A new camera leaping into the LX-5, S-95, P-7000 fray, we now have a few technical details about the new Olympus premium compact. The lens, while only 28mm eq wide, is very fast throughout the zoom range, giving it an edge over the others. The OLED display and the ability to take Oly M4/3 accessories should add a lot of utility.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusXZ1/

Cheers,

Rick

DP Review snagged a demo XZ-1 and ran around Nevada during CES, now they've posted a couple dozen samples. Perhaps the most promising aspect is the shallow DOF resulting from the fast lens. We should presume the firmware is pre-release so it's too soon for pixel-peeping, but the samples demonstrate it's a very promising advanced compact for anybody in the market.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1101/11011010olympusxz1samples.asp

Vendors are taking preorders, so it should be on the street within weeks.

Cheers,

Rick

I'm super pumped about this one... been waiting on initial reviews to creep in for the LX5, but will wait a bit longer to see what others think of this one. Has a nice balance of great features from the others you list into 1 camera. If only it had that nice 24mm wide angle of the LX5.

DPR full review of a production XZ-1 is now up.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusXZ1/

Cheers,

Rick

I can't wait to see how it fares against the Samsung TL500. The TL has a slightly smaller sensor, but the lens is just as bright and it is 24 mm at the wide end. Oh yeah, it looks like it's $200 less expensive too.

Hi Eugene. Did you look at the camera comparison pages in the review? The Samsung shots all look like they were taken in a sauna--horrible resolution.

For 24mm, the LX is the way forward.

Cheers,

Rick

Edited by halfturbo on 02/02/2011 21:07:17 MST.

Wow, that is pretty bad. Hopefully that's something they screwed up in the firmware and plan to fix asap.

XZ 1
An F2.5 aperture at 112mm is indeed impressive particularly in a zoom lens.
(for both low light and shallow deph of field)
Franco

Of course, it's not actually 112mm... just the same field of view as 112mm would yield on 35mm. Not nearly the same DoF control, but better than most compacts and possibly similar to the maximum aperture (f5.6) at the long end of most DSLR kit zooms.

This is how Richard Butler explained that at DPReview :
In this instance, at the long end of its zoom, the XZ-1 has an aperture with a diameter of 9.6mm at 112mm equivalent, which compares favorably to the 9.8mm maximum aperture at the 83mm equivalent of a typical APS-C 18-55 F3.5-5.6 kit lens. It means the XZ-1 should give at least as blurred a background and do so at something much closer to the traditional portrait focal length. Furthermore it means the XZ-1 should give greater control over depth-of-field than a Micro Four Thirds kit lens, since they tend to offer 7.5mm at 84mm equivalent.

All-in-all, it means the XZ-1 offers similar control over depth-of-field and a more flexible focal length range than most DSLRs or mirrorless cameras with their kit lenses, making it a competitive alternative unless you plan to buy additional lenses..

Franco

MMMM. I've been looking at some different shots on flikr. Plenty of nice bokeh really, and I'd say enough for me; I can definitely work with that. Given this thing weighs much less than my m43 set-up and is cheaper, I might be doing some ebay selling and swapsies soon. God its tempting (even though I have been saying I don't ever want to get another camera...that my EP-1 and Pany 20mm are enough for me...I just can't help but want to lose weight!!!).

Went to my favourite local store last night, and tried an XZ-1, followed by a Fujifilm X100. Sheeeez! The XZ-1 really is a great camera. Depth of field is pretty good really when zoomed out. And its pretty small, but not quite as small as I thought.

The X100 though...holy cow that's a camera and a half. All the internet hype is totally spot on. First look through that viewfinder and you are sold. And its just so easy to use and get it to do what you want.

I'm thinking of getting a front pack (probably a zpacks), so size won't really be an issue if I keep the camera in that, so that gives the X100 a big advantage. It weighs about 165 grams more, but its about 70grams less than my E-P1 with 20mm pany.

Its just a pity the X100 costs so much. If I sell all my m43 gear I probably won't have enough!

Adam, the new Fuji X10 is 120g lighter than the X100 and a lot cheaper for good performance from a smaller sensor. No EVF but with a 85% frame optical vf. Nice fast lens too.

I like the look of the Oly myself.

Edited by tallbloke on 10/10/2011 04:33:12 MDT.

Rog...its tempting to have all of them! Good thing I can't afford any (or is it....).

I'm getting a front pack soon from zpacks. I'll see how I go for a while with keeping my Oly E-P1 and Panny 20mm. I've just sold my ultrawide lens which will fund a few lighter bits and pieces of gear (much better $/oz than any new camera).

Unfortunately it seems my E-p1 is out of warranty date, and I would probably have to pay at least $100 to get the screen fixed if I send it back according to the shop (it has about one dozen pixel lines missing now, not critical to me in 99% of situations, but it could start to get worse and worse). The camera without the dodgy screen is probably only worth $200 on ebay. So I may as well just keep it and keep using it until it dies completely. Yay for digital rot. Then I'll be left with the Pany 20mm (which will no doubt hold its value if I decide to sell it then), and I'll decide then what new camera to get. There could be an E-P4 or 5 by then...maybe Oly will bring out a hybrid viewfinder to REALLY complicate things!!! A E-LPx with big advanced touch screen (improve on the one on the new E-P3) and hybrid viewfinder with small pop up flash for fill and a newer sensor would totally rock!

Edited by oysters on 10/10/2011 06:07:24 MDT.