Photography

Olympus crams more into less with latest high-end compact – the STYLUS XZ-10

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A control ring around the lens of the Olympus XZ-10 can be used to adjust settings such as aperture and shutter speed
A control ring around the lens of the Olympus XZ-10 can be used to adjust settings such as aperture and shutter speed
The Olympus XZ-10 features a 12 megapixel 1/2.3 inch type CMOS sensor
Because the Olympus XZ-10 is FlashAir-compatible, users can connect their smartphone running the OI. Share app
The Olympus XZ-10 will be available in brown, black or white from late March
A 5X zoom lens on the Olympus XZ-10 offers a 35mm format equivalent of 26-130mm
On the back of the Olympus XZ-10 is a 3 inch touch-sensitive LCD with 920,000 dots
The XZ-10 is the latest high-end compact camera from Olympus
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The pockets of photography enthusiasts have become something of a fresh battleground for camera manufacturers. Increasingly, impressive compacts try to combine performance and manual controls, while remaining svelte enough to be slipped in a pocket and carried everywhere. Olympus aims to achieve this with its latest high-end compact camera – the STYLUS XZ-10 – by borrowing features and styling from its PEN range of mirrorless cameras.

The Olympus XZ-10 features a 12 megapixel, 1/2.3 inch type CMOS sensor. While that's smaller than the 1-inch-type sensor we saw in our current enthusiast compact of choice, the Sony RX100, Olympus claims it's still capable of turning out "outstanding images" even in low light, and the ISO range is 100-6400 accordingly.

A 5x zoom lens offers a 35mm format equivalent of 26-130mm and is suitably speedy with F1.8 at the wide end of the focal range and F2.7 at the telephoto. A TruePic VI image engine offers fast recovery time and shutter release, with continuous shooting available at 5 fps for 200 frames. Full HD 1080p movie recording runs at 30 fps while 720p adds a 120 fps high-speed mode in 20 seconds bursts.

For users who don't want to rely on the camera to make all the decisions, there's PASM modes and a control ring around the lens which can be used to adjust settings such as aperture and shutter speed, while the Fn button on the rear could be used to access ISO or metering. Also on the back is a 3-inch LCD with 920,000 dots and touch AF, meaning you can use the screen to focus by simply touching your subject.

On the back of the Olympus XZ-10 is a 3 inch touch-sensitive LCD with 920,000 dots

Because the XZ-10 is FlashAir-compatible, after inserting an optional FlashAir card users can connect their smartphone running the OI. Share app (for iOS or Android) and upload images or video to social networks. Another interesting feature is Photo Story, which takes a group of selected images, applies art filters and puts them into pre-prepared layouts that are ready for sharing.

The Olympus XZ-10, which measures 4 x 2.4 x 1.4 inches (102.4 x 61.1 x 34.3 mm) and weighs 7.8 oz (221 g) will be available in brown, black or white from late March for €400 (that's around US$545).

Source: Olympus

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2 comments
John Parkes
These high end little cameras are great, i own two; the Nikon P310, and the Olympus XZ1. Both are terrific if in different ways, aside from the lack of RAW on the Nikon it does take better looking pictures, but i look forward to this new Olympus... The technology to displace DSLR's with these compacts is already there, it will be interesting to see if the mfg's allow a model that would cut into the sales of their higher end cameras. Aside from the obvious lens advantage, DSLR's can't compete with the numbers of people who want a quality pocketable camera.
Nantha Nithiahnanthan
I have an XZ-1. Fabulous camera, worth every cent i paid for it. Let's hope other benefit from this XZ-10. The thing about these cameras is not just the specs but the colour, tone and quality of the pictures from a compact.