, on the whole, the XZ-1 has a very high-quality lens. Other common defects (distortion, chromatic aberrations etc.) are practically non-existent. The 4x 28-112 mm f/1.8-2.5 zoom lens is therefore a major selling point for the Olympus XZ-1.


It may be surprising to see that the XZ-1 only has a 10-Megapixel CCD when 16-Megapixel cameras are starting to hit the market this year. However, as a general rule, fewer pixels = bigger pixels = improved handling of digital noise. And it's true that up to 400 ISO, the pictures hold up very well indeed. Unfortunately at 800 ISO smoothing does start to wipe out some detail, but from then on, things stay pretty consistent up to 1600 ISO. The Olympus XZ-1 was therefore a little disappointing in its ISO sensitivity tests, but the generous lens aperture means you won't have to push up the sensitivity setting as soon as you would in some other cameras.

Video

Olympus has clearly concentrated its efforts on photo quality in this camera without worrying too much about the video mode. The 720p HD video function (30 fps) is more than adequate for shooting day-to-day clips. However, use of the M-JPeg format, the lack of stereo sound (unless you use the optional mic) and the fact that you can't take photos while filming do put a bit of a damper on things. This unfortunately means that the XZ-1 isn't quite a five-star camera (see review criteria), and that's a real shame!