Digital Home Thoughts: Olympus XZ-1 Announced: Late, but Better Late Than Never

With Olympus's XZ-1, the premium fast lens compact group just got more crowded. Now all we need is Pentax and Nikon to join in the fray and it will be complete. The XZ-1 features a 10 megapixel CCD, similar to those in this group of cameras, and a Zuiko lens that goes from 28mm to 112mm equivalent. The neat thing is this lens is f/1.8 to f/2.5; it's a fast lens! In comparison, the similarly-sized Panasonic LX5 has a 24-90mm lens that goes from f/2 to f/3. Not a bad feat at all by Olympus. I just hope they did not sacrifice optical quality in the process.

The camera has a lot of neat things; there is a 3" OLED screen that is probably the same as the one on the Samsung EX1/TL500, sensor-shift stabilisation, 720p video, a ring around the lens that can be used for camera control (but not customisable unlike the Canon S95), built-in electronic level, an accessory port under the hotshoe that is the same as that on the Pen cameras (and supports the new Bluetooth dongle), and of course, Art Filters! Another interesting is that the camera charges the battery internally; in fact the camera comes with a USB charging plug. There is quite a bit more, so hit the link for more, as DCResource has done a preview. Priced at $500, and expected this month. Talk about fast.