However, the continuous shooting modes boost the ISO to very noisy levels, so it’s probably an option best used in broad daylight. Pressing down on the directional pad in any of the camera’s manual modes activates a continuous shooting mode, which fires off shots in rapid succession as long as you hold the shutter button. Autofocus searches quite a bit when objects are deemed too close to the lens, even when they’re not all that close. However, neither of the two macro modes kick in automatically when the camera is set to iAuto mode, and the camera has trouble locking in on a crisp shot in some situations.

They both work well in good lighting, with impressively shallow depth of field. The camera’s menus have two macro settings-a Macro setting for objects a couple of inches away from the lens, and a Super Macro setting for objects still closer than that. The XZ-1 offers decent performance in macro situations-as long as they’re very well-lit, and as long as you don’t use its iAuto mode for close-up shots. However, it jacks up the ISO rather than slow down the shutter speed, and the resulting images often look way more noisy than you’d expect out of a higher-end camera.Īutofocus was also a common issue for me, especially in macro and low-light situations. The results are a mixed bag: As long as there’s some light to work with, the F1.8 lens captures usable low-light shots. The good news is that most of the XZ-1’s drawbacks can be fixed by using the camera’s array of manual controls, but accessing those controls sometimes takes more effort than it should. The result is a very good camera that’s likely to please its owners, but one that requires quite a bit of “quality time” to get the hang of. Some of its more-enticing features-the control ring around its lens and its manual focus controls, in particular-are better implemented in some of its direct competitors. This camera leaves quite a bit to be desired in Auto mode, and accessing most of its features requires a fair bit of menu-diving. The Olympus XZ-1 ($500) is certainly a versatile camera with a great range of features, but it falls short of similar high-end cameras in one way or another, and novices might have a hard time getting the most out of it.

Premium compact cameras is that, despite outclassing the lion’s share of point-and-shoots, they ultimately have to compete with one another.

Olympus xz 1 used