Olympus New Superzoom Is A Top-End Shooter

The Olympus Stylus 1 has the look and feel of
a top-end camera, and despite not being an
interchangable lens camera with a huge image
sensor, it is one. It is styled like the excellent
Olympus OM-D E-M5, sharing the same EVF
and tilting touch-screen LCD. At its heart is a
12-megapixel 1/1.7-inch image sensor, larger than those
found in most long zoom cameras, and the integrated
28-300mm f/2.8 lens covers an impressive focal range
at a constant aperture. It’s a solid performer, and even
though its zoom lens doesn’t cover as long of a range as
our previous favorite, the 24x Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ200,
we’re naming the Stylus 1 as our new Editors’ Choice superzoom.

DESIGN AND FEATURES

Measuring 3.4 by 4.5 by 2.2 inches (HWD) and
weighing 14.2 ounces, the Stylus 1 is a bit larger than
most compact long zoom cameras. The Stylus has a
noticeably bigger lens that doesn’t collapse fully into the
body, and its excellent integrated EVF (the same
1,440k-dot LCD found in the OM-D E-M5, with a good
1.15x magnification) and 3-inch tilting rear touch
display (with a 1,040k-dot resolution) also contribute to
the extra bulk. The Stylus 1 has a unique lens cover; the
always-on cap (it can be removed to add a teleconverter
accessory) has four hinged doors that automatically
open as the lens extends. The 10.7x lens is a 28-300mm
f/2.8 design, which is an impressive range for a camera
with a 1/1.7-inch image sensor.
Olympus is targeting serious shooters with the Stylus
1, and as such has included a good array of physical
controls. There’s a programmable Fn2 button up front,
which is nestled inside of a switch that toggles the ring
around the lens to either act as manual focus control or
adjust shooting settings. There’s also a power zoom
control on the front, at the left side of the lens barrel.

On top you’ll find a standard mode dial, a control dial for quick EV
adjustments, an additional zoom rocker (surrounding the shutter release), a
power button, and a record button for video capture. Rear controls include
buttons to set exposure compensation, control the flash, adjust the active focus
area, and control the drive mode. There’s also a programmable Fn1 button, and
the normal menu and playback controls.
The Stylus 1 has built-in Wi-Fi. The setup is identical for iOS and Android
devices: You scan a QR code that’s displayed on the camera’s rear LCD using
the Olympus Image Share app, and that installs a network profile for the SSID
the camera broadcasts. Once you’ve connected to that network you’ll be able to
transfer JPEG images and QuickTime videos to your phone. There’s also a GPS
function that geo-tags your photos—you’ll need to enable a location log and
make sure that your camera’s clock is set correctly to make this work.
Remote control is also available, and works just as on other Olympus
cameras. Your phone or tablet will show the Live View feed and you can choose
a focus point and fire the shutter. The app provides full access to automatic and
manual shooting modes, so it’s possible to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO,
and the focal length of the lens. The Wi-Fi is easy to use and the remote control
is one of the best I’ve seen. What’s missing right now is the ability to post
photos from the camera to social networks when a hotspot is available; you have
to transfer them to your phone and post from there.

PERFORMANCE AND CONCLUSIONS

The Stylus 1 starts and shoots in about 1.3 seconds, manages a very short
0.1-second shutter lag at its widest angle, and can focus and fire in just 0.6
second when zoomed to the 300mm setting. Focus does slow a bit in very dim
light; at its wide angle setting the camera requires about 0.9 second to lock and
capture a shot. The Olympus can capture photos at 7.6 frames per second (fps),
regardless of which image format you choose. It can manage that pace for 21
Raw+JPEG, 26 Raw, or 26 JPEG images before slowing. Writing all of those
images to a memory card requires 15.2, 8.8, or 8.4 seconds, respectively.
I used Imatest to check the sharpness that the Stylus 1’s lens is able to
capture. At its widest angle it is just a little bit on the soft side, scoring 1,782
lines per picture height on a center-weighted test at f/2.8; narrowing the
aperture to f/4 gets it to 1,860 lines (1,800 being necessary for a sharp image).
Images at the 28mm setting show 1.8 percent barrel distortion, which causes
straight lines to curve outward in images. That can be removed with some quick
work in Lightroom, but doing so will slightly narrow the field of view of your
image. At 60mm the lens is sharper and distortion disappears. It approaches
2,000 lines at f/2.8 and f/4. As you zoom in further it maintains about 1,900
lines through 200mm. It’s not until 300mm that images become a little soft,
about 1,500 lines at f/2.8, but narrowing the aperture improves the score there
to 1,840 lines.

Chromatic aberration was
an issue for some images. A
few of my test shots showed
quite a bit of purple and green
fringing around trees and
branches. It’s more noticeable in
Raw files than in JPEGs, and in
most cases is easily corrected in
Lightroom. But I did see some
instances where even Lightroom
struggled to remove the color fringing.
It’s more of an issue at wider angles.
Imatest also checks images for noise,
which can rob detail when shooting in
low light. The camera keeps noise under
1.5 percent through ISO 1600, which is
good. More impressively, even JPEG images
shot at ISO 1600 retain a good amount of
detail. As with any camera, you’ll get the best
results at lower ISO settings, but the Stylus 1
impresses through 1600. Noise is more
aggressive at ISO 3200; that detail is lost due to
the in-camera noise reduction. If you prefer a
slightly grainier image with more detail, noise
reduction can be set to low or disabled entirely via
the camera menu. You can also opt to shoot in Raw;
images contain an impressive amount of detail in that
format through ISO 3200, but look considerably worse
above that.

Video is recorded at up to 1080p30 quality in
QuickTime format. Video quality is very good; footage
is crisp and detailed, and the camera refocuses quickly
as the scene changes. But the sound of the lens zooming
in and out while recording is audible on the soundtrack.
There’s no microphone input, so you may want to look
elsewhere if video is a primary concern. The Panasonic
FZ200 is a better camera for recording video; it shoots
at up to 1080p60 in AVCHD format and includes
support for an external microphone. The Stylus 1 does have a micro HDMI
output to connect to an HDTV, as well as a standard hot shoe and a proprietary
USB port. An external battery charger is included; the Stylus 1 uses the same
battery as the PEN E-PL5 and E-PM2. The usual SD card slot is there, as is
support for SDHC and SDXC cards.

The Olympus Stylus 1 has a long list of pros: a long zoom lens with an f/2.8
aperture, a relatively large image sensor for a camera of its class, surprisingly
good image quality through ISO 1600, a sharp touch-screen display, an
excellent EVF, Wi-Fi, and a solid control layout. The lens does show a bit more
chromatic aberration than we’d like, but in most case the JPEG engine can
remove it, and Raw shooters can handle all but the worst cases with ease in
Lightroom. The FZ200 still wins out for video (and costs $100 less), and though
the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 is bigger and nearly twice the price of the Stylus
1, its 1-inch image sensor and Zeiss 24-200mm f/2.8 lens are both top-notch.
For now, however, the Stylus 1 is our favorite bridge-style superzoom camera.