My WHITE XZ-1 finally ARRIVED

I've finally received my white XZ-1, from Adorama...

Initial impression:
- The box was not wrapped... so I was afraid it was opened up or used before
- Upon close examination, it's new alright... body has no finger prints, all parts were still wrapped and taped
- This white camera with black lens makes it too gorgeous and SEXY!
- BUT... it is indeed very smooth, and therefore slippery... reminds me of the cast iron Matchbox cars I had in the past. Given that the camera is heavy, the slippery feel may create some issue
- the top part of this white camera uses the same material that the black body has. It appears to be powder coated, which I believe gives slightly better grip.
- The smooth white body also comes with another issue - you can see finger prints and smudge if your hand is oily.
- Some people wonders whether the white body is made of plastic, or is it metal like the black one. Answer is YES, it's metal.
- Someone at readers at DP Review's forum noted there seems to be two tones of white between the front and back body panels.
- Yes, indeed I noticed on the right side of the body that the back body plate appears to be a slight shade darker in white (perhaps the spray paint was not thick enough). But it appears to be due to the manufacturing process (my Mechanical Engineer hat on).

Haven't actually used the camera to shoot proper, but I'm already considering if I should trade usability (slippery feel) with looks. White cameras are rare and attractive, and I think I may be able to overlook this issue.

Pre-ordered the XZ-1

I've actually have two XZ-1 pre-ordered... a black (that I think will ship earlier) from Amazon; and a white one which I really hope I'd get from Adorama. I called the sales rep from Adorama yesterday and it appears the white one is scheduled to arrive from the manufacturer in 7-10 days. Let's see which ones come first.

Here are some of the pictures of my upcoming camera - courtesy of Olympus Japan. 

Worthy Contenders!

Comparison of some of the key features I really care about...

Based on the table below, it appears the newcomer, Olympus XZ-1, is stacked quite well amongst its competitors in terms of features (weaker in video though). But one key thing drew me to XZ-1, it's the LENS!!! 

Notice in red ink in the table below, XZ-1 has a low f/stop number of 1.8; but more importantly at tele of 112mm, it offers f2.5! That's amazing considering it's a compact camera. Other high-end camera only provided f3.3 to f5.6 as minimum f/stop. 

Why does it matter? A lot of people are concerned about 1) high ISO performance (how much noise etc), and 2) the Image Stabilization capability. Note that if you have a good lens that can open wide, like this XZ-1, you don't need to use the high ISO, and you don't need to use such slow a shutter speed to utilize image stablization. 

Furthermore, I think it's able to create some bokeh (aka background blur) for portraits. That's almost impossible with any Point and Shoot (P&S) camera I'm aware of! Well, it can have bokeh for close-up shots, but not for portraits. 

	Olympus E-PL2	Olympus XZ-1	Canon S95	Panasonic LX-5
Announcement date	Jan 2011	Jan 2011	Aug 2010	Jul 2010
Price (1)	$599	$499	$499	$399
Sensor size, and type	4/3" 12.3MP Live MOS	1/1.63 10MP CCD	1/1.7" 10MP CCD	1/1.63" 10MP CCD
Lens (wide angle)	28mm	28mm	28mm	24mm
Lens (tele)	84mm	112mm	106mm	90mm
Min f/stop @ wide angle	f3.5	f1.8	f2.0	f2.0
Min f/stop @ telephoto	f5.6	f2.5	f4.9	f3.3
ISO range (2)	100-6400 (manual)	100-6400 (manual)	80-3200 (manual)	80-3200 (manual)
Image stabilization	In-body sensor shift	In-body sensor shift	Lens Shift	Lens Shift
Flash hotshoe (3)	Yes	Yes	NO	Yes
On-camera flash	Yes Sync speed 1/30 - 1/180	First or Second curtain sync. Wireless control of flash guns FL-36R, FL-50R	Fastest sync speed 1/1600s	Yes
Video	720p 30fps in Motion JPEG	720p 30fps in Motion JPEG	720p at 24fps Motion JPEG	720p at 30fps in AVCHD Lite and Motion JPEG
Display	3" 460k dots HyperCrystal LCD	3" 621k OLED	3" 461k dots TFT LCD	3" 460k dots TFT LCD
Battery Life	TBD	320	200	400
Dimension (inch)		4.4x2.6x1.7	3.9x1.2x0.2"	4.3x1.7x2.6
Weight	16.7oz (with kit lens)	9.2oz	6oz	9.6oz

(1)     based on Amazon.com as of Jan 18, 2011

(2)     This data appears to be conflicting between various sources.

(3)     I consider this to be important to expand the possibilities of lighting effects

The small camera bake-off!

Here are the key contenders:
- Canon s95
- Panasonic LX5
- Olympus XZ-1 (Announced on Jan 12, 2011)
- Olympus PEN E-PL2 (Micro 4/3 camera) (Announced on Jan 12 2011)

I'm looking for a capable SMALL camera - not just any tiny, point-and-shoot. Portability is key, but I also need the ability for MANUAL adjustments. This is where the potential lies if the small cameras are to compete or potentially replace the larger dSLR cameras. And while many "prosumer" camera (such as Canon G series) has manual modes, they are too bulky/chunky for me.

I've also added a micro four-third camera here in view of the solid reviews I've seen from Panasonic and Olympus. Honestly, I've been considering getting a m4/3 for some time now... but while the Olympus models appeared more solid (with in-body stabilization), it did not have a pop-up flash. This E-PL2 model seems to have resolved that. So, I'll throw this one in to see if I'd make the leap into the m4/3 world. I know I'm comparing apples and orange, but let's see if I'd go for the orange.

A new dawn...

This is my first post... I'd admit I'm a beginner blogger, and somewhat uneasy about this whole idea of posting my thoughts in public.

I've created this site to document my journey to see how a "SMALL" camera can be S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D to create nice(r) photos than typical point-and-shoot cameras do. I'm curious to see if there's a small camera that can achieve results once thought possible only from large SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras.

The journey will begin from selection of my "perfect" small camera. I'll cover what features I consider to be important, why I believe so, and we'll see if the camera indeed lives up to my expectation.