NickTrop
Veteran
The case for the small sensor high-end compact...
So -- went "monumenting" in DC over the weekend. Decisions, decisions. Film? Digital? Do I bring the big camera(s) with a bunch of lenses? Lots of architecture, but I'll be walking a lot -- and taking bunches of pics. Decided to go with a recently acquired (on a whim) "new to me" Olympus XZ-1. Glad I did.
Lots of folks walking around with lots of camers -- digital, film (always nice to see...) Canon SLRs, Nikon SLRs, 4/3rd's, the Fuji XPro... And the one thing I always said about these 4/3rd's cameras in particular -- by the time you slap a lens on them, you're really not saving much weight/space/bulkiness (unless it's a pancake lens...) Sling this diminutive 10oz compact around your shoulder you won't even know its there. Every focal lenght lens you want is built-in and performs exceedingly well.
As far as small sensor compacts, I always thought that you might as well use a cell phone given the sensor size, and that the higher-end ones were too expensive -- might as well get an entry 4/3 or compact DSLR for the money. Plus? No bokeh. Not that you want it in every shot but gotta be able to throw the background at least a little out of focus when you want to.
Long story short (impossible at this point), this Oly is really changing my mind. The lens on this thing is fantastic. It's fast (1.8 to 2.5) and the range is perfect - 28mm to 112mm. Other manufactures lure you in with "f1.4" and a "24mm" on the wide end, but the focal lenght on the tele end is too short to give you any practical DOF play with a small sensor. It is absolutely sharp at all aps, corner to corner. It's a jewel. And because of the small sensor, it is tiny and light -- even when fully extended. It's like having a bag of excellent primes but you don't have to change lenses and it weighs ounces.
I also love the Oly processing engine. They just nail it. I like it so much I shoot jpeg and haven't seen the need to futz with anything. Color reminds me of Kodak Ultra, which I just love. I also like its black and white mode and its lower contrast settings. Again, Oly just nailed it. It has built-in (firmware, of course) "filters" -- ND, and yellow, green, orange, and red for BW. It uses a CCD -- which imo is simply a "must" for video (a main reason I bought it...) I can. not. stand. rolling shutter. artifacts. in. video.
As far as noise? Yes -- noisy at anything over ISO 800 (800 is usable) BUT in typical ambient light situations -- that is "real" shooting situations, perfectly fine. The firmware prioritizes keeping the ISO as low as possible, leveraging the camera's excellent IS and lens speed. It rarely shoots over 200. If you want to get a higher ISO because of motion blur, shoot shutter priority. If you want to shoot in available darkness -- use a flash or that's when you bring a camera with a larger sensor. But in general ambient light? Camera in "real shooting situations" -- not "internet camera review tests", it performs like a champ.
Oly got this one right. Perhaps these cameras were overlooked. "*** ***'d" -- like I did. But I have found my digital "rangefiner" and its name is the Olympus XZ-1. The XZ-2 is also purportedly excellent, Oly switched to a backlit CMOS and that buys you an extra stop, noise-wise, and it has a flexible LCD. I'll stick with the first version's CCD for video.
And -- finally, "bokeh" in a small sensor compact.
So -- went "monumenting" in DC over the weekend. Decisions, decisions. Film? Digital? Do I bring the big camera(s) with a bunch of lenses? Lots of architecture, but I'll be walking a lot -- and taking bunches of pics. Decided to go with a recently acquired (on a whim) "new to me" Olympus XZ-1. Glad I did.
Lots of folks walking around with lots of camers -- digital, film (always nice to see...) Canon SLRs, Nikon SLRs, 4/3rd's, the Fuji XPro... And the one thing I always said about these 4/3rd's cameras in particular -- by the time you slap a lens on them, you're really not saving much weight/space/bulkiness (unless it's a pancake lens...) Sling this diminutive 10oz compact around your shoulder you won't even know its there. Every focal lenght lens you want is built-in and performs exceedingly well.
As far as small sensor compacts, I always thought that you might as well use a cell phone given the sensor size, and that the higher-end ones were too expensive -- might as well get an entry 4/3 or compact DSLR for the money. Plus? No bokeh. Not that you want it in every shot but gotta be able to throw the background at least a little out of focus when you want to.
Long story short (impossible at this point), this Oly is really changing my mind. The lens on this thing is fantastic. It's fast (1.8 to 2.5) and the range is perfect - 28mm to 112mm. Other manufactures lure you in with "f1.4" and a "24mm" on the wide end, but the focal lenght on the tele end is too short to give you any practical DOF play with a small sensor. It is absolutely sharp at all aps, corner to corner. It's a jewel. And because of the small sensor, it is tiny and light -- even when fully extended. It's like having a bag of excellent primes but you don't have to change lenses and it weighs ounces.
I also love the Oly processing engine. They just nail it. I like it so much I shoot jpeg and haven't seen the need to futz with anything. Color reminds me of Kodak Ultra, which I just love. I also like its black and white mode and its lower contrast settings. Again, Oly just nailed it. It has built-in (firmware, of course) "filters" -- ND, and yellow, green, orange, and red for BW. It uses a CCD -- which imo is simply a "must" for video (a main reason I bought it...) I can. not. stand. rolling shutter. artifacts. in. video.
As far as noise? Yes -- noisy at anything over ISO 800 (800 is usable) BUT in typical ambient light situations -- that is "real" shooting situations, perfectly fine. The firmware prioritizes keeping the ISO as low as possible, leveraging the camera's excellent IS and lens speed. It rarely shoots over 200. If you want to get a higher ISO because of motion blur, shoot shutter priority. If you want to shoot in available darkness -- use a flash or that's when you bring a camera with a larger sensor. But in general ambient light? Camera in "real shooting situations" -- not "internet camera review tests", it performs like a champ.
Oly got this one right. Perhaps these cameras were overlooked. "*** ***'d" -- like I did. But I have found my digital "rangefiner" and its name is the Olympus XZ-1. The XZ-2 is also purportedly excellent, Oly switched to a backlit CMOS and that buys you an extra stop, noise-wise, and it has a flexible LCD. I'll stick with the first version's CCD for video.
And -- finally, "bokeh" in a small sensor compact.
