With its predecessor having attained something of a cult status, Olympus’s latest high-end compact camera, the Stylus XZ-2, has a lot to live up to. Read the Olympus Stylus ZX-2 review...
Olympus Stylus XZ-2 at a glance:
- 12.76-million-pixel, 1/1.7in CMOS sensor
- 3in, 920,000-dot tilting LCD screen
- ISO 100-12,800
- Street price around £479
Olympus Stylus XZ-2 review – Introduction
At the time of the Olympus XZ-1’s release, photographers praised the high-end compact camera as an excellent alternative to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 and Canon PowerShot G12, which were both seen as top-of-the-range compact cameras for enthusiast photographers. Now, 21 months on, the competition is even more fierce..
Announced in September at the photokina trade show, the new Olympus Stylus XZ-2 will have to strike the right chord to exceed the popularity of its predecessor. With this in mind, the XZ-2 has undergone a redesign and received a range of new features that should, once again, see Olympus challenge the likes of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 and the Canon PowerShot G15 for the compact crown.
- External mic: Yes – optional SEMA-1
- Video: 1080p 30fps MOV H.264
- White Balance: Auto, 7 presets, Kelvin plus custom setting
- Built-in Flash: Yes
- Memory Card: SD, SDHC, SDXC
- Output Size: 3968 x 2976 pixels
- Viewfinder Type: N/A – optional VF-2 EVF
- White Balance Bracket: No
- LCD: 3in touchscreen with 920,000 dots
- Sensor: 12-million-effective-pixel CMOS sensor
- Max Flash Sync: 1/2000sec with pop-up flash
- File Format: Raw, JPEG, raw + JPEG simultaneously
- Lens: 28-112mm (equivalent) f/1.8-2.5 4x zoom
- Power: Rechargeable Li-Ion LI-90B battery
- Weight: 346g (including battery and memory card)
- Exposure Modes: i-Auto, program, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, 16 scene modes, 11 art filters
- AF array: 35 points or 255 points in magnified view
- Drive Mode: Approx 5fps for up to 200 JPEG images
- Shutter Speeds: 60-1/2000sec in 1⁄3EV steps plus up to 16mins
- Colour Space: sRGB/AdobeRGB
- Exposure Comp: ±3EV in 1⁄3EV steps
- RRP: £479.99
- ISO: ISO 100-12,800
- DoF Preview: Yes, via Live Guide
- Focusing Modes: Manual, single-shot AF, continuous, macro, super macro, AF tracking, face detection
- Dimensions: 113 x 65.4 x 48mm
- Metering System: ESP evaluative metering, spot metering, centreweighted, highlight and shadow
- Compression: 2-stage JPEG
- Connectivity / Interface: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, HDMI