Bottom Time with the SeXZ-1 - PUBLISHED with Scuba Diver Australasia

Was it love at first sight? Dive into a passionate and witty underwater review of the Olympus XZ-1, the powerful "seXZ-1" compact camera that promises to revolutionize your aquatic photography. The author, a seasoned underwater shooter, puts this "bare buxom beauty" through its paces to see if its fast f/1.8 lens and innovative features can truly compete in the challenging subsea environment.

Discover the surprising capabilities that impressed, from stunning ambient light performance to a revolutionary tracking focus that makes capturing moving subjects a breeze. This review doesn’t shy away from the camera's quirks but ultimately reveals why it might just be the dream compact for photographers looking to create stunning macro and wide-angle images beneath the waves.

Read the full article to see if this sizzling relationship is built to last.

1. sportdivingmagazine august/s eptember 2011
104
I
wasdefinitelyimpressed though, asI’d
neverseensuchabigpieceofoptics
onsuchacompactpackage!Soasa
dedicatedunderwa tercompactcamera
shooter,shemaywellbetheoneI've
beendreamingofforquitesome time
now...takingherunderw atermight
measure uptooneofmyprevious
relationships;a50-50 chance encou nter...
from2003- 2009.
Whydophotograp hersgetsocarried
awaybythesizeofthelensanyway?Is
biggeralwaysbetter?Isn'talensbuta
lensasanylens?Wellmyfriend,thisis
whybig(SLR)camera users oftenspend
moremoney onanyonelensthanthe
camerabodyitself!It'salsowhyasingle
opticalmarriagebetween bodyandlens
issimply notenough –butthat'sawhole
otherkindofrelationship. ..
PeeringThrough HerLens
Soyes,thelens.Putsimply, thisiswhere
picturequalitycomes from;giving
sharpness,brightness andspeed. Todate,
mostcompactdigitalimages cannot
comparetoSLRpicturequality mainly
becausetheylacktheimage sharpness
andlensspeed.Thisisespeci ally
importantforstunningmacro
photography.Butquality optics comes
withaprice.SoIwasveryexcited about
theZuikoglass–reputed fortheirlens
quality–onthenewcamera AND ata
retailpricecomparabletoother highend
prosumercompacts.
Secondly,abrighterlens–again fromthe
1.8Zuikooptics–letsinmorelightwhich
inturnsallows ustoshoot in‘darker
environments ’likeindoor s,evenings and
UNDE RWATERwherelighting isoften
limiting forphotogr aphy. SeewhyIwasso
excitedtotakethisseXZ-1 foradip?On
myfirstdivesheletmeshoot ambientlight,
withoutstrobes,atF7.1andwithNO
blurryimpressions.Inallmyproduct
testingofcompactdigitals underwater,this
wasanamazingfirstforme!
Sowhataboutspeed?Wellthere'sthis
thresholdshutter speed –traditionally
1/60thofasecond –thatmakesaworld
ofdifferencetophotogr aphyandmainly
focus.Thegeneralruleisthatanystill
subjectshotatoranything slower thanthis
shutter speedwillyieldanunfocused
subject–ie.blurryimages. Sowithitslens
letting inmorelightthanmost, staying
awayfromthisthresholdinlowlight
situationsismuch easier.Solet'slookat
howItriedallherbuttons tofindouthow
fastandeasymySeXZ toywas
underwa ter!
GettingWetwithmySeXZ friend
Admittedly,myfirstdateunderwa terwith
herwasalittleawkward. Butthen,aren't
most?Wejustdidn'tquitemesh.Icouldn't
findtherightbuttons. Iwasn't surewhat
wasonthemenu orwhatfunctions she
could perform.Ifeltlikeacomplete
cameraadolescent–knowing whatI
wantedtodobutnotknowing how! But
afterafewroundsunder thewaves,Iwas
abletoletmyfingersdothewalkingwhile
mypicturesdidthetalking.
ThefunkiestnewfeatureIfound isone
that'sbeencriticized bysome already;it's
inabilitytolockfocusandre-comp osethe
shot.Instead,IfeelOlympus has
redesigned howtocompose shotswiththis
camerathrough(1)specific focus points
together with(2)tracking focus lock.The
trackingfocussurprisedandimpressedme
themost.Likealocking targetona
homingmissile,oncetheshutter ishalf
pressedandfocusislocked(forexample
onamovingfish)theLCDshows thatthe
focusingtracksthemovingfishwhich
mademefeellikeanscubaTopgunpilot
wieldingthelatestcompacttechnology!
Theninreverse,tofocus-recompos emy
framesI’ddothesamebutbymoving my
cameraonceastillsubjectisfocused.I
wasskepticalusingmanualfocusthough
without thecommonly found millimeter or
inchguidesbutwithitsrelatively fast
focusing,shooting movingsubjectsnever
seemed soeasyonasmalldigital
camera!
Theother smartdesignisthededicated
HD(hi-definition) videorecordbuttonright
nexttothethumb .Nomore fumbling
around withdialsorknobsandmissing
theaction. Betteryet,playbackofvideos
isasintuitiveasmostDVDplayers;center
buttonpresstoplay&pause,right/left
pressesforfastforward/rewind with
extrapressesspeedingup
playback/rewind x2andfaster.Alsoyou
canplaybackframebyframe(wheel
controller)orjumptothestartorend
(up/down)ofthevideo.Finally,aneasy
waytoreview videoswithoutwaiting
impatiently togetthrough thewhole
video.Videofocuscouldn'tkeepupwith
fastactionbutthenneither cantopend
SLRs.However, shedidagood jobon
diversunderwa terwhoprobablywould
havelikedtopullafastmove onsucha
seXZsetup.
Peekin gUnder HerHood
ThisseXZ-1remindedmeofmyex-c5050
–fullycharged,shooting continuou slyon
twohourdiveswasn’taproblem.Then
afterswitching hersleepmodetotime-in
>WHETH ERITWASLOVEORLENSATFIRSTSIGHT I'MNOT
SUREBUTWITHOUT ADOUBT,ICOULD NOT MISS THESIZEOF
THISBAREBUXOM BEAUTY.ANDASSOONASISAW HER
WITHOU THERLENSCAPON,HERSHININGBIGIRISCAPTURE D
MYATTENTIONAND IJUSTHAD TOTAKE HERONATESTDRIVE!
afteroneminute, shestarted keeping up
withmeforalmost threehours and
flashingformeallthrough mydives.
Chargingheruptookonlythreehours
andwasveryconvenient withjustaUSB
connection. Thismeant Icould alsokeep
packingtoaminimum asI’vealways got
mylaptopwithme.
However, shewasn’t quitethegirlofmy
dreamsasI’dhavepreferred amore
sophisticatedmenu andaprogrammable
shortcu tbuttontosome functions.
Hopefullyhernextfirmware update will
takecareofsome ofthese issues.
Hersupermacro mode wouldn’t trigger
theon-boardflasheither, butregular
macrostillyielded stunning images with
sharperdetails thanmostcompacts.
Addinga67mm threaded macro
:LAWRENCE ALEXWU
www.aguapictures.com
divetheblue.net
>
Getting super nudifriendly
withregularmacro using a
super macro magnifying
diopter .Anilao,
Philippines. Shotwith:
Olympus XZ-1inaPT-50
housing. DualSEA&SEA
YS-01 strobes. Subsee 10x
magnifier .
Going wildeasily witha
wetwidelens.Anilao,
Philippines. Shotwith:
Olympus XZ-1inaPT-50
housing. DualSEA&SEA
YS-01 strobesandan
INONUWL-100+dome.
BOTTOM TIME WITHTHE
SeXZ-1 FROMOLYMPUS

2. sportdivingmagazine august/s eptember 2011 divetheblue.net
106 107
magnifierwaseasyenough though, and
produced evenmorestunningphotos!
ProtectingHerUnderwater
TheOlympusPT-50housing gavemefull
accesstopushallherbuttons andtwiddle
allherknobs.Ionlywishshehaddualo-
ringsfordoubleprotectiononcethings
gotwetandwildatthedivesite.Nowif
Olympus couldre-modelherfrontdial
ringknobtotherighthandside...thenI
probably couldturnheronandperform
allthenecessaryfunction swithjustone
hand insteadoftwo!
Butaftersuchalongtime,it’snicetobe
abletojustscrewonmy67mm lenses
fromthefrontwithouttheneedofother
add-ons.Who needsallthoseextra
accessorieswhen asimplethreaded
screwwilldothejob?
However,ifyoudon’t haveanystrobes or
heavywetlensestogoinfront,thenwith
Lawrence AlexWuisanunderwaterphotograp herandscuba
instructorbasedinSEAsia. Teachingsince1996, hedived into
'underwater'photograph ywiththedigitalcamera revolution in
2003andhasn’tcome upforairsince. Withoveradozen
internationalunderwater photograph icaward ssince2005, all
hisunderwaterworkhasbeenwithonlydigitalcompacts and
henowteachesotherdivers thetechni quesofscuba
photographywithcompact camera s.www.a guapictures.com
onlythehousing,she’sslightly buoyantin
saltwater,soputheronaleaddietto
preventarunawayascent tothesurface.
Ifyoufeelthatyouwanttogetrougher
andgodeeperwithherunderwater then
keepaneartotheground asI’vebeen
toldthatshe’llhaveanalloyoutfit
housingcoming outsoonfromNauticam
asofthiswriting...withnothing naughty
here,promise!
"Ido"or"Idon't"?
Havingoneofthebrightest andsharpest
lensesonthecompactmarkettoday
definitelyyieldssuperbphotos onland
andunderwater .Then, aswellasbeing
petiteandaffordable,thishotnewthing
surelywillbeonthetopofmyhitlist.So
ifyouwanttogetwetwithoneofthe
SeXZiestcompactsonthemarket, give
thisgalatryandyoumight justfallfor
heratfirstsight!
Usingregular macrofocus oftwo
harlequin shrimps inDavao,
Philippine s.Shotwith:Olympus XZ-1
inaPT-50housing.DualSEA&SEA
YS-01strobes.
THESeXZ-1
MARINEANIMALSPREVENTREJECTION
OFTRANSPLANTEDORGANS
Studiesofthesmallseasquirtmayultimately
helpsolvetheproblemofrejectionoforganand
bonemarrowtransplantsinhumans.Morethan
110,000 peoplearecurrentlywaitingfororgan
transplantsintheUSalone.Currently,onlyone
in20,000 donorsareamatchforapatient
waitingforatransplant.Thesegrimstatistics
drivescientiststodelveintothecellularbiology
ofimmuneresponses.StudiesoftheBotryllus
schlosseri,atypeofseasquirt&descendantof
thevertebrateancestor,shedlightonthe
complicatedissueoforganrejection.Thesesea
squirtsbeginlifeasswimmingtadpoleswith
primitivebackbones,nerves,andmusculature
thataresimilartoallvertebrates,butsoon
transformintostationarycreatures.Theylatch
ontointertidalsurfacesandlooklikeflatflowers,
witheach‘petal’beingaseparate,but
geneticallyidentical,body.Whenoneseasquirt
landsnexttoanother,cellsintheseasquirt's
fingerlikeedgesrecognizetheneighboringsea
squirtas‘self’or‘non-self’.Whentheothersea
squirtisrelatedthetwocoloniesfuse;otherwise
theyrejecteachother.Scientistshaveidentified
thegenecontrollingthechoicebetweenfusion
andrejection.Nowtheyaretryingtomanipulate
theprocess,whichcouldleadtobeingableto
teachourimmunesystemtosimplyignore
certainthings.
www.esciencenews.com
GARBAGE-SORTING ROBOTS
Arobotthatautomaticallycategoriseswastefromconstructionanddemolition
projectscouldenablevaluablerawmaterialstoberecycledinsteadofending
upinlandfill.Industrialrobotsnormallyexcelatprecisetasksincontrolled
environments ,suchasassemblingcars.Morechaoticandhazardoustasks
havefallentohumans-forexample,sortingthroughpilesofwasteinsearch
ofpreciousrawmaterialsthatcouldberecycled.Butperhapsnotformuch
longer.ResearchersatZenRoboticsinHelsinki,Finland,arehopingrobotscan
takeoverwasterecycling.Thecompany'sRecyclerrobotusesdatafroma
combinationofvisualsensors,metaldetectors,weightmeasurements and
tactilefeedbackfromaroboticarmtopickoutlikelypiecesofrefuseand
categorisethem.Thoughengineeredforconstructionwaste,therobotcould
onedaysorthousehol dwasteaswell.
www.new scientist.com
AUSTRALIATAKES WHALEFIGHTTOTHEHAGUE
AustraliahasfileditswrittensubmissioninthewhalingcaseagainstJapan
attheInternationalCourtofJusticeinTheHague.Thefilingof'the
memorial'wasthenextstepinthecasetoputanendtoJapan'swhaling
program intheSouthern Ocean,Attorney-GeneralRobertMcClellandsaid
inajointstatementwithForeignMinisterKevinRuddandEnvironment
MinisterTonyBurke.Inparticular,JapanhadbreachedtheInternational
ConventionfortheRegulationofWhaling,theysaid.'DespiteAustralia
repeatedlycallingonJapantoceaseitsillegalwhalingactivities,Japan
hasrefusedtodoso,'theministerssaidinastatement.Thatwaswhythe
governmenthadtakenitscasetotheInternationalCourtofJustice.The
decisiontolaunchlegalproceedingswasnottakenlightly,theministers
said.'ThegovernmentdisagreeswithJapan'sdecisiontocontinuewhaling
andthisistheproperwaytosettlelegaldifferencesbetweenfriends,'
theysaid.Japanmustfileitscounter-memori albyMarch9,2012.
www.skynews.com.au
DIDYOU
KNOW?
50%ofwater
culturesfrom
handsfreefaucets
intheUStested
positivefor
Legionella
bacteria,compared
with15%of
culturesfrom
manualfaucets.
TIME,April112011
CHECKTHIS
OUT...
VisitJoeRomeiro’s
YouTubechannel
tocheckouta
greatvideoof
expertshark
handlerCristina
Zenato.Thevideo
isentitled‘333
NinaSalerosa’.
www.youtube.com/user/
JoeRomeiro333
2012willsee
sharkfishing
bannedinSabah,
thefirststatein
Malaysiato
imposesucha
ban,inabidto
bolstertourism&
conservation.
www.smh.com.au
FREECSIRO eBOOK
CLIMATECHANGE:SCIENCE
ANDSOLUTIONSFOR
AUSTRALIA
Thispublicationprovidesthelatest
scientificknowledgeonaseriesof
climatechangetopicsrelevantto
Australiaandtheworld.Itdrawson
peer-reviewedliteraturecontributed
tobythousandsofresearchers.
Availableasafree168ppeBook.
Downloadyourcopynow!
www.csiro.au/resources/Climate-Change-Book.html