farrokh Loc: Iran

Dear UHH friends,

Has any body experienced Olympus stylus 1? Are you satisfied? Is this good for professionals. Welcome your advice and thanks in advance..

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Unfortunately my only experience has been in the camera stores. DPReview gave it good mark for the category it is in (it is designed as a walk-about camera). SLRGear has a good review on it also. Depending on how you are going to use it professionally, it may or may not meet your needs. It is smaller than even most of the small mirrorless cameras and has a very good lense range (f2.8 constant aperture, 28mm to 300mm in 35mm terms). But its sensor size is smaller than 4/3rds which could prevent you from getting enough DOF or image quality (bigger than 20 X 24 will start to show loss due to smaller sensor size). As far as quality of the product, it's one of Olympus' cameras which I have had very few problems with since 1975.

farrokh Loc: Iran

Thanks so much of your comment.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I considered the Stylus 1 and 1s as a replacement for my wife's Olympus XZ-1, but my wife is too satisfied with both the XZ-1 and her new Galaxy S7 for her pictures. Yes, I would have also used it for a backup and walk-about camera for me too. But with her so satisfied with what she has, I've decided to go with new lenses and bodies of the upper end of Olympus. I will probably buy the new E-M1 when it comes out and save for the 7-14 f2.8 and the 40-150 f2.8 and make my E-M5 the backup camera. I am also considering the Olympus O-1A as a walk-about camera. Since I am almost always with my S7, it would make some sense to "upgrade" it using the O-A1with the EZ 14-42 f3.5-5.6 lense (total size 3" X 2.2"). Plus the O-1A and the other bodies will accept all the 80 plus 4/3 rds lenses. But if you can get a good deal on the Stylus 1 or 1s, I don't think you will be disappointed. It still is a consideration for a walk-about camera should I find one at the right price.

Beagleman Loc: Indiana

I had the Stylus 1 for a little over a year. I traded (to what I thought was) "up" to true m4/3rds because I thought that the larger sensor would give better image quality. However, since I seldom enlarge for printing there wasn't a visible difference. The main difference is that I couldn't get very shallow DOF or "bokeh". Now I never seem to have the right lens on for the situation, whereas the zoom on the Stylus 1 had all the reach I needed for almost everything. It's a great little camera!

fhuhman Loc: Jefferson City, MO

My wife has one and likes it, IQ is OK/good. But my Sony a6000 takes much better pics.

efleck Loc: Vancouver, WA State

Hi,

My wife bought an Olympus Stylus about 2 years ago. She takes video and some stills. She likes it for video and it takes acceptable stills. What she really likes is the all-in-one lens system. While I am shifting from my 12-40 to my 40-150 Oly Pro on my E-M1, she has made the shift already and gotten several shots. This was really evident when we were in Burma a few months ago and I missed a beautiful sunset setup over the Irrawaddy River because I had the wrong lens on. She got the perfect shot with now takes pride of place on half the page of our Burma photo book (landscape format.) One issue we find is that when I try to use her pano pics for a large format travel picture book two-page spread the resolution is too low. However, all her other pics are just fine for our photo books, just not the two-page spread panos. She also appreciates, and uses, the dot-sight integrated into the camera.

Hope this helps.

Earl

oldart Loc: Dallas, Texas

I've owned my Stylus 1 for about 18 months and purchased it because I didn't want to keep changing lenses and wanted a camera with a viewfinder.I had a 35mm Stylus years ago, and it was a great pocket camera. The Stylus 1 isn't a whole lot bigger. For my 75 year old eyes and computer talents, it does very well, and I find I'm using it more and more in manual mode, typically aperature-preferred. The menu took a while to learn, but most nowadays do! Good luck!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Olympus Stylus 1 is a good super zoom camera that has a 2.8 aperture through out the zoom range but I would hardly consider it a "professional" camera. As super zoom cameras go, Olympus is one of the best.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

That why I indicated it depends on his usage and needs as to whether it would be "professional" enough. Normal light levels, images no larger than 20 X 24, and no need of an extremely narrow DOF; the Stylus 1 and 1s will look as good as any of the cameras bigger than it. Outside of those limitations, he will need to look at other cameras to meet his professional needs. Or just buy it for a quick and fun walk-about.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

You're right: smaller-sensored cameras make it hard to get shallow depth of field.
That's one reason I prefer my full-frame camera.
But shallow depth of field and bokeh are not the same thing.

Depth of field is the quantity of the out of focus areas, ie: how much is in or out of focus.
You can have shallow depth of field and bad bokeh, depending on the quality of lens you are using.

Bokeh is the quality of the out of focus areas and that's a subjective thing.
Among other things, bokeh is determined by optical design and number & shape of aperture blades.
An extreme example would be a mirror lens- the out of focus specular highlights are usually donut-shaped and considered to be distracting.

More HERE.