Most experience with the camera I made at a photo trip in Venice of and am excited about the part. Of course you can my Olympus E-5 does not replace, but it is also not intended.
First Impression
The processing of the XZ-1 is solid and tidy.
AF
Works very fast and reliable. Together with the strong auxiliary light he could always find his target.
Charger / Battery
Very good, I find that you can charge the battery without charger. The battery capacity is likely to be slightly larger.
Lens cover
Works flawlessly. I lashed him with the supplied string to the right camera-eye, so that he does not lost.
Grip
Basically, no problem. However, I have the impression that an additional part / bead would front right improve the grip. Such a part is in the meantime to have accessories trade.
Image Quality
Who photographed only with ISO 100-400 and the images look on the screen, will be satisfied in most cases. The camera is better than to believe your JPEGs.
Screen
'Natural', Sharpness +1, +1 contrast I personally like best. The latter is already too contrasty for portraits. Thanks to the camera's internal RAW development can be optionally but generate an additional JPEG with lower contrast. Or just do the editing on a PC.
White balance
Works on 'Auto' in daylight very reliable - but be careful with incandescent lighting, the images show a yellow-green tint. So there change to 'light bulb', and the result is right.
Data Format
Only the best. LF + RAW 'or RAW. Memory is too cheap, as it would be worthwhile to save the odd MB. And it later maybe vigorously to annoy.
AF
Eben, AF. TR works quite well, but always lead to a certain delay. I only use the center AF.
Metering
I now use the good old center-weighted metering. ESP usually works quite well, with minor exceptions. The spot metering works very well, but practically lack AEL unusable.
Conclusion:
But I have definitely decided after several days of practical testing to buy this camera as a second device for Olympus E-5.
