Olympus XZ-1

The new Olympus XZ-1 features the brightest lens of any digital compact cameras. Is it truly the answer to photographers’ dream of a high performance compact? Read on to discover the real-life performance of the Olympus XZ-1! The Olympus XZ-1’s (so-called) dual image stabilised (sensor shift plus ISO boost doesn’t really count) 4x optical zoom boasts a focal range equivalent to a wide 28mm to 112mm in 35mm film terms, so it’s useful for landscapes and group portraits and again comparable with its aforementioned rivals in that respect. Macro close ups at as near as 1cm from a given subject are possible too.

For a digital compact camera, the Olympus XZ-1 handles with aplomb. It manages to fit in the pocket even with the huge lens, and the controls fall easily to hand. The body has a nice matte finish to it, but it feels a bit too smooth to offer a good grip. As  compensation there is a nice patch of rubber at the back of the camera for the right thumb to grip though. The Olympus XZ-1 comes with six Art Filters for photographic effects: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama and Dramatic Tone. For serious photographers, these are nothing more than fancy modes that messes up the image. However, they can be quite fun to jazz up your image, and I like the fact that you can enable the effects in the RAW converter in the post-production stage if you are shooting in RAW mode. Olympus XZ-1 Price is around $500, just find the best deal for this compact digital camera with f1.8 Lens and 3-Inch OLED LCD Monitor Display.

The Olympus XZ1 feels like a good, solid move for its maker, and in helping the brand stay competitive and moreover relevant, it deserves to do well. Olympus has come lately to the high performance compact party, so it’s just as well that its arrival is with a product that should be awarded a degree of fanfare.