Hey Ross, good to hear from ya.
RB@chya!
Maybe we'll eventually end up back to Olympus, who knows?
Not at a Nikon-esque F\3-6.9
:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1103/11030211olysz30mr.asp
A concerted effort towards unseating the Zs\Tz line, maybe, if it's similarly sized? That's what I'm thinkin' Oly's finally on board with...
The new XZ-1 is a pretty decent first offer in the LX3 range of cameras; it has too many glitches and things left out to interest me, but shows promise if they fix it up in successive models. (they even have a hi-res EVF, but it's a top-mount, pricey, and rather large, not built in, but it may please some). And a higher res LCD. Sony is now using some nice 920k LCD's, which are great for me with the Clearviewer, excellent detail, so there's another possibility.
I'm all for better 4, 5 & 6k or more LCD's & would take the size
(thickness) hit if they were all tilt\swivel too & if external EVF's were included in with the stock package @ significantly lower total cost than their combined cost now, such as what the cams alone are fetching, I'd use em at least half of the time & probably always during the day outside... But there's no way I'll throw an additional 1\3rd or more of what the cam alone cost away on one, especially a low-rez one...
I don't need Jeans-pocketable.. In fact smaller is almost unacceptable & while I'd prefer the EVF be built-in, either way external or built-in, I'd accept the size hit too, especially if it's still smaller than the G12 & P7000, which I don't think is impossible...
As for the Xz1, I'm sure it's well-built at least as well as an Lx & maybe even better although without a grip bump that I don't like at all & the JPG engine looks at least as good as the 8080's, replete with
"Those-Oly-Colors" but after that & the F\1.8-2.5 aperture, I'm pretty much severely unimpressed to the point those beautiful attributes are wasted... Lest we forget the loss of 4mm wide, I've been spoiled by, is pretty much a deal-killer all by itself...
Really? The ancient standard known as the half-press is now considered an acceptable incarnation of the AEL\AFL button... Give me a break.. If that were the case then every cam on the planet has had AEL\AFL since the turn-of-the-century & all previous complaints of that button being missing were unwarranted. And the-powers-that-be, know-it-all reviewers not calling Oly out on that is even more objectionable...
I can't think of a single good advantage the ring around the lens provides on either the Xz1 or the S90 & 95, especially in the rear-lcd framing way of shooting.. I'd rather take my chances with a touch-screen, given the choice, if the J-stick wasn't possible... The last thing I want to do holding the cam away from my face is to reach all the way round the front of it unless it's an adj that's set prior to the shot like the Aspect ratio or focus mode... but not for manual focus, EV, shutter or aperture, while framing.. Rings around the lens only work best in a more conventional two-handed through a VF technique..
Even if it is poor technique to one-hand hold to frame\shoot, LCD-only framing almost promotes it & even with a two-handed LCD-only approach, I'm sorry, the J-stick & buttons beats dials & wheels & if the wheel\dial is multi-functional by pressing it in or in combo with a button-press, fuggetabotit.. That's one of the reasons I never got on well with the 8080... I never was able to remember which button of the many had to be pressed for the dial to change the shutter speed in 'M' mode...
At this point, even if Panasonic produced the FZ60 we wanted long ago, I wouldn't bother, because I know they'll have the battery issue...it's just time to move on, apparently. I don't really need any cameras now, or for a long time, but would probably sell the LX5 if the Oly XZ1's successor (or something similar) pans out, just due to the battery issue (though I wouldn't miss the thumbwheel a bit).
Well, for the possible Fz60, I'm thinking Fuji might be the only hope but they still don't quite get it & if a touch wider & longer tele has to be @ F\6 or F\7, what good is it?
I fear I'm S.O.L. as far as an Lx3 upgrade, other than another Lx3.. From Panny it's more than the battery fiasco despite more zoom, purported better DR & faster AF & I doubt Oly will go the way of the J-stick or add 4 or more mm to the wide end, which alone pretty much rules the Xz & the Canons out...
Who knows, maybe Ricoh, Casio or Samsung might pull an Fz-esque rabbit outta the hat.. They're putting up a decent effort towards the Lx... Canon Nikon & Sony are just too busy to bother...
Finally, I'm not shooting as much as I used to, even though the Lx & big bag are still pretty much always within reach... So with the exception of a drop or loss\theft, the lesser wear & tear should\could add years to my needing an upgrade, especially having the 30 still, to back up my 50 although the Tz5 isn't quite as formidable a back-up of the Lx3...
Hell, 8 & 10mp is fine by me... It's not like we're stuck with a measly 1.5 & 2mp like we were back in the Uzi days & the single digit Fz's along with the 10, 15 & 20 just weren't quite enough to go to although I just missed opting for the 20 but went wide to the 8080 instead & even though that didn't work neither, it was a help in the grand scheme of things compared to what the Fz20 would have brought to my table...
But I digress....
--
The Amateur Formerly Known as '
UZ'pShoot'ERS '
'Happy Shootin'! Comments, Critique, Ridicule, Limericks, Jokes, Hi-jackings, EnthUZIastically, Encouraged... I Insist!
*
rrawzz'at'gmail'dot'com *
http://www.pbase.com/rrawzz *
Tz5aLx3Fz50Fz30C8080wzE100rsC2100uz
... I hereby go silent on the ZS10.
