(FT5) More about the Olympus XZ-1 (+new picture)
Fe got a few new Olympus XZ-1 info. The image on top shows the back of the camera with the new 3inch OLED screen. We have been informed that all PEN accessories can fit on the XZ-1 like the external Flashes the SEMA-1 Mic the VF-2 viewfinder! Max ISO is ISO 3200, it has Dual IS and can record 1080i and 720p movies. That camera will sell like hotcakes! Well done Oly!
P:S.: A wonder why the new E-Pl2 doesn’t share the same OLED screen…
Wife
3 years ago |Just out of curiosity, based on what do you think it will sell like hotcakes?
Porto
3 years ago |Clarification: It will sell like hotcakes as measured by Olympus Labs
FF
3 years ago |admin: any indication what is the pricing going to be like?
Andi
3 years ago |“admin: any indication what is the pricing going to be like?
”
Maybe that is the answer why it will sell like hotcakes…
Jonathan
3 years ago |The E-PL2 will probably sell for more or less the same price as the new compact, so no higher end features such as an OLED screen.
The rumored higher end body might have a similar, or even nicer screen though.
Esa Tuunanen
3 years ago |What’s the matter with you people wanting travel TVs instead of camera?
With EVF hopefully built into high end body that rear display is just secondary framing tool and without film era relics body can be made smaller while retaining good ergonomy and good space for direct controls/buttons but if you slap travel TV into its butt you’re back to big body size or then ergonomy and controls are destroyed to basic consumer entry-level. (like Panasonic G/GH)
Also for best usefulness, in situations when LCD is needed instead of EVF, and especially for higher end body display should be articulated which increases size required by it meaning soon body is as big as some full frame body defeating whole point of smaller system! 2.7″ like in E-30/620 is more than enough for EVF body and would already cause strectrictions to compactness.
Olympus has managed to resist MarketingPixel madness well so I sure hope they can prevent marketroids from making yet another run of the mill body when it could be compact in size while still offering higher end level controls and ergonomy.
WT21
3 years ago |YOU CAN’T CHECK CRITICAL FOCUS WITH A LOW RES LCD!!!!
It’s not about framing, it’s about getting the shot.
Archer
3 years ago |That’s what 10x magnification is for.
WT21
3 years ago |Disagree. I can check critical focus a lot better on my NEX than on my EP1. Too few dots. Same issue I had on my XTi vs. my XSi from Canon (though now I’m back down to a 5D with too-low resolution).
Jonathan
3 years ago |i sold my GF1 to get a G1 just because of the EVF… most of my lenses are MF so trust me, i know what an view finder is used for.
then again, this is a compact camera, a proper view finder would be too big to fit. 600K + OLED, as someone else has commented, is the equivalent of a 921K LCD. PLUS, it should be perfectly usable in day time. should you want an EVF you can fit the VF-2 to the accessory shoe.
i think Olympus nailed it with this camera.
i will replace my G1 only for a body having a built in EVF – but a system camera for use with MF lenses is one thing, a tiny AF zoom compact is another.
tgutgu
3 years ago |Unfortunately, you seem to have no idea about the excellent ergonomics of the G/GH cameras. Certainly better than PEN designs. Oh, and m4/3 cameras are already small enough, you know?
sderdiarian
3 years ago |If they price it at about the same price as the LX5 (currently $399 at B&H) plus the bonuses of its 3″ hi-res OLED screen, longer zoom, slimmer size and ability to use the VF2, it should sell very well. Depending upon performance, I could see myself going for it as a take anywhere.
Admin, who makes the sensor? I’m curious now that their contract (leash?) to Panny is expiring at midnight.
Jonathan
3 years ago |I think you might be dissapointed… it may sell for much higher than that. My guess – not under $600.
napalm
3 years ago |nah, that would be more expensive than the E-PL1
Jonathan
3 years ago |the E-PL1 was introduced at $600. IMO this is more or less what we should be expecting with the XZ-1.
with this feature set, wealth of optional accessories and – hopefully – matching performance to boot, it is meant to be marketed as a high market product.
your guess is as good as mine…
WT21
3 years ago |EPL1 came out before the NEX. They can’t price like that again. The market is more crowded. They have to price competitively.
Martin
3 years ago |I hope that it will cost more than 600US$.
For less money you can not make camera with an excellent zoom lens.
shutterwill
3 years ago |can you explain what is “dual IS” ?
does this mean that it has both sensor shift and optical IS?
peter
3 years ago |usually olympus means it has a is and it takes higher iso like the µ-series.
http://www.olympus.de/digitalkamera/digitalkamera_mju-5010_13162.htm
tom
3 years ago |if the screen is 3′ crner to corner, then the dimensions of the camera should be about 4.1″ wide by 2.35″ tall.
the more I learn about this camera, the more I want it, bad.
thanks Admin for bringing this info to us.
Chris
3 years ago |Big year ahead for Olympus, I think. All these consumer products should sell decently, lining the coffers, leading to more cash for Olympus to develop their high-end stuff people have been waiting for.
Jonathan
3 years ago |+1
Paulus
3 years ago |+1
Dummy00001
3 years ago |> That camera will sell like hotcakes!
The market is (and was) so crowded, that I doubt that it would even make a splash.
Logical continuation of the previous compacts, but nothing really revolutionary or even worth posting here IMO. It’s not the X100.
Had the camera the 43 sensor, it might have being a different story. But another LX5/EX1/G11/P7000/etc… why all the hype?
Michael Meissner
3 years ago |shutterwill: Dual IS typically means a combination of increasing ISO/shutter speed and normal in-body stabilization.
For example, quoting from the amazon.com site for the SP-560UZ (first site that came up from google of olympus dual IS):
Dual Image Stabilization Dual Image Stabilization technology enables users to take crisp, clear pictures in virtually any shooting situation — adjusting for camera shake and a moving subject. Olympus’ mechanical Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization keeps images sharp by adjusting the CCD to compensate for camera shake, which often occurs when zooming in on your subject and in low-light conditions when shutter speeds are slower. Digital Image Stabilization freezes the action with high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds that prevent blur caused by a moving subject.
marilyn
3 years ago |hmm… its seems another failure to lunch olympus camera lol
let wait and see the output and the functions… let me recall you all pen cameras are still a guinea pig… but the E5 is the best DSLR for me
Luc Charlier
3 years ago |A paradigmatic Olympus camera: two years late into a crowded market.
Marky
3 years ago |Looks like it still has typically Olympus tiny baby buttons you need to file a nail into a point to use.
Usability lost for most fingers
Din
3 years ago |That is a Samsung AMOLED, 614K is equivalent to 921K because they use the PenTile Matrix.
Ganec
3 years ago |only ISO 3200?
LX5 has also ISO 6400 and 12800 (in lower resolution)…
napalm
3 years ago |is anything above ISO1600 even usable in compacts?
sderdiarian
3 years ago |I agree. Claims of higher ISO’s out of small sensors are a marketing ploy, Olympus is simply stretching the truth a bit less than others.
I must say I’m surprised by the negative comments. What exactly are people looking for in a take anywhere compact as back-up to their MILC?
As a fixed lens compact, it has a very usable zoom range given the very fast lens (wider might have been nice, but longer is okay by me), the 3″ hi-res OLED would be a dream come true if mounted on any of their mFT’s, and Olympus JPEG engine/colors should place this in a class of its own among quality compacts.
Olympus is ahead of the crowd, IMHOP, being savvy enough to make it compatible with their better accessories (VF-1, microphone, flash units) so those on the sidelines about jumping to mFT (yours truly) will consider it part of their system should they make the move.
This is the first compact since my TZ5 (which I love) I’d seriously consider buying, dependant of course on how actual performance and price pan out. Now Olympus needs to break out the high end mFT body (coming in February?). A promising start to the New Year.
Ganec
3 years ago |I used ISO 1600 on my Fuji F50 – with high speed continuous shooting (which has better color than regular ISO 400), but it was only 3 megapixels (and real resolution was even lower).
But for facebook (or similar) it is enough.
Now ISO 6400 may be similar. But what I saw in LX5 it is not: colors (and noise) is reasonable, but resolution is NOT
napalm
3 years ago |S95 and LX5 are far from perfect cameras. Oly has seemed to put the best features into one. Oly has long been copied by their competitors.
for once let them copy others for their own benefit. anyway it is them who need to make money, after all they’ve spent on R&D on innovations they contributed to photography
simon
3 years ago |Hmm, could be a nice camera, and the compatibility with Pen accessories is appealing. However, it looks quite compromised from a usability perspective. There’s no grip/ridge, so single-handed operation is tricky, and there are no easily reachable buttons other than the record button. They should take another good look at Ricoh for cameras that are actually designed to be used.
Zaph
3 years ago |Hopefully Richard Franiec will address that, as he has with the S90/95, Leica DLUX-4/5, Sigma DP1/2, etc.
Zaph
3 years ago |You guys have a weird idea of a crowded market.
The enthusiast compact market is a growing one, with really not that many cameras that qualify today. It all comes down to image quality. Given that it can use the PEN accessories, especially the EVF, it’s great for m43, and great for this camera for sales from E-P2/E-PL1 owners. The fastest f1.8-2.5 lens helps it against all but the Samsung (certainly against the S95 & G12 on the long end), and then it’s got a much better range than the Samsung.
If this is a starting camera for someone, there is also a good chance they will upgrade to m43 at some point, or at least a better chance than if they start with something else.
Paulus
3 years ago |Congratulations to Olympus!
“Olympus XZ-1 – it has Dual IS and can record 1080i and 720p movies” – a dream is come true (Olympus jumps into Full-HD-Video!
I fully agree with admin:
“That camera will sell like hotcakes! Well done Oly!”
Mice
3 years ago |I have the DMC-LX5 which itself looks like a mini GF1… and this still interests me.
Olaf
3 years ago |What do you need 1080i video for?
Jason
3 years ago |-1
Simon
3 years ago |Seems that after a long long time of waiting I can enjoy the Oly Jpeg engine in a compact camera, again!
Henrik
3 years ago |The big question is the price. Im not sure it will sell if its priced alot above the LX5 and S95.
Michael Meissner
3 years ago |Henrik: Particularly if it is higher than the current E-PL1 price ($500), it will be a tough sell. If it goes for $300 it might sell better.
sderdiarian
3 years ago |That’s ($300) a pipe dream. Why would they sell it for less than the LX5 ($399 after price reductions since its intro) or the S95 (same price)?
My guess MSRP $499 at intro (same as the LX5 and S95 were) then quickly settling to the range of the other two, maybe a bit more given the features (3″ OLED, Oly JPEG processor, longer zoom).
I’ve also been noticing price creep at Amazon, they list the S95 at $469, B&H at $399. Amazon always used to have the lowest prices to my recollection.
Zaph
3 years ago |I believe this may be due to the weak US dollar.
Michael Meissner
3 years ago |If it sells for the same price as the current low end Pen, it would be competing for the same customers and would either be tough to sell (my contention) or it will eat into sales of the Pen.
While I would like to see it at $300, even if it is $400, it could have a niche that may make it viable.
Juicepantip
3 years ago |some say 299
Greyhat
3 years ago |Admin, do you know if flash is “bouncable” like e-pl1?
Knight Palm
3 years ago |Does the ZX-1 have any form of Image Stabilization.
Both Panasonic and Canon are using optically dito in their P&S models.
Samsung EX1, however neglected to be mentioned during their test, seems to use the same optical techniques.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/samsungtl500/
Zaph
3 years ago |Yes