Olympus XZ-10 - A Smaller and Better XZ-2?

Introduction

It's probably safe to say that it's raining advanced compacts! The digital camera scene has never been flushed with as many options as there are now. To recap, this range of cameras appeal to users who demand reasonably good image quality with manual controls in a compact body without concern for lens attachments. Each major camera manufacturer has its own representative in this market segment, and Olympus’ current ambassador is the XZ-2 that we recently reviewed. So color us surprised when we spotted the XZ-10 at CP+ earlier this year.

At first glance the XZ-10 appears to be a smaller version of the XZ-2, so why would Olympus see the need to release two high-end compact cameras? And is the XZ-10 truly just a smaller XZ-2? Join us as we find out the answers to all these questions. For those who've not read our review of the XZ-2 previously, it would be beneficial to check it out as we will be making extensive comparisons and notes based on it. In any case, we've summed up their key specifications right after the photo jump.

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Design and Handling

Sporting a well-built metal body, the XZ-10 is pretty standard in terms of design and layout of controls. There’s a rubber grip on the front and a small rubber thumb rest on the rear to help with your grip on the camera. On the rear you have the video record button, playback button, menu button, info button and rear control wheel. The Fn button lets you assign an impressive 16 shortcuts to it, though getting to the last shortcut would require you to press it 16 times, which requires far more button presses than if you had accessed it via the menu system.

The XZ-10 also features a control ring around its lens, which lets you adjust the setting for the respective shooting mode you’re currently in. So the control ring lets you adjust the aperture while shooting in aperture priority mode and you can tweak the shutter speed while shooting in shutter priority.

The XZ-10’s micro-HDMI port can be found on its right, which also houses the proprietary charging port. Losing the charging cable means you would have to purchase another since any other micro-USB cable will not do the job. The battery can only be charged in-camera, which is a hassle if you intend to charge more than one battery concurrently.

So what are the main differences between the XZ-10 and its larger sibling, the XZ-2, besides size?

• A smaller sensor size of 1/2.3-inch as opposed to a larger 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor on the XZ-2. Both camera sensors support 12MP imaging resolution.
• The XZ-10 does not come with a hot shoe port, so there’s no mounting of flashes or electronic viewfinders.
• The XZ-10 only has one Fn button as opposed to two on the XZ-2. It also loses XZ-2's lever switch around the Fn2 button for extra contol dexterity.
• The XZ-10 shares the same rear display as the XZ-2, but the XZ-10’s display does not tilt or extend out. Fortunately the XZ-10’s display is touch-sensitive like the XZ-2, so you can actually tap the screen to focus or tap to fire off a shot. This makes focusing a faster and more intuitive affair, as opposed to using the control wheel to move the AF point
• An improvement on the XZ-10 is its automatic lens cover instead of the XZ-2’s separate lens cap. This made us wonder why this design aspect wasn't implemented on the XZ-2 model where we made a negative note in our review.

While the XZ-2 does offer a more secure grip due to its larger size, not many will appreciate all that bulk. In this regard, we have to agree with the general sentiment that the smaller XZ-10 definitely feels like a camera that you will carry everywhere, even when you're not toting a bag. 

User Interface

Pressing the OK button when you’re shooting will bring up a list of commonly-used settings on-screen, such as white balance and ISO. This is more convenient than heading into the menu system to adjust these settings, because we feel that the menu system needs more streamlining.

The XZ-10 menu system consists of five sub-menus which all lead to other layers of sub-menus. There are the basic shooting options, the advanced shooting options, the detailed camera options, another sub-menu for playback options and one last one is to setup the camera’s basic functions. Unfortunately the names of these sub-menus don’t really give many clues as to where you will find certain settings. For example, where would the setting to toggle the image stabilizer be? In order to set the AF-mode, where do you look? While it’s good to offer many shooting options and settings for the photography enthusiast, the manner in which they are arranged needs more refinement as the current menu system is too convoluted. This is the exact same gripe we had with the larger XZ-2 counterpart as well.

Image Quality, Performance and Sample Images

The XZ-10 offers more manual controls and settings over your standard point-and-shoot, but also suffers from some issues that plague its sibling, the XZ-2. Shutter lag is present in the XZ-10; it’s no longer than a second but still noticeable. But then again, shutter lag is an issue common to almost all compact cameras so we wouldn’t fault the XZ-10 based on this alone.

However, the fact that the XZ-10’s display will freeze up for a second right after you snap a shot makes the shooting experience a bit more jarring than need be. Naturally, users will wonder if they managed to capture their intended shot since the shutter lag combined with the split-second screen freeze gives you a feeling that the camera wasn’t fast enough to capture the moment.

One of the biggest draws of the XZ-10 is its ability to shoot at f/1.8, which not only allows for a more shallow depth-of-field but also allows a faster shutter speed to be used in low light situations. Many will be hoping for at least an acceptable quality of bokeh effect, since it is impossible to get the high-quality background blur achieved with a DSLR camera and quality optics.

The XZ-10 scores a respectable 2000LPH (horizontally and vertically) in our resolution test - identical to the XZ-2. In terms of low light performance, do remember that the size of the aperture continues to play a part in the image sharpness, so while you are able to shoot in low light without the use of a tripod due to the large aperture, this also results in a shallower depth-of-field. This, combined with the XZ-10’s noise reduction, will usually result in an image that displays some smudging and detail loss. Unless you’re intending to produce large prints of your images though, the loss of detail is usually not very noticeable at lower resolutions.

Sample Photographs

These are sample photographs shot with the Olympus XZ-10. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click for the full-resolution images.

Conclusion

The XZ-10 is a competent camera that offers manual controls in a compact, well-built metal body. The ability to shoot at f/1.8 will definitely appeal to the photography enthusiast while the control ring in its design proves that this compact is aimed at those who like some degree of manual control. Sure we mentioned about the less than ideal menu system, but fortunately its quick shooting menu offers control options in a jiffy. On the other hand, the slight shutter lag combined with the freezing of the display whenever a shot is taken will definitely annoy those used to the response and speed of DSLR cameras, but if you can accommodate that, there's not much else to dislike about the XZ-10.

To give you a practical example to help you make a better decision, if you intend to take several snapshots of your pet or child in succession, then this issue will definitely be a major stumbling block when trying to snap constantly moving subjects. While some of us can predict if such instances will form a large part of shooting collection, many others can't really predict this and this is exactly why cameras exist to capture the movement. We can easily let this issue slide if it was a standard compact camera, but the XZ-2 is an advanced compact camera. This is why the issue is magnified and we would advise would-be buyers to actually give the camera a try to see if it's a lag that they can personally tolerate.

Now let's consider the value quotient. Most potential buyers will be comparing the XZ-10 (S$548) with its larger sibling, the XZ-2 (S$698). With a price disparity of a sizable S$150, the larger and more expensive XZ-2 will you will get you a tilting rear display, a hot shoe mount and a slightly larger sensor for that sum of money.

If most of your images are going to be uploaded online and you don't intend to make large prints of your images, then we doubt the difference in sensor size will affect the quality of your images. In fact, the exclusion of a tilting screen and the hot shoe mount results in a much smaller camera body. And that’s the best part about the XZ-10; it’s a small and portable camera that offers enough customizability and manual controls to satisfy the photography enthusiast without burning a hole through your pocket. Last but not least, is the affordable price enough to offset the shutter and screen lag? That's up to individuals to try and decide.  But if it doesn't bother you, the Olympus XZ-2 might be your ideal pocket advanced compact camera.

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