Re: Olympus sp-100 oppinions
stevenic wrote:
Its now arrived in the shops in Australia. It looks like a nice unit, if its like the stylus 1 for images it would be a good unit. The back screen was the sharpest out of all the cameras I looked at, it felt solid and seem to focus quickly. I liked the manual controls, hdr, panorama. I couldn't really tell the image quality as I had only 30 mins trying various cameras in the shop. I hope reviews will come out shortly.
Cheers
Steve.
A red dot sight is convenient for acquiring a small/distant subject, without having to zoom out to find it... and then zoom back in to take the photo (something that's especially painful with a motorised zoom, and very long focal lengths).
But in my opinion, where it really shines is for acquiring fast-moving subjects at high zoom, and with that in mind the things I'd be looking for are fast AF, fast burst rates, fast shot-to-shot and buffer clearing etc. Effective IS at high zoom. A lens that's still fast at long focal lengths may also be very helpful, depending on intended use.
If it doesn't deliver in those areas, I think I'd be looking elsewhere and adding my own red dot sight to it. Previously, my best option overall, was the Panasonic FZ200 with a red dot sight added, and a teleconverter to extend its reach.
But the FZ200 is weak on buffer clearing, and Olympus gear seems to have the advantage there. I've already switched to a Stylus 1 for most things. Stylus 1 covers most of the things I used the FZ200 for, but with a larger sensor... and for bursts, it takes advantage of high-write-speed cards. It leaves the FZ200 in the dust for number of shots possible in a single burst, and ability to fire multiple bursts in rapid succession. The XZ-10 seems similarly quick - maybe the SP 100 is too.
There are times (big airshows) where I still need the reach of the FZ200... so I'm always on the lookout for a better superzoom. Waiting for SP 100 reviews...