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High altitude skiing with Olympus XZ-1 [IMGs]

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Great Photos ;) I love how much "sharp" is in some situation the Xz-1 ....But honesty The video is poor....my android phone (galaxy s i9000) has recorded more detailed video last week on the snowpark even @720p in the same situation (I'm a snowboarder)
good jobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
 
Thanks for posting your photos. I need a new compact and have been confused by the conflicting reviews and commentary. Your quality of your low-light photos really speak to me. Question: Does it take much time to adjust the setting for those night time photos? Thank again.
 
This is just one long uncut movie clip, straight from the skirun, and not edited at all. I'm also all new to P&S video and I've no smartphone either (they seem not to like rough weather). Maybe it's also a YouTube thing, might be the way it's compressed twice (first MJPEG to H264, and then uploaded to the site). Some are reporting sound anomalies at the end of the clip.

Of course a snowboard run is more spectacular to view than a straight skirun like here. I envy those good snowboarders, I would crawl in snow first to learn, since I've never been on one. I blame I'm too tall to be good balancing on a snowboard ;o)

I did see quite many Go Pro HD Hero helmet cameras this year, talked to some and they all seemed happy with using it. The helmet camera has a smaller sensor, and is optimized for video with the MPEG4 more compressed output. That's the way to go, if enjoying both skiing and recording at the same time.
 
I think some of these are taken just in P mode / iAUTO mode and some in the LLM (Low Light Mode = Candle symbol) which boosts the ISO value more.

I was surprised what a 'low light lover' this camera actually is, and by just point and shooting. I didn't have long time for taking each photos, since my friends were walking with me and didn't want to wait extra until going to the next bar.



I am really surprised what the bright lens [ƒ/1.8 ... ƒ/2.5] does to the increasing capabilities with this camera, paired with the speed and focusing accuracy. It's AutoFocus locks faster than my older E-300 & E-400 DSLRs, and does even give my newer E-3 a challenge in low light. The XZ-1 has a strong AF LED, which can be switched off as well. The TruePic V Image Processor borrowed from the latest PEN cameras affirms its performance, low power consumption, and image quality. Photographing RAW doesn't slow the camera down noticeably either.

P.S: The image stabilization helps really well too, hardly need to use any flash either.

 
Great, sounds like this little camera is conveying all that then!
Thanks for looking!
 
Well, remember it's only a P&S camera. But I think the return to a larger sensor 1/1.63" paired with an exceptionally bright and sharp lens is the formula that does it: crème de la crème

Add to that, we today are having more powerful image processors that fast and efficiently manages RAW and video footage, with very low power consumption. This makes the camera speedy and and fast in autofocus and shooting.

Best of all, this little camera is pocketable too!
 
Maybe similar like in film days with XA, XA1, XA2, XA3, XA4
Recently we see Nikon jump in with their even smaller, without flashshoe P300.

I think this is a trend.
Olympus X-serie is just starting...

P.S: Thanks for looking.
 
The OLED display with its brightness and clarity is wonderful in this extremely snowlit conditions. It's easy to monitor and view the results. It's certainly needed on a camera with flagship ambitions.

While many readers here advocate shooting RAW, most times I just used the full automatic mode iAUTO or P mode. Sometimes, I used the C(ustomized) mode, where I had set up for RAW+JPEG. I didn't use the scene mode for anything else than Panorama. I've just had the camera a few days, and was here mainly for skiing. The manual is only on .pdf so I didn't print it and bring with.

So, with exposure & AF and in general, I would say all of the cameras performance are good. Handling with gloves on in the cold can be a little fiddly, but I'm learning. I did sometimes use exposure compensation +0.7EV for the snow, rather I would liked a SPOT-HI meter like on the big Olympus DSLRs, instead of AE-lock.

Regarding video :
  • iAUTO or P mode
  • AF (but I could have calculated DOF and locked focus manually at a certain range)
  • I think the camere alters the aperture during video - autoexposure
  • I can also change exposure compensation before start
  • Electronic image stabilization, recommended to use, since its good.
I'm just learning by doing regarding its video, but I think I can manage the camera's limitations.

It currently does what I want, but it takes time to edit and render the final movie clips.

You may want to view this thread about video capabilities also:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=37677088
 
I was a bit worried not getting this new toy in time for my ski trip, but Olympus was very fast shipping this camera to at least the Scadinavian market, just in time for my travel. I was lucky, and while a new toy is always fun to play with, this happend to be a real gem.

P.S: Thanks for looking.
 
It's attracting lots of international visitors, both in summer and winter.

The skiing is top of Europe, the alpine climbing is convenient wilth the high density of all thesurrounding +4000m peaks....

...Wikipedia tells all about that - give it five more years, and they'll give you Virtual Reality in 3D, so you can in while Georgia realize and prepare for the real visit there.
 
I like the way You presented pictures along with review of camera. Your pictures are best I have seen from XZ-1 so far. You also presented place You visited very nicely. Since I use E-PL1 with VF-2, XZ-1 is good compact to use as backup. I just fear that it might be good as main camera :).
--
http://www.pbase.com/jevtovic
 
Thanks for the kind words.

Certainly the VF-2 is a useful accessory, which I had in mind when ordering the camera. Also that I can use my old flash FL-36, also with an off the camera flash cord, were contributing to my decision. The Macro Arm Lights looks useful too.

Since the XZ-1 is so pocketable, it's so easy to carry with.

Never since the Canon A80 (which shared the same sensor and almost similar lens with G3) have I enjoyed the quality of a P&S, which I attribute to the larger sensor.

Additionally the bright lens gives me the ability to hardly go above 400ISO, even in my night pictures, as seen in this thread. The IBIS image stabilizer helps too.
 
The Pans are wonderful:

Also, you've saved me $thousands, so I can just ski on my Kingston, NY "hills"
and feel like I have skied "Big Time" !;)

Thanks Vjim
 
vincent filomena said:
The Pans are wonderful:

Also, you've saved me $thousands, so I can just ski on my Kingston, NY "hills"
and feel like I have skied "Big Time" !;)
Click to expand...
If you have good snow conditions on the east coast, please enjoy your skiing!
Well, at least don't spend the saved money on camera gear. ;o)
 
1


--

Ludwig Wittgenstein; British philosopher born in Austria; a major influence on logic and logical positivism (1889-1951):

“What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent”
 
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