Olympus XZ-1 Review

February 7, 2011 | Zoltan Arva-Toth | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The new Olympus XZ-1 is a 10-megapixel premium compact camera featuring an ultra-bright 28-112mm equivalent f/1.8-2.5 zoom lens, a high-resolution 3-inch OLED screen and a 1/1.63 inch CCD imager with sensor-shift image stabilisation. Professional features include a full manual exposure mode, raw image capture, wireless TTL flash control and compatibility with a wide range of accessories including external flashguns and macro LED lights, a detachable electronic viewfinder and external microphone set. Priced at £399.99 / $499.99, the Olympus XZ-1 also offers half a dozen Art Filters, eighteen scene modes and one-touch HD movie recording.

Ease of Use

The first mock-ups of a then-unnamed premium compact camera from Olympus were shown at the Photokina trade show in September last year. Although Olympus was rather secretive about it at the time, we were told that it would be the first-ever digital compact camera to feature a Zuiko branded lens and be compatible with a range of accessories originally developed for the Micro Four Thirds system. Then, on 6 January 2011, Olympus announced the name and full specifications of the new product. The Olympus XZ-1 was born.

While the name evokes memories of the Olympus XA, a groundbreaking but highly automated 35mm compact camera from 1979, the Olympus XZ-1 is actually a much more serious proposition offering full manual control over the picture-taking process. Similar in both size and weight to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, the XZ-1 is a fairly slim yet substantial affair made of a combination of metal and plastics. The grip-less camera feels surprisingly good in the hand, thanks to thoughtful ideas like a small but well placed  thumb rest on the rear panel. The design manages to be functional and classy at the same time, with an almost minimalist front plate that nevertheless includes a highly useful click-stop dial around the lens housing; a top plate featuring a hot shoe, power button, shutter release, zoom lever and mode dial; and a rear panel dominated by a gorgeous, high-resolution OLED display. A crucial element of the design is a rear control wheel around the four-way pad, which is used to set shutter speed in manual mode, exposure compensation in a number of other modes, and can also be used to navigate menus. The camera is just a little too bulky to be carried comfortably in a shirt- or jeans pocket, but will happily fit into a small belt pouch or jacket pocket. Alternatively, it can be worn around the neck courtesy of a pair of well placed eyelets and a nice neck strap that ships with the camera.

The number one attraction of the Olympus XZ-1 is undoubtedly its ultra-fast, 28-112mm equivalent zoom lens. The company is heavily touting the f/1.8 maximum aperture at the 28mm end, but it's not so unique as it may seem at first glance - the Samsung EX1's lens is also f/1.8 at the wide end, and the Panasonic LX5 isn't that far behind either (not to mention that both offer a wider, 24mm equivalent field of view). The telephoto end is a lot more interesting: the Samsung maxes out at 72mm, the Panasonic at 90mm, with only the Canon Powershot S95 going as far as 105mm (equivalent) - but at f/4.9, it's essentially 2 full stops slower than the Olympus, which boasts a maximum aperture of f/2.5 at the 112mm end. As you can see from some of our sample images, this translates into a surprising (for a compact camera) ability to isolate the subject from the background, resulting in images reminiscent of those taken with cameras sporting much bigger sensors. The lens is protected by a sizeable lens cap that can be attached to the camera with a tether.

Subject isolation aside, the biggest benefit of a super-fast lens - combined with sensor-shift image stabilisation - is the ability to take hand-held shots in low light, without having to dial in crazy-high ISO sensitivity settings. This is important, as the 1/1.63” CCD - despite being bigger than the imaging chips built into most point-and-shoots - is still very small compared to the sensors used in DSLRs.

Ricoh CX4 Ricoh CX4
Front Rear

The other big attraction of the Olympus XZ-1 is the presence of a full manual exposure mode, complete with a live histogram and raw file support. This mode is very well implemented in the XZ-1, and is therefore likely to become the preferred shooting mode for advanced users. In M mode, the click-stop dial encircling the lens housing controls the aperture, while shutter speed can be set with the scroll wheel around the four-way pad. In order to avoid accidentally bumping this wheel, you first have to hit the Up button on the navigation pad before you can modify the shutter speed setting. The live histogram - as well as a helpful compositional grid - can be activated with the Info button. The fly in the ointment is that the camera does not offer direct-button access to ISO sensitivity settings. You need to enter the function menu - called “live control” by Olympus - to do that. That's a shame, especially given that there seems to be just enough space left for a dedicated ISO button next to the Playback button above the four-way pad.

Also present and correct are the usual aperture and shutter priority modes, in which the corresponding exposure variable is controlled via the front dial, with the rear wheel now serving for exposure compensation. Finally, in P mode you get to control ISO sensitivity directly - via the front dial, which serves no other use in this mode. Again, I would be happier if ISO was accessible by way of a dedicated button, and the click-stop dial was used for Program AE shift, a function sadly missing from the otherwise feature-packed Olympus XZ-1.

Other shooting modes on the mode dial include Scene, iAuto, Art, Low Light and Custom. The Olympus XZ-1 offers eighteen scene modes, most of which are standard fare like Portrait, Landscape, Sport etc. A few of the scene modes are more special though - these include Multi Exposure, Panorama and e-Portrait. Multi Exposure has nothing to do with HDR imaging - it's a feature inherited from the film era, which allows you to record and combine two completely different images into a single photo. The Panorama mode works exactly the same way as on some of the more recent Mju compacts: there are three options on offer, including Auto, Manual and PC. In Auto mode, you only have to press the shutter release once. After that, all you need to do is move the camera to the next position, so that the target marks and pointers overlap, and the camera automatically releases the shutter for you. Three frames can be taken this way, which are then combined into a single panoramic image automatically in-camera. In Manual mode, you can also take three frames with the help of an on-screen guide, but you have to release the shutter manually. Finally, in PC mode, you can take up to 10 photos, which can be stitched using the supplied [ib] software after being downloaded to the computer.

E-Portrait is an on-board solution to touch up portraits. In this mode, you take a picture of a person, then the camera identifies the face and tries to remove blemishes and other minor imperfections, giving the skin a smooth look in the process. The resulting image is then saved alongside the original.

The iAuto mode is a fully automatic shooting mode in which the camera analyses the scene in front of its lens, and tries to decide which scene mode to apply. Most of the typical camera controls/functions are inaccessible while you are in iAuto, but there is a live guide featuring on-screen sliders to modify things like saturation, colour, image brightness and depth of field. Additionally, the camera offers up various shooting tips on demand.

Ricoh CX4 Ricoh CX4
Front Top

The Art setting on the mode dial lets you choose from half a dozen Art Filters that include Pop Art, Diorama, Grainy Film, Soft Focus, Pinhole and Dramatic Tone. The optimum shooting settings are preprogrammed for each filter, and you have very little control over the final look. Because of this, it is worth shooting RAW+JPEG, as the raw files can be modified later if you do not like the effect. You can see some examples of these art filters at work in the Image Quality section of this review.
Of probably more interest to serious shooters is the Custom Mode setting, denoted with a “C” on the mode dial. This allows you to retrieve your saved settings, which is great if you often find yourself shooting under the same conditions. To save your current settings, go to the setup menu, select Custom Mode Setup, and hit Set.

As mentioned earlier, most of the shooting settings and functions are available from the “live control”, a function menu called up by pressing the OK button that sits in the middle of the four-way pad. The range of available functions may differ slightly depending on the shooting mode you are in, but the full list includes the following: ISO, picture mode, white balance, drive mode, aspect ratio, image quality and resolution, flash mode, flash exposure compensation, metering mode, ND filter, auto focus mode and face priority. Most of these are self explanatory. The ND filter is an integrated 3-stop neutral density filter, which can be engaged when shooting in very bright light - with the top shutter speed being only 1/2000 of a second, it is sometimes necessary to use this filter when you would like to pick a wide aperture for a shallow depth-of-field effect, otherwise the photo would be overexposed even at the lowest ISO sensitivity setting.

The Olympus XZ-1 has a neat little pop-up flash that can be raised manually, by way of the sliding switch sitting in the top left corner of the camera's back plate. Apart from providing a bit of fill light for backlit subjects, this flash can also trigger up to three groups of wirelessly slaved FL-36R flashguns, which offer TTL flash exposure metering with the XZ-1. Alternatively, the user can attach one of a number of system flashes to the camera via its hot shoe. The manual lists the FL-36R, FL-20 and FL-14 units, but curiously not the FL-50R. We tried the camera with an older FL-36 unit (without the “R” designation), which worked well. This is a relatively small flashgun, but it still dwarfed the petite Olympus XZ-1, as you can see in some of our photos in the Product Images section. The FL-14 complements this camera better, at least in terms of size. Third-party flash units can also be attached as long as their trigger voltage is below 24 volts. Importantly, it's possible to sync these flashes right up to the fastest shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second, although their range will be somewhat limited above 1/500 s. The official specifications do not mention the type of shutter used in the Olympus XZ-1 but it's definitely not a focal plane shutter, so there will be no black stripes across the frame when using a flash at a high shutter speed.

Below the hot shoe is an accessory port identical to the one found on the Olympus E-P2 and E-PL1 models. This allows you to attach a number of optional accessories originally developed for these cameras, including the VF-2 electronic viewfinder, the SEMA-1 microphone adapter set and the MAL-1 macro lights. Needless to say, only one of these can be attached at a time. In use, we found the large, high-resolution Organic LED screen to be eminently usable, with great detail and simply excellent colour retention even when viewed from the most extreme angles - but there can be times when an eye-level finder could still come in handy, such as when shooting in extremely bright light, or in very low light when pressing the finder against your forehead can provide some extra stabilisation. Those suffering from far-sightedness will also appreciate the VF-2, which offers some degree of dioptre adjustment.

Ricoh CX4 Ricoh CX4
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

Some of the shooting functions are mapped onto the four-way pad, including focus mode and AF point selection, drive mode and self-timer, and flash mode. To change the active AF point, press the Left arrow button, and pick one of the 11 auto focus points using the arrow keys - simple and effective. To change the focus mode, press the Left key and the Info button. The available settings are “normal” AF, when the focus range is limited to 60cm-infinity, allowing the camera to acquire focus surprisingly quickly; Macro AF, which lets you focus down to 10cm at the wide end and 30cm at full telephoto; Supermacro AF, which disables the zoom and the built-in flash but allows you to focus as close as 1cm from the front lens; Tracking AF which tracks the selected subject as it moves across the frame; and MF. The inclusion of manual focus is a nod towards experienced photographers, who will appreciate this feature. In MF mode, pressing the Info button enlarges the centre of the image for accurate focusing, which is performed with the rear control wheel or the Up/Down buttons. Sadly, the camera doesn't display a distance scale, even though if would be useful for zone focusing. Shutter lag in MF mode is negligible. For those who prefer auto focus, there is an AF assist light that enables the camera to focus even in low light. This lamp can be disabled if necessary.

As far as drive modes are concerned, there are no less than 3 different continuous shooting modes on offer: the “regular” sequential shooting is a rather pedestrian 2 frames per second at full resolution, but there are two High-Speed options available at reduced resolution settings. In High-Speed 2 mode, you can take 15 photos per second at up to 2 megapixels. High-Speed 1 makes little sense as it's only half as fast, and while the images are of a higher pixel count, they don't contain any more detail.
Besides capturing stills, the Olympus XZ-1 can also record HD videos, and has a dedicated movie record button in the top right corner of the rear panel for one-touch video recording. Unfortunately the camera offers precious little in the way of video controls. You can apply exposure compensation before starting to record a video clip, but that's about it. On a more positive note, you can use the optical zoom while filming, and can also have the camera apply any of the Art Filters to movies on the fly. The XZ-1 tries its best to keep the subject in focus while recording a video clip, but doesn't always succeed. Movies are stored in Motion JPEG format, which is easy to edit but takes up a lot of space on the memory card. Clip length is limited to 7 minutes, and the maximum file size is 2GB.

When it comes to playing back your images, the Olympus XZ-1 offers three main playback views: picture only, photo with image number and date, and thumbnail with detailed information and a very useful RGB histogram. There is no blinking highlights warning though. Note that the camera retracts its lens after spending only 15 seconds in Playback - this can quickly get annoying if you are in the habit of regularly reviewing your photos in the field.

The Olympus XZ-1 is powered by a proprietary lithium-ion battery, which can be charged in-camera via USB. You need to connect the USB cable either to a computer running Windows 7, Vista or XP; or to the supplied USB-AC adapter, which must, in turn, be plugged into a mains socket using a mains cable. So unless you want to charge the battery via a Windows computer, you will need two cables, an adapter, and the camera itself. Olympus does offer a conventional external charger as well, but only as an optional accessory.

In use, the Olympus XZ-1 proved to be a great little camera, providing easy access to aperture and shutter speed in manual exposure mode. Start-up was quick for its class, and so was the auto focus in most circumstances. The live histogram proved to be a real asset, and the big, high-resolution OLED screen was a joy to use for framing and reviewing images alike. Our main criticisms concerned the lack of an ISO button and the fact that the camera would retract its lens far too quickly after entering playback mode. In short, the camera got most things right in the handling department, and has left us with a very favourable overall impression.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.

The Olympus XZ-1 produced images of remarkable quality during the review period. JPEGs taken at base sensitivity exhibit great colour and nice tonality, and strike a good balance between noise reduction and detail retention. Dynamic range feels a bit limited in the out-of-camera JPEGs, but the raw files provide some highlight headroom. High-ISO performance is broadly in line with what you could reasonably expect from a sensor of this size. In JPEGs, the effects of noise reduction become very apparent at ISO 400 and above, whilst the raw files contain quite a lot of noise (though they do retain detail better than the out-of-camera JPEGs). ISO 800 and 1600 are borderline usable for small prints, whereas the highest settings of ISO 3200 and 6400 are really only there to beef up the spec sheet. Thankfully with an f/1.8-2.5 lens and sensor-shift image stabilisation on board, you will hardly ever need to shoot at these high sensitivity settings anyway. The fast lens not only allows you to use low ISOs in dim lighting, it also provides for good subject-background separation, something most digital compacts can't really achieve. Overall, a very strong performance for its class.

Noise

The base sensitivity setting is ISO 100, with the maximum being ISO 6400. You can dial in any value in between these two extremes in third-stop increments. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each “full” ISO setting. The raw files were developed with Nama5 v1.13 Demo, one of only a couple of external raw converters that supported the Olympus XZ-1 at the time of writing.

JPEG RAW

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The 4x i.Zuiko lens offers a versatile focal range, as demonstrated by these examples.

28mm

112mm

Sharpening

The out-of-camera JPEGs are fairly sharp at the default sharpening setting, but still benefit from a little extra sharpening in a photo editor. Alternatively, you can change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your needs better. Here are two 100% crops - the right-hand image has had some extra sharpening applied.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

File Quality

At full resolution, the Olympus XZ-1 allows you to choose from two JPG quality settings, Normal and Fine. Additionally, the camera supports raw capture, and simultaneous recording of JPEG and raw files is also possible.

10M Fine (100% Crop)

10M Normal (100% Crop)

   

10M RAW (100% Crop)

 
 

Chromatic Aberrations

The Olympus XZ-1 handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Olympus XZ-1 has both a Macro and a Supermacro mode, albeit the zoom can only be used in the former. The shot below demonstrates how close you can get to the subject, in this case, a Compact Flash card. We have included a 100% crop from the centre of the frame to show you what the sharpness is like.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The Olympus XZ-1 has a neat little pop-up flash that can be raised manually, by way of the sliding switch sitting in the top left corner of the camera's back plate. Apart from providing a bit of fill light for backlit subjects, this flash can also trigger up to three groups of wirelessly slaved FL-36R flashguns, which offer TTL flash exposure metering with the XZ-1. Note that because of the placement of the pop-up flash, extra care must be taken to prevent a finger from blocking the flash, particularly when holding the camera in portrait orientation. These shots of a white-coloured ceiling were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)

Forced Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (112mm)

Forced Flash - Telephoto (112mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye Flash settings caused any red-eye.

Forced Flash

Forced Flash (100% Crop)
   

Red-eye Reduction Auto

Red-eye Reduction Auto (100% Crop)

Night

The Olympus XZ-1 allows you to dial in exposure times as long as 60 seconds, and has a Bulb mode for exposures lasting as long as 16 minutes, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. Getting the optional RM-UC1 remote cable is a good idea if you plan on using the Bulb mode on a regular basis. The example below was taken at a shutter speed of 8 seconds, aperture of f/5.6 at ISO 100. We have included a 100% crop to show you what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Olympus XZ-1 has a sensor-shift image stabilisation mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at shutter speeds that are critically slow for the focal length used. To test this, I took 2 hand-held shots of the same subject at the long end of the zoom range, with the same settings (shutter speed of 1/15th of a second at ISO 200). The first shot was taken with image stabilisation turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, this feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)

1/15th / 112mm

Art Filters

The Olympus XZ-1 offers half a dozen Art Filters including Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pinhole, Diorama and Dramatic Tone. These can be applied to both stills and movie clips.

Pop Art

Soft Focus

   

Grainy Film

Pinhole

   

Diorama

Dramatic Tone

Picture Modes

Olympus' Picture Modes are preset combinations of contrast, sharpness, gradation and saturation. There are five Picture Modes to choose from, including Vivid, Neutral, Muted, Portrait and Monotone. All of these can be tailored to your tastes.

Vivid

Neutral

   

Muted

Portrait

   

Monotone

 
 

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Olympus XZ-1 camera, which were all taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Olympus XZ-1 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Olympus RAW (ORF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 1280x720 at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 22 second movie is 89.2Mb in size.

Product Images

Ricoh CX4

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Isometric View

 
Ricoh CX4

Isometric View

 
Ricoh CX4

Rear of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Top of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Bottom of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Side of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Side of the Camera

 

Ricoh CX4

Memory Card Slot

 
Ricoh CX4

Battery Compartment

 
Ricoh CX4

Front of the Camera

 
Ricoh CX4

Front of the Camera

Conclusion

The Olympus XZ-1 - the first Olympus digital camera to sport an f/1.8 lens since the C-5050Z of 2002 - is a small but very serious photographic tool. The camera ticks all the boxes that any experienced photographer is looking for - “sensible” pixel count, a very fast lens, raw file support, a reliable multi-point AF system and a well implemented manual exposure mode complete with an optional live histogram. Add in a gorgeous OLED screen, an effective image stabilisation system and an image processor that's fast enough to avoid any major freeze-ups even when shooting RAW+JPEG simultaneously, and you have a very capable yet easily portable camera that you can take pretty much anywhere. And we haven't even mentioned that it's probably the closest thing to a system camera, accepting accessories ranging from an external viewfinder through hotshoe-mounted and wirelessly controlled flashguns to macro LED lights and more. At the same time, it also offers an easy-to-use iAuto mode complete with a live guide for complete beginners.

The XZ-1 also fares well in the image quality department, owing to that fast and sharp i.Zuiko lens and a well calibrated image processor that turns out JPEGs with very pleasing colours and good overall tonality. A high-ISO king it is not, but with an f/1.8-2.5 lens and image stabilisation on board, it does not really have to be anyway. Video, on the other hand, is more of a mixed bag. It's good to be able to use the optical zoom while filming and apply Art Filters to the footage in-camera, but in a product of this calibre you would expect user selectable frame rates and full manual control over video exposure.

If there's ever going to be an Olympus XZ-2, I would like to see only minor improvements to the design, including a dedicated ISO button and perhaps more internal storage with the ability to save images simultaneously to the on-board memory and the memory card for instant backup.

In summary the Olympus XZ-1 is a very attractive and well thought-out - if a bit expensive - digital compact camera that appeals to a wide range of users and presents a real threat to the likes of the Canon Powershot S95, Panasonic Lumix LX5 and Samsung EX1.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4.5
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4
Image quality 4.5
Value for money 3.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Olympus XZ-1 from around the web.

dpreview.com »

With the launch of the XZ-1 it becomes apparent that Olympus hasn't been sitting idly by - instead it has clearly been watching the sector very closely and has studied the available cameras keenly. The result of this study is an enthusiast compact that takes the best elements of its rivals and synthesizes them into a very attractive package.
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

There is a definite demand for a high quality compact camera that remains compact enough to carry in a jacket pocket. These do not generally come cheap and to join the fray alongside such offerings as the Nikon Coolpix P7000 and Canon Powershot G12 here we have Olympus with their new XZ-1. This new camera stands out from the norm in sporting a very fast f/1.8 - 2.5 zoom lens. This suggests it is suitable for low light shooting and no doubt to help reduce noise levels the larger than average sensor is only a 10Mp chip. Let us see if the XZ-1 lives up to its promise.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Product Type Product type Compact digital camera
Memory SD Memory Card(SDHC/SDXC compatible)  ~64GB
Screen size 1/1.63”
Effective Pixels number Effective Pixels number 10M (3664 x 2752)
Lens Structure 11elements in 8groups
Aspheric 6 sides
Focal length(35mm equivalent) 6.0mm to 24.0mm(28mm to 112mm)
Maximum aperture 1.8-2.5
Optical zoom 4x
Digital zoom 4x
Imaging range Normal:60cm to infinity,
Macro:W:10cm to infinity,T:30cm to infinity.
Super Macro:1cm to TBD,Wide-angle edge fixing
Image Pickup Unit Product type 1/1.63" High-Sensitivity CCD
Total no. of pixels 4072x2784
Aspect ratio 4:3
Recording(Still) Recording format DCF, DPOF compatible/Exif, PRINT Image Matching III
File format RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG, RAW+JPEG
Recording image size [RAW] 3648 x 2736 pixels
[JPEG] 3648 x 2736 pixels - 640 x 480 pixels
File Size RAW: 3648 x 2736 (approx. 1/1.5 lossless compressed) Approx. 17MB
Large: 3648 x 2736 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 5.5MB
3648 x 2736 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 3.1MB
Middle: 3200 x 2400 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 4.4MB
3200 x 2400 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 1.9MB
2560 x 1920 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 2.4MB
2560 x 1920 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 1.3MB
1600 x 1200 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 1MB
1600 x 1200 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 0.5MB
Small 1280 x 960 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 0.7MB
1280 x 960 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 0.4MB
1024 x 768 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 0.5MB
1024 x 768 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 0.3MB
640 x 480 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 0.2MB
640 x 480 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 0.2MB
Recording(Movie) Recording format AVI Motion JPEG(30fps)
Movie Mode HD: 1280(H)x720(V)  Aspect 16:9
SD: 640(H)x480(V)     Aspect 4:3(VGA)
Compression Ratio 1/12
File Size Max 2GB(limited by AVI format)
Maximum Recording Time HD: 7min, SD: 14min
Recording(Sound) Recording format Wave Format Base
Stereo PCM/16bit, 44.1kHz
Maximum Recording Time Picture with Sound: 30sec
Movie: depend on Movie Recording Time
Live View Type Image Sensor type
Field of view 100%
Display Mode Normal Mode
Grid Line + Histogram Mode
OFF Mode
Magnification Ratio Not available
Monitor information Aperture value, Shutter speed, Auto Bracket, AF mode, IS, Shooting Mode, Battery Check, My Mode,
Face Detection, Histogram, Number of storable still pictures, Record mode, ISO, Sequential shooting,
Self-timer, White Balance 
Display of Face Detection Max 8 frames of face detection can be displayed 
AF Imager AF
Image stabilizer System Built in (Imager shift image stabilizer)
Mode 2 dimensional activation, OFF
Effective compensation range Approx.2EV steps
Shutter speed range 2 - 1/2000 sec. (Not available when Bulb is selected)
IS for Movie Electronic Image Stabilization with Multi-Motion function
Monitor Product type OLED
Size 3.0 inches (3:2)
Total no. of pixels 614,000dots
Playback field of view 100%
Brightness control +2 levels and -2 levels
Colour balance Not available
Focusing AF system Imager Contrast Detection AF system
Focus mode Single AF (AF) /  Manual Focus (MF) / Macro mode / SuperMacro mode / AF tracking (TR)
Focusing point 11-area multiple AF with the contrast detection system (Auto, selectable in option)
Focusing point selection Auto from all 11 area, Single area from 11 area
Auto from almost all area when Face detection is ON
Free selection (from 225points) when Magnified View Mode is selected
AF illuminator
Available
Focus tracking Available
Manual Focus Assist When rotation of Control dial is detected under  MF mode, LV is magnified automatically
Shooting Modes P(Program Auto),iAUTO,A(Aperture priority).S(Shutter priority),M(Manual shooting),C(Custom shooting),
Low Light,Art Filter,SCN(Scene)
Exposure Control Metering system TTL Image Sensor metering system 
(1) Digital ESP metering (324-area multi pattern metering) (2) Center weighted average metering (3) Spot metering
Metering range EV0-17
 
Exposure mode (1) i Auto (2) P: Programme AE (3) A: Aperture priority AE
(4) S: Shutter priority AE (5) M: Manual (6) Low Light (7) Scene select  AE (8) Art Filter
Scene select AE Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night + Portrait, Indoor, Self Portrait, Sport, Sunset, Fireworks,
Multi Exposure, Cuisine, Document, Beach & Snow, Under Water Wide, Under Water Macro, Pet, Panorama
ISO sensitivity AUTO: ISO 100 - 800 / Manual ISO 100 - 6400, 1/3 EV steps, Movie ISO 200-1600, Low light ISO 100-3200
Exposure compensation  ±2 EV in 1/3EV steps
AE lock Non available
Exposure bracketing Available
Metering standard value adjustment  
White Balance Auto WB system Available
Preset white balance 6 settings (3000K - 7500K)
Lamp (3000K), Fluorescent 1 (4000K), Fluorescent 2 (4500K), Daylight (5300K), Cloudy (6000K), Shade (7500K) , Under Water Auto, One Touch WB
White balance compensation ±7 steps in each A-B/G-M axis (in Auto WB / Preset WB mode / One touch WB)
CWB (Kelvin setting) 1 setting can be registered at Kelvin temperature (2000K - 14000K)
One-touch white balance Available
White balance bracketing 3 frames in 2, 4, 6 steps selectable in each A-B/G-M axis.
Colour Mode Colour space sRGB
Picture Mode Mode Vivid, Natural, Portrait, Muted, Monotone
Adjustment parameter Contrast, Sharpness and Saturation level available in 5 steps for Vivid, Natural, Portrait and Muted 
Contrast and Sharpness level available in 5 steps for Monotone.
Filter effect Yellow, Orange, Red or Green filter available for Monotone
Picture tone Sepia, Blue, Purple or Green tone available for Monotone
Gradation 4 levels (Auto, High key, Normal, Low key)
Shutter Shutter speed 60 - 1/2000 sec. 
Bulb: up to 16 min.
1/3 steps
Self-timer Operation time: 12 sec., 2 sec. (cancel available)
Remote cable release Available  (with optional RM-UC1 Remote cable.)
Drive Drive mode Single-frame shooting, Sequential shooting, High-speed Sequential shooting1,High-speed Sequential shooting2,Self-timer
Sequential shooting speed Approx. 2 frames/sec. in sequential shooting 
Max. recordable pictures RAW mode: Max. 8 frames.
on sequential shooting JPEG mode: Depends on compression ratio and no. of pixels
(Large normal mode: approx. 23  with Toshiba Super High Speed type "Class 6" 4GB)
Flash Built-in flash Available
Compatible external flash E-system Flash(FL-36R, FL-20, FL-14,FL-50R)
*FL-50R(Can only be used with wireless. Cannot attach to body)
Flash mode of External Flash Auto, Red-eye reduction, Red-eye reduction slow sync., Slow sync at 1st curtain, Slow sync at 2nd curtain, Fill-in, Off.
Flash intensity control Up to ±2 EV in 0.3 EV steps
Art Filter Mode Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, and Dramatic Tone
Multi Exposure Number of picture 2 frames
Functions Auto gain,
Multi Aspect Aspect Ratio 4:3/3:2/16:9/6:6
Live control Information (shooting) Battery information, Shooting mode, Shutter speed, Aperture value, Exposure compensation value, ISO sensitivity,
Live Guide Exposure compensation indicator, Exposure indicator, Flash intensity compensation indicator, Date, Auto BKT setting, 
WB, Record mode, Flash Status, Image size, Drive mode, Flash intensity compensation value, Metering mode, 
Recordable still image number, Focusing mode, AF frame, IS activating mode, Face detection, My Mode, 
Multi Exposure, Aspect Ratio
Live Guide Color satuturation, Color image, Brightness, Blur Background, Shooting tips
Playback Playback mode Single-frame
Information Display
Index Display(25 frames, Calendar)
Close-up (1.1 - 10X)
Movie (w/sound, FF/REW/Pause)
Slideshow(Still/Movie/Still+Movie, Slide show w/BGM/BGM+Sound/Sound)
Information display Histgram,Shooting information,OFF
Menu Languages 39
Reset & custom setting My mode 1 setting recordable
Image Editing Erasing function Single frame, All, Selected frames(from Index)
Protect function Single frame
RAW picture editing RAW development based on settings of the camera(including Art Filter)
JPEG editing Shadow adjustment, Red-eye fix, Trimming, Monotone, Sepia, Saturation (colour depth), Resize (producing another file, 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240), e-portrait
Print Print function Print reservation (DPOF), Direct print (PictBridge compatible)
Input/Output PC interface USB 2.0 High Speed for storage through Multi-connector(MTP mode is available) 
TV interface HDMI(HD/Stereo Sound), VIDEO-OUT(SD/Mono Sound)
USB/Video connector Dedicated multi-connector (Video: NTSC/PAL selectable, Optional Remote cable RM-UC1, USB cable is available)
HDMI Mini HDMI type-D
Flash attachment Hot shoe
DC-in Yes(Multi terminal)
Accessory attachment Accessory port
Accessories Chart External Fkash FL-36R, FL-20, FL-14,FL-50R(Can only be used with wireless.Cannot attach to body)
Viewfinder VF-2
External microphone SEMA-1 + ME51SW 
Armlight MAL-1
Accessory for underwater photography PT-050
AC cable F-3AC
Remote Cable RM-UC1
Charger LI-50C
Compatible OS Windows XP SP2, Windows  XP x64Edition, Windows  Vista, Windows  Vista SP1, Windows 7, Mac OS 10.3-10.6
Power Requirements Battery Li-50B (included)
Sleep mode Available (20sec, 1min, 3min, 5min)
No. of recordable pictures (with 50% flash light) Approx. 320 shots
Power battery holder Non available
Memory Internal memory (for shooting) 54.6MB
Dimensions/Weight Dimensions  110.6 mm (W) x 64.8 mm (H) x 42.3 mm (D)
Weight 275g (body, battery and media)
Operating Environment Temperature 0 - 40? (operation) / -20 - 60? (storage)
Humidity 30 - 90% (operation) / 10 - 90% (storage)
Box contents Body, Lens cap, Lens cap strap, Li-50B , F2AC , USB/Video Multi cable, Shoulder strap, CD-ROM(ib and OLYMPUS Viewer2), Instruction manual, Warranty card.

Your Comments

Loading comments…