Olympus Stylus 1....does anyone have any personal experience?

[Kenny202]

Looking to buy an Oly Stylus 1, I believe from 2013? I have an EM5 and happy with that but looking for a point and shoot and heard nothing but good things about these cameras. Basically want something with full control and as pin sharp as possible photos

Any help appreciated

 

[Michael Meissner]

Looking to buy an Oly Stylus 1, I believe from 2013? I have an EM5 and happy with that but looking for a point and shoot and heard nothing but good things about these cameras. Basically want something with full control and as pin sharp as possible photos

Any help appreciated

Just go back in the Olympus forum. The Stylus-1 shows up quite frequently.

Personally, I've had mine since 2014 when I bought it new. In fact, I had been wanting the E-m5 mark I and at the time it was out of my price range. I had just bought the Stylus-1 when Olympus came out with a 20% off on their refurbished sales that they used to do, and it now brought it closer to being affordable. I debated returning the Stylus-1. But I find the Stylus-1 does things that the micro 4/3rds gear can't (namely fitting in my jacket pocket but still having an equivalent 28-300mm lens, but still having a level of control).

I generally limit the Stylus-1's ISO to 1,600 (I typically limit my E-m5 mark III to 6,400 and my OM-1 to 12,800 as a matter of comparison).

Note, the stills do have most of the controls that the E-m5 have, but my memory is the video is more lagging in terms of features and options.

It uses the BLS-50 battery, which is still used for the OM-5 camera (and the legacy E-m5 mark III, E-m10s, and Pens).

One feature is since it talks to OIShare via wifi, and the lens is built-in, you can zoom with the lens via OIShare. If desired, you could get a wifi pan-tilt head to allow for better remote video.

That being said, I do wish their were 2 features: 1) splash resistance like the E-m5 and 14-150mm mark II lens; and 2) it might have been nice if went out to 24mm equivalent, even if you had to give up some telephoto range.

I haven't taken the Stylus-1 as much this year. Here are some pictures taken at a local steampunk meetup, all indoors, ISO 800 with flash:

• http://www.the-meissners.org/2023-small-albums/2023-04-steampunk/index.html

Not art pictures, but more how I use the Stylus-1.

 

[Kenny202]

Thanks for your reply I actually have an EM10 mk11 with a couple of nice lenses and I started out looking for a point and shoot I could grab quickly to do product shots, quick snaps and I came across the Stylus 1 which has very good reviews. Would it make a good companion to the EM10 or basically a similar camera with less quality. I was hoping for decent indoor shots in semi low light also (without flash). I have read they don't seem to like higher than ISO 800 or they get pretty noisey

 

[Ken Croft]

I have 2 of them plus another one not working, just for parts. They are excellent versatile and unique cameras. If you are used to Olympus menus the Stylus 1/1s is a breeze. I have a couple of Oly M1 bodies and an OM Systems OM-1, but I use the Stylus1 for convenience and when bigger cameras are not allowed.

The downside of these excellent cameras is that they have not been made for many years and Olympus camera division no longer exists. The company who took over Olympus cameras are not interested in repairs so you are at the mercy of independent repairers. Spare parts are generally not available. They can be quite fragile and they have known serious and unrepairable issues if handled roughly, like being dropped. I have one perfect and very beautiful version which does not work and cannot be repaired. Sob-sob!

You are unlikely to find another pocket camera with an excellent constant f2.8 lens, 28-300mm [equivalent] lens and an excellent evf. It really is like a mini EM10. I love my 2 working versions, but buy one at your peril. Regard it as a disposable purchase.

If you look at my post of about an hour ago you can get a rough idea of what they can do, and there is an album of images taken exclusively with my Stylus1 on Flickr here.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk86opB9

Hope this helps. Now you have to find one and pay the price.


Ken C

 

[InkedMarie]

If you put the camera name in this very forum, you will find many of us who love this camera. We’d all buy a new one, if they were made. It’s my everyday carry camera. I work 35min away from home, traveling to the country. My Stylus 1s is always with me. Someday, I’ll buy a second, just to have.

If you’re in the US, check MPB, KEH, UsedPhotoPro and I know eBay has many.

Marie

Take a look at what Ken Croft just posted!

 

[Kenny202]

I just bought it The woman bought it new and couldn't figure out how to use it and never been out of its box for more than 30 minutes. Mint in box with everything. I am in Northern Thailand by the way. I only paid equiv of about $80 for it. I am guessing with these sort of cameras (compacts) the weak point is the lens assy, Particularly if you drop it while extended. I see the battery is a standard EM10 battery too so I can share mine from the other Oly. Very pleased with the purchase and will take care of it like a newborn Never had an Olympus break on me in anyway but the last EM5 I had anything that was stuck on (dial caps etc) fell off. They must have used a crappy type of glue

 

[Bob A L]

In our country, buying a Stylus 1 for $80 would be considered grand larceny, punishable by a long prison term. :-D

You just made one of the best purchases you will ever make. The Stylus 1 is an absolute classic, unmatched in its class even today.

 

[Kenny202]

In our country, buying a Stylus 1 for $80 would be considered grand larceny, punishable by a long prison term. :-D

You just made one of the best purchases you will ever make. The Stylus 1 is an absolute classic, unmatched in its class even today.

Was cheap even for here. People trying to sell horrible 5mp point and shooters in awful condition for twice that lol

 

[elliottnewcomb]

The camera is unique, nothing then or now equals it's combo of features and quality in it's category: Jacket Pocket Size Long Reach.

It's constant f2.8 lens is superb quality. It's 1/1.7" sensor size is surprisingly better than the slightly smaller much more common 1/2.6". The lenses used in those cameras try to do too much, start 'not so bright' and darken quite a bit while zooming.

It's reach 28mm to 300mm optical, all at f2.8, is outstanding. I do miss a 24mm start, but get that with my Sony rx100m3,6

Oly's version of 2X, in-camera sensor crop + in-camera upscaling (digital guessing of new pixels) is quite usable, yielding occasional use of 301-600mm. Better than Sony's CIZ clear image zoom. Oly's 'instant' implimentation of 2X is far better than Sony's 'progressive' method.

Next: I highly recommend getting the 1.7x tele conversion lens. It's quality maintains the constant f2.8 to optical 28-510mm. Camera in one pocket, lens in the other, a nice balance, attach as needed. OR, attach lens, fits in a 9" long shoulder bag, ready to go.

Use 2X with the 1.7x you get occasional use of 1,020mm, incredibly still f2.8

.....................................................

Keep in mind, there are no spare parts, Oly will not service them, most if not all camera shops will not repair them, so treat it well.

.................................................

My results, posted here:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4678139

My setup suggestions for the Stylus 1 here:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4432542

Robin Wong's review and sample shots

Olympus STYLUS 1 Review

Olympus, Micro Four Thirds, camera review, OM-D, photography, Malaysia photographer, photography tips, shutter therapy, street photography

robinwong.blogspot.com

..............................................

Note: stupidly, Oly's default setting is JPEG N compression. I tried one at the store, yuck, didn't buy it. Looked at Robin's samples again, tried another after I knew to change the Jpeg Compression to SF, Super Fine. Terrific results, where do I pay?

 

[elliottnewcomb]

9" long bag, 1.7x lens on, Sony rx100 along for the ride.



..............................................

I recently started a thread: Jpeg .... RAW ..... using selected Stylus 1 Jpeg images here:

forget the boring text, just peek at the results I got with Stylus 1. Among other features, it's Super Macro is excellent.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4733665

i.e. I love my Stylus 1.

--
Elliott

 

[dave rogers]

In our country, buying a Stylus 1 for $80 would be considered grand larceny, punishable by a long prison term. :-D

You just made one of the best purchases you will ever make. The Stylus 1 is an absolute classic, unmatched in its class even today.

As it happens, I just received a Stylus 1s today that was being sold "for parts" on the auction site. Seller listed it at $85/OBO. I offered $75, seller came back with $78 and I bought it. $83 with tax, free shipping.

The problem was a stuck lens. The listing showed two after-market batteries. I suspected it may have been an issue with the batteries, but I figured there were a couple of other things to try if it wasn't.

Upon receipt, I looked it over closely. The camera is pristine. There is a small blemish on the lens cover. No other indications of wear anywhere, so sign of impact damage.

I popped a recent vintage OEM battery in and crossed my fingers. I could hear a brief effort to move the lens, and the LCD backlight illuminated what remained a black screen. Didn't respond to Menu. Attempting to zoom gave a similar brief sound.

Turned it off and held it to my ear and shook it. Nothing rattling around inside.

Turned it over and held it in my left hand while giving the bottom of the camera a sharp rap with the knuckles of my right.

Pressed the power button and there was a little stutter-step as the lens first retracted, then extended. The LCD came on and the camera was working.

Afterwards I did a reset and configured the camera the way I like it. Power cycled it several times in various orientations, using the full range of the zoom, worked perfectly each time.

Invoked the magic incantation for the service menus and found it had less than one thousand shutter activations. (Not so important for these leaf shutters, but indicative of the amount of use the camera saw. It wasn't "unused," but very light use for nearly decade old camera.)

This unit exhibited the same squeak near the thumb rest my other Stylus 1s had. That issue is due to the screw on the side by the thumb rest slowly backing out. A quarter-turn with a small Phillips head and it's solid.

I suspect it may have been a tiny bit of grit or sand jamming the drive mechanism, and a sharp jolt was enough to dislodge it. I wouldn't take these cameras to the beach on a windy day!

Got lucky with this one, but I'm very pleased.

 

[Kenny202]

In our country, buying a Stylus 1 for $80 would be considered grand larceny, punishable by a long prison term. :-D

You just made one of the best purchases you will ever make. The Stylus 1 is an absolute classic, unmatched in its class even today.

As it happens, I just received a Stylus 1s today that was being sold "for parts" on the auction site. Seller listed it at $85/OBO. I offered $75, seller came back with $78 and I bought it. $83 with tax, free shipping.

The problem was a stuck lens. The listing showed two after-market batteries. I suspected it may have been an issue with the batteries, but I figured there were a couple of other things to try if it wasn't.

Upon receipt, I looked it over closely. The camera is pristine. There is a small blemish on the lens cover. No other indications of wear anywhere, so sign of impact damage.

I popped a recent vintage OEM battery in and crossed my fingers. I could hear a brief effort to move the lens, and the LCD backlight illuminated what remained a black screen. Didn't respond to Menu. Attempting to zoom gave a similar brief sound.

Turned it off and held it to my ear and shook it. Nothing rattling around inside.

Turned it over and held it in my left hand while giving the bottom of the camera a sharp rap with the knuckles of my right.

Pressed the power button and there was a little stutter-step as the lens first retracted, then extended. The LCD came on and the camera was working.

Afterwards I did a reset and configured the camera the way I like it. Power cycled it several times in various orientations, using the full range of the zoom, worked perfectly each time.

Invoked the magic incantation for the service menus and found it had less than one thousand shutter activations. (Not so important for these leaf shutters, but indicative of the amount of use the camera saw. It wasn't "unused," but very light use for nearly decade old camera.)

This unit exhibited the same squeak near the thumb rest my other Stylus 1s had. That issue is due to the screw on the side by the thumb rest slowly backing out. A quarter-turn with a small Phillips head and it's solid.

I suspect it may have been a tiny bit of grit or sand jamming the drive mechanism, and a sharp jolt was enough to dislodge it. I wouldn't take these cameras to the beach on a windy day!

Got lucky with this one, but I'm very pleased.

Seen a couple of Stylus and other compact zooms with the same issues you describe. I suspect maybe bumped or dropped with the lens extended. I been pretty lucky with buying super cheap cameras that say battery dead or no charger....or some little fault. I can buy batteries and chargers usually for under $6 for nearly any camera living in Asia and have a lucky strike rate so far. Scammers are more of a problem here than faulty cameras

 

[InkedMarie]

Whoa you got a deal on that! Have fun with it!

Marie

 

[Kenny202]

The camera arrived today, mint condition...box and all accessories. Shutter count under 400 lol. Everything working fine by the looks. I haven't had a chance to use it but set up the menu, reset it and put latest version 2 on it. Not sure if I am imagining things and barely noticeable but the screen a tiny bit darker on the upper corners. When I say tiny I am talking 1/16" of an inch. Anyone else have that? At first I thought it was a lens aberration but doesn't effect the photos in anyway. Anyway, happy as Larry. I will probably sell my OMD and the three lenses I have (two expensive). I just don't use the camera to it's full abilities and think I can do everything I want with the stylus

Thanks everyone for the help and advice

 

[Bob A L]

Good luck with your new toy. I think you will be happy. Sorry, but can't help on the screen part without checking further, as I never use the screen for anything but changing menu items, so don't pay much attention to it for photos. The viewfinder is too good not to use on the Stylus 1.

 

[Kenny202]

A couple of quick things..... I would like to ask? And I know it is supposed to be a big feature of this camera is the constant f2.8. Why would you need f2.8 at long distances? My friend says I can become a paparazzi now and take blurred photos of celebs at 300 x lol

other thing is after I take a shot....and the photo is processing a second or so before the preview comes up the screen jitters just a bit....then shows the preview. Would this be an indication of a problem or they all do this? The preview comes up clear on the screen as do the controls and view screen normally. Its just immediately after taking the shot like the processor is struggling.

I took some photos today just in Iauto mode and blown away with the results. Pin sharp and clear at all zoom lengths. Color really nice. I shot in jpg+RAW today to do a comparison and the in camera sharpening and jpg processing the best I have seen. I wouldn't bother shooting raw anymore. the camera seems to do an excellent job on its own

 

[Michael Meissner]

A couple of quick things..... I would like to ask? And I know it is supposed to be a big feature of this camera is the constant f2.8. Why would you need f2.8 at long distances? My friend says I can become a paparazzi now and take blurred photos of celebs at 300 x lol

It depends on what pictures you take and what the lighting conditions are.

I bought both the E-m5 mark I and Stylus-1 in 2014. I had had the Olympus 14-150mm f/4-5.6 mark II in 2015, replacing the 14-150mm f/4-5.6 mark I that I got in 2010. The E-m5 mark I has 16 megapixels with a 4/3" sensor while the Stylus-1 has 12 megapixels with a 1/1.7" sensor.

In general, I tend to feel that I can take similar photos. Both the 14-150mm lens and the Stylus-1 have an equivalent focal length of 28-300mm. In general, with the larger sensor of the E-m5 mark I, I generally will shoot up to ISO 3,200 but I will push it to ISO 6,400 at times. With the Stylus-1, I prefer ISO 800, but I will push it to ISO 1,600 at times. This means the E-m5 mark I's sensor can shoot 2 stops of ISO more than the Stylus-1. The 14-150mm lenses are f/5.6 at the 300mm equivalent focal length, which is 2 stops slower than f/2.8. Hence the range is similar.

Other fixed lens cameras with super-zoom lenses, tend to be in the f/5.6 or f/6.3 lens at the long end. This means I need much more light to be able to shoot at the long end. I'm not always shooting in full daylight, and f/2.8 allows me to shoot in darker situations.

Another factor is when diffraction starts to set in. According to https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm a 1/1.8" sensor and 12 megapixels would start seeing diffraction effects at f/3.5. Meanwhile a 4/3" sensor with 16 megapixels would start seeing diffraction at f/7.3 (and it would be f/6.5 at 20MP). Now, diffraction is not a binary option, but instead as your aperture gets smaller, the picture starts to become fuzzier. If you sharpen the photo more, it can help, but sooner or later diffraction is going to be noticeable. Thus, if you shoot the Stylus-1 at f/2.8, you are not diffraction limited.

 

[Hope1943]

Kenny202 - You got a "smokin' deal" on your Stylus 1. Almost pure robbery. I have two of them, but paid considerably more. I have to chime in on praising these cameras. That lens is amazing. I got two so if one ever has a problem I still have another. It's that good and that useful. Enjoy your new camera.

Peace

John