Olympus created a totally new web service which enables Olympus users to save images on the web. This service includes on-line editing plus adding image effects to the images, the service has a private plus a public area and it completely synchronize with the latest ib software Olympus from Olympus.

Currently the ib software is only Windows supported. Hopefully we will see the Mac version soon plus new iPhone plus iPad Apps. I think it is a great idea because it offers great ways of showing friends images especially if you do not like to use Facebook. You can find the ib homepage here: http://www.ibonthenet.com

Siegfried

I believe there are millions of people out there that do want great image quality from their digital cameras. People which likes to enjoy hobby photography and people intensely interested in the technology associated with digital photography. I often get people asking my advice and their questions are almost always the same. "I am investing in a new digital camera and I like something with good image quality at a good price" Then on the other side you have the guy that says, "I am investing in a new camera, I like photography as a hobby and I like to get a DSLR." This is normally the difference between the person who just wants a digital camera and the person buying a digital camera for hobby purposes.

This is when the information search start and this is when people get programmed on large Photographic related forums into becoming digital photographers. These young photographers are often characterized by the level they have been programmed. Those that were exposed by a large degree often find it difficult or even impossible to enjoy photography. They get so involved with all the problems the digital sensor presents, DR, photo editing, RAW files, this camera or that lens, that these poor guys often just disappear as fast as they came.

Then there are the small group of artists or hobby photographers that really enjoy their new investments. They are characterized by almost always having their camera (not camera bag) with them. Anything that moves get clicked and they often just can't stop talking about their new hobby. Are they photographers? Certainly yes, often in this group of young digital photographers huge talent are discovered. It is this group I like to support with this website and the Facebook page I started. Please come and visit these pages, show us your pictures on Facebook and if you like we will talk about photo editing or camera techniques.

My son is a pro photographer. Pro meaning he makes a living from photography. He uses several camera bodies, including the 5D, 7D's, 550D and a PEN. He told me it is interesting how well people are informed and how much face value the 5D adds to the photographer's image. It creates confidence by the customer when the photographer use the 5D. Then there are other customers who just go ahead and specify the format they want plus in many cases the camera that should be used. Doing photography for a living is something totally different to what we think it is. I am happy if real photographers also visit these pages because from them we can learn and that is fun....

Best

Siegfried

When you read my notes in previous posts on the Olympus E-PL2, you will see I really like the latest incarnation of the PEN series. It is the first time I believe Olympus did not really know, how to position a new camera model. The E-PL2 body is not as unique and detailed as the E-P2. What really makes the E-PL2 different is its great functionality. It also gives us a window into what we might see from Olympus in the future especially on m4/3 cameras.

Olympus is the market leader introducing new functions and technologies in the world of photography. Having said that, it is also true that Olympus often stop just that little to soon when thinking of new ideas and functions. To take a basic example, lets look at the popular ART filters which Olympus pioneered into pro type SLR cameras, like the E30 and later the E5. The media made fun of the new Olympus ART filters, the forum guru said NO and the filter followers group would not tell when they used it. Olympus persisted by growing the ART filter pallet and today I see large review sites commenting increasingly positive on the Olympus ART filters. Today we have 12 or 14 odd ART filters and they scattered between 5 or 6 different camera models. Personally I find no logic behind the criteria Olympus used to group these filters including what filter should go into what camera. The question is, Mr Olympus why not create an ART Filter Databank which the Olympus user can use to select that filter selection the user prefer.

From this Olympus User Databank the Olympus user could get access to all the different ART filters plus if you really want to be bold Mr Olympus, you could add more functionality to the "Filter Databank". To explain, lets take one more example:- Why has the E-P2 an auto rotate ability and the E-PL2 not? Why did Olympus go and change the excellent histogram on the E-P2? If these functions were available in an Olympus User Databank, Olympus will not only have great access to realtime user preferences, Olympus will also develop more brand loyalty plus cementing your customer base.

Why did Olympus find it necessary to design the E-PL2?

One more reason for the last 12MP PEN is new technology and/or functions the manufacturer likes to introduce and test. The E-PL2 is literally packed with interesting additions not available in the more advanced E-P2. With the E-PL2 one can really see how Olympus is moving away from the SLR type camera and how the new niche camera really develops. The first small but significant example is the well known SAT function build into the most recent SLR's and more advanced compacts from Olympus. The E-PL2 has the next incarnation of the SAT function. Like SAT its based on the well known Curves adjustment one find in software like Adobe Photoshop. The difference is the new function gives the user much more control and therefore the results are better. The most significant improvement is in terms of shadow noise, the new curves function has much better results and with less noise in the shadows. Another example is the well known ART filters. The ART filters are now adjustable plus in some cases its possible to include frames or other small details to the final output of the image. It will be really interesting to see what the full functionality of these new functions will look like. Another significant improvement is the different focussing options one has with the E-PL2.

What are these changes like in use?

The build-in flash on the E-PL2 is a winner. Not only can it help out in many situations, it can also control external Olympus flash units. If you once worked with the Olympus RC Flash control on the Olympus SLR cameras then you always want that functionality in other cameras. Remote flash control enables endless creative opportunities and it is a real pleasure to use. I always wondered why Olympus did not build the RC function into the E-P2. It must be possible to activate this functionality when the PEN flash unit is mounted. Adding this functionality to the E-PL2, moved the E-PL2 into a different league all together.

The E-P2 also has a few aspects making it a winner. One of them are the leveling indicators build into the live view of the E-P2. I was taking HDR pictures and I had the E-P2 mounted on my tripod which is fitted with a ball head. It was such a pleasure having this leveling function on the E-P2 while taking the HDR images. It is these basic but great functions that makes it difficult for me to decide me in favor for the E-PL2 only. If Olympus had the user database in place then all I had to do was to log-in, download the App and my E-PL2 would have had the leveling function ready. The next function the E-P2 does better than the E-PL2 is the auto rotation of images. I cannot think how Olympus decided not to add the orientation sensor in the E-PL2 when they were looking for ways to save cost.

Many people prefer the E-PL2 because it has the same Dramatic Tone filter first seen in the E5. At first people described it as a HDR filter and as people saw more images produced with this filter it became clear the Dramatic Tone filter can do much more. The filter does not have the typical static "one only look" which the other ART filters has, instead it is dynamic and it changes with every movement of the camera. The user therefor has a type of control over the filter , every movement of the camera creates stunning results.

Another result one can get with the E-PL2 that is not possible with any other PEN cameras to date is the above image. I saw this scene which typically will be death for the average forum Guru. Reason being the guru does not recognize any creative opportunities in photography, everything has be technically perfectly correct. The problem the above image presents to the camera sensor is that the DR (Dynamic Range) of the image is outside the sensor specification. The results are blown highlights and shadows without detail. As you know a dynamic range that exceeds that of the sensor will have the excess highlight detail turn into white and the excess shadow detail into black. Knowing what one can do with the new Olympus Viewer 2 software, the artist could decide to apply the steps described below the original of the above image.

The E-PL2 user could decide to use the build in curves function to adjust down the highlights and up the shadows prior to taking the image. That is if the user prefer a JPEG output. In case the user use RAW files, it is not always necessary to adjust curves in the camera because he or she could decide to use Viewer 2 to modify the image. When home I looked at the above image in Photoshop Bridge and thought, lets have fun with Viewer 2. First I applied the Pop Color Art Filter, then on top of that I applied the Pin Hole Art Filter, I added a unique white balance to the pin hole and finally I applied the Soft Focus Art Filter on top of all that. This sequence one can only do with E-PL2 RAW files. The above image shows the additional control available in Viewer with E-PL2 RAW files.

Studying the above image you will see that I was standing in a passage way pointing my camera towards to the outside. As I mentioned above, the exposure conditions were extreme having very bright light on the outside and having the danger of under exposing the area where I was standing. With the E-PL2 one can avoid that by selecting the build-in curves function to correct the exposure prior to taking the image. Using this curves function one can up the shadows and reduce the over exposure in the camera. In the image below you will see the curves function plus I added 4 more small images showing you the different adjustments one can make. The adjustments one can do, range in both bottom "curves" example or top "curves" example from +7 to -7. To access this curves function press the up arrow and then the Info button. Pressing the Info button a 2nd time will move the curves adjustment from bottom to top and vice versa.

There are much talk on the forums and the web lately about the different mirror-less cameras and which is the better model. The average Panasonic supporter are pushing hard for the Panasonic G1 to go down history as one of the best. In a similar way it is said the original 14 - 45 mm kit lens from Panasonic is a must-have. My first m4/3 camera was the G1 and I enjoyed it a lot. I sold it to finance my E-P2. Later I again bought another G1 for a bargain because it was said to be the best m4/3 rds body. Knowing my E-P2 well at that stage, I used the second G1 a few times and then decided to sell it again and I made a nice profit. The G1 is good but not better than a E-P2 in my mind. I kept the 14 - 45 mm lens because I like the look of it on the E-P2 and the E-PL2 plus I think it is good. Is it worth paying the normal listed price for one? Absolutely NO, that good it is not. If you find one secondhand in good condition then yes, my advice is get it. The two Panasonic lenses, the 14 - 45 mm plus the 45 - 200 mm, are excellent in movie mode. They are silent in operation, fast and a pleasure to work with.

There are many more differences between the E-P2 and the E-PL2 which I did not list in this article. Video operation is one, there are differences between multiple exposure or images operation between the two cameras, Olympus has added more focussing options to the E-PL2 and how one can use different focussing techniques to improve creative control over the image taken with the E-PL2. The build in flash opened the door for several more options, one being the great Olympus remote control of remote standing flash units. Olympus has three different lens adapters that can fit to the standard kit lens plus the macro adapter can also be used on the 14 - 150 mm or the 40 - 150 mm m4/3 lenses. I can hear purists cry, saying NO!..., the quality is not good and no do not buy those options. In the image below I try to show you what those nasty adapters really look like and what you need to go get if you think they not good. I will most definitely buy the kit including the three adapters once the wide angle is freely available here. They will be worth gold in Photoshop and the artist in me cannot wait to start using them. These adapters I believe are really showing us what to expect from these great cams in the future.

Image stabilization is a wonderful addition to modern cameras and I almost always use IS. I wondered which is really better, the sensor based IS or that build into the lens. As mentioned above I have the two Panasonic lenses both with build in IS plus I have a number of Olympus m4/3 lenses. In use I prefer the lens system because it creates an illusion of stability. The sensor based system does not have that same stable feeling as the lens system because the IS only really activates when the image is taken. To test the two systems, I mounted the camera on a tripod, fitted the 45 - 200 mm Panasonic lens and then the 14 - 150 mm Olympus lens. I adjusted both to approximately 120 mm and then tapped slightly on the lens to create camera shake when the timer timed out. I realize it is not 100% scientific but what it showed me was that the Olympus sensor bases IS had sharper images out of a bunch of 10 test shots. The tap created a higher frequency type shake that would be typical of what happens when one press the shutter. It seems to me the sensor based "IS" is quicker to respond to rapid movements.

The last point I like to point out in terms of using these two cameras are the shutter sound or noise. The E-P2 has a lovely shutter sound, it feels solid, good quality and it creates confidence. Contrary to the E-P2, I find the E-PL2 has a noisy, vibrating type sound when the shutter operates. I am not sure if it comes from the cheaper, less solid camera body, or is the shutter mechanism in the E-PL2 of inferior quality. I had the new GF2 from Panasonic in my hand and I immediately noticed it has that same shutter sound as the E-P2. That is while the GF2 body is really tiny compared to the E-PL2. The Panasonic kit lens looked huge on the GF2.

The final difference I like to briefly touch on, is the option port on the E-P2, the E-PL1 and the E-PL2. The E-PL2 sadly uses a version 2 port which is not 100% compatible with the older ports. Some of the new options will therefor not function on the older E-P2 camera. That is unfortunately a hardware issue and something one should expect because research brings new possibilities. I have tried the awesome macro flash "cables" on my E-P2 and it works perfectly. The E-PL2 uses a new battery that has a better life time I read. It looks the same as the older battery, only the color differs. To test, I inserted the older battery at one stage into the E-PL2 and it worked well until it used up approximately 5 to 10% of its capacity. Then the E-PL2 started to malfunction. Inserting the new battery again made the E-PL2 function correctly again......

Conclusion

Siegfried

Part Three: Performance

In Part One I said “I bought this camera to replace my aging Canon G7. What I wanted was a compact, light weight camera capable of producing good quality A2 size prints (as I can with my Canon G7) and with useable low light performance. “ So how well does the XZ-1 meet my hopes and expectations? I have already dealt with its size and shape so now I’ll deal with its photographic performance.

As you might expect, there is little to choose between my old G7 and the XZ-1 at low ISOs as they have the same number of pixels.

Canberra* XZ1 ISO 100

Printing to A2 size (594mm x 420mm, or 23.4 x 16.5 inches) presents no problems. On the far side of the lake in the centre of the above picture there is a white van to the left of the flagpole. In an A2 print the wheels of that van are clearly visible and are about 0.5mm high! At normal viewing distance the image looks perfectly sharp

In the following crops the XZ-1 is ahead by a small margin (look at the trees) but it is so small as to not be very important in real life. The auto white balance of the two cameras clearly give very different results. Which do I prefer? I don’t know - it depends on the subject.

Olympus XZ-1 @ ISO 100




Canon G7 @ ISO 100

At high ISOs the results from the two cameras are very different! Here is the full frame at ISO 100 (XZ-1) followed by enlargements at various ISO's:

The G7 is not very useable at ISO 1600. The XZ-1 at ISO 6400 is as good (or as bad, depending on your point of view) as the G7 at 1600, and quite useable at ISO 1600. How times have changed! The XZ-1 lens is over a stop faster too, which adds to its usefulness in low light.

I have always found that digital cameras tend to overexpose highlights and the XZ-1 is no exception. Unless you study the histogram this is impossible to judge with the electronic viewfinder, which is always very bright and the colours are cold and washed out in appearance. Outdoors the rear monitor is no better because it is hard to see. It’s only when you download the pictures that problems become apparent, so most of the time I just leave the exposure compensation on -0.7.

Pictures of fast moving action (pets, children, sports, etc) are not the forte of compact cameras. The delay between pressing the shutter button and taking the picture is always just a little bit too long and many times the moment is missed. The XZ-1 is the best I have tried so far but the problem has not been solved. However, with a little practice and the ability to anticipate the moment you can sometimes get what you want. This picture has caught the moment when the boy in the blue cap has leapt into the air to try to pop a soap bubble and the other children have their arms fully outstretched.

“I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure....” When I first started in photography life was relatively simple. Once you had selected and put a film** in the camera all you had to do was adjust the exposure with two controls, focus and shoot. Many photographers could only afford two or three prime lenses (zooms were rare and not very good optically), or they deliberately chose to limit the number to simplify the decision making process. I used to carry just a 35mm and a 100mm lens. It was always obvious which one was needed for a particular situation. If neither lens was suitable then it wasn’t worth photographing! Herein lies a problem with the modern digital camera. There are just too many choices. When, in addition to shutter speed and aperture, you can also change focal length, ISO, white balance, colour saturation, etc at any time, and get instant feedback on the monitor, life can get very complicated. You have to be very disciplined to set the camera to a particular configuration and stick with it. The temptation to fiddle with the settings is always present and the technology can really get in the way of concentrating on the subject matter.

Now we have ‘art filters’, another addition to the decision making process. They do add some extra versatility to the camera and the results can be really interesting. To complicate things further you can combine some of the art filters with the light balance settings! They can certainly transform what might otherwise be a relatively uninteresting picture. At first I was not convinced that they offer any advantage over post processing but now I realise that even if you don’t use them to take a photograph they can be used to help pre-visualize an effect for later execution in the computer. Sometimes though it can be hard to decide which filter gives the most satisfying result - they encourage ‘kid in a candy shop’ behavior! This site is called ‘Photography is Fun’; art filters help make it fun. Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of the possibilities.

Dramatic Tone Art Filter

No Art Filter applied to next image:-

Pop Art Filter Applied to next image:-

‘Floating Figure’ by Gaston Lachaise,1927

Pinhole Art filter applied to next image

Conclusion

It’s always much easier to make negative comments as there is always something that can be improved. Those that I have made generally apply to all compact digital cameras and are therefore not specific criticisms of the XZ-1. On the contrary, the XZ-1 is a formidable camera. It is compact, robust, and has an almost bewildering array of controls and options. It is capable of capturing extremely high quality photographs and is a worthy successor to my G7. It deserves to be very popular.

* All the photographs in my reports on the XZ-1 were taken in or near Canberra, Australia.
** A celluloid roll coated with gelatine containing light sensitive chemicals that used to be used for photography ;~)

Special word of thanks from the Webmaster:-

Iain I know how much care and detail go into a series of articles like this and I like to thank you for putting together such an interesting report on the new XZ1 camera. It is these types of reports which I believe has more value to potential users. Studying the images while preparing them for placement on the web I could not help thinking, the XZ1 surely seem to pack more detail into the image compared to the LX3 and the G11 I owned before.

Siegfried