I think I may have slept on the Olympus Stylus 1s

[gryphon1911]

So my used Olympus Stylus 1s from Robert's Camera arrived today. I had to work on site today, so didn't get home until later.

I only had a chance to check out the camera quickly, no time to get out and try it other than mucking about the office.

Did I sleep on this camera and let the fact that it had a power zoom stop me from potentially using one of the best compact cameras? Depending on how things go tomorrow - that very well may be the case!
Others have remarked that the Stylus 1s is a mini EM5, and initial handling leads me to believe that is the truth! If you had not told me that this camera only had a 1/1.7" sensor - I might call you a liar. For a 2015 compact, the handling is excellent, the auto focus fast, accurate and confident.

I think that Iam really going to enjoy this camera. Will try and use it a bit tomorrow during the day to judge image quality. I'm hoping that I like the JPG from it, but if not, I got a really good RAW workflow setup in Lightroom for the 1/1.7" sensor.

Roberts Camera mentioned that the battery door cover does not stay closed. I think they overstated that. The little latch on the flat part of the battery door is missing, but the door does indeed stay closed. I can use my finger nail to pop the door open when needed.

I know I'm late to the game, and those that have or have had an Olympus Stylus 1s will be like, "duh, yeah, we knew that".

• The lever around function 2 changes the control ring from controlling aperture, with clicks mind you, to a smooth feeling zoom ring.
• Olympus gives you 3 ways to control the zoom - around the shutter release, a dedicated toggle by your left thumb, the control ring.
• The "built-in" auto lens hood is very cool and I like those a lot. Had a few of them for other cameras.

 

[MiguelATF]

Congrats, Andrew! The Olympus Stylus 1S has to be IMHO truly one of the great small-sensor cameras ever. Nicely built, great little lens, and incredibly versatile.
Am truly looking forwards to seeing some of the results of your photographic adventures with yours 🙂

 

[JensM]

Welcome to the club!

You will most likely be singing it praises as the rest of us, after an outing with it.

 

[David1701]

So my used Olympus Stylus 1s from Robert's Camera arrived today. I had to work on site today, so didn't get home until later.

I only had a chance to check out the camera quickly, no time to get out and try it other than mucking about the office.

Did I sleep on this camera and let the fact that it had a power zoom stop me from potentially using one of the best compact cameras? Depending on how things go tomorrow - that very well may be the case!
Others have remarked that the Stylus 1s is a mini EM5, and initial handling leads me to believe that is the truth! If you had not told me that this camera only had a 1/1.7" sensor - I might call you a liar. For a 2015 compact, the handling is excellent, the auto focus fast, accurate and confident.

I think that Iam really going to enjoy this camera. Will try and use it a bit tomorrow during the day to judge image quality. I'm hoping that I like the JPG from it, but if not, I got a really good RAW workflow setup in Lightroom for the 1/1.7" sensor.

Roberts Camera mentioned that the battery door cover does not stay closed. I think they overstated that. The little latch on the flat part of the battery door is missing, but the door does indeed stay closed. I can use my finger nail to pop the door open when needed.

I know I'm late to the game, and those that have or have had an Olympus Stylus 1s will be like, "duh, yeah, we knew that".

• The lever around function 2 changes the control ring from controlling aperture, with clicks mind you, to a smooth feeling zoom ring.
• Olympus gives you 3 ways to control the zoom - around the shutter release, a dedicated toggle by your left thumb, the control ring.
• The "built-in" auto lens hood is very cool and I like those a lot. Had a few of them for other cameras.

I've had a Stylus 1s for a few years and I think it's one of the best small-sensor zooms ever made. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

 

[DaveNJ]

Is the current going rate on eBay (around $300+) the typical value or the inflated by influencer's value?

 

[drd1135]

So my used Olympus Stylus 1s from Robert's Camera arrived today. I had to work on site today, so didn't get home until later.

I only had a chance to check out the camera quickly, no time to get out and try it other than mucking about the office.

Did I sleep on this camera and let the fact that it had a power zoom stop me from potentially using one of the best compact cameras? Depending on how things go tomorrow - that very well may be the case!
Others have remarked that the Stylus 1s is a mini EM5, and initial handling leads me to believe that is the truth! If you had not told me that this camera only had a 1/1.7" sensor - I might call you a liar. For a 2015 compact, the handling is excellent, the auto focus fast, accurate and confident.

I think that Iam really going to enjoy this camera. Will try and use it a bit tomorrow during the day to judge image quality. I'm hoping that I like the JPG from it, but if not, I got a really good RAW workflow setup in Lightroom for the 1/1.7" sensor.

Roberts Camera mentioned that the battery door cover does not stay closed. I think they overstated that. The little latch on the flat part of the battery door is missing, but the door does indeed stay closed. I can use my finger nail to pop the door open when needed.

I know I'm late to the game, and those that have or have had an Olympus Stylus 1s will be like, "duh, yeah, we knew that".

• The lever around function 2 changes the control ring from controlling aperture, with clicks mind you, to a smooth feeling zoom ring.
• Olympus gives you 3 ways to control the zoom - around the shutter release, a dedicated toggle by your left thumb, the control ring.
• The "built-in" auto lens hood is very cool and I like those a lot. Had a few of them for other cameras.

Just a beautifully designed small sensor camera. Great ergs for a small camera. Of course, being a married man, I never slept with one . . .

 

[gryphon1911]

Is the current going rate on eBay (around $300+) the typical value or the inflated by influencer's value?

I would say it's probably typical. Most of the influencers are pushing for the "CCD" sensor cameras...when I hear the discussions I don't think I've ever heard any of them reference this camera. Then again, I don't think I've heard many reference the Pentax MX-1 either. Could be that the normal going prices early on were already outside the price range of what the kids were willing to pay.

 

[MountainMan79]

I waffle back and forth between this and the Nikon p7800 as an all in one compact. But for the price you paid, totally worth the experiment.

 

[gryphon1911]

Did get a chance to work with the camera today.

It does, in fact perform very much like the EM5 in focus speed and sytem performance. Unlike the m43 brethren, I didn't like the color JPG as much and will process RAW when shooting color. Monochrome, though I like.
It does handle well.

Got to get used to it some more, did find some weirdness in the image quality. Not sure if it is because the stabilization is not as good as thr IBIS in the m43 cameras or if this copies stabilization is a little wonky...but I did have some images that I thought should have come out OK, but upon review on the computer there seems to be an excessive amount of shake. I also noticed once or twice that the image in the viewfinder seemed to jitter back and forth ever so minutely. I checked the firmware on the camera and it is at 2.0. Will have to do some research and see if there is a newer version.

I'm not too worried if it is bad stabilization as i can always just turn it off.

A few samples from today.
KInda all over the map to try and test it out. close focucs, wide angle, telephoto, decent light, low light, testing the stabilization.

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[Lawrence A.]

Congratualtions! The Stylus 1s is a wonderful little camera. Nothing else I know of is a versatile in a similar size. The sensor performs above its class, the lens is stellar, and in all ways it is a great little package. It's a convenient walk-around camera when you think you might need some telephoto reach but want to keep things small and light. I've travelled with just it and the Leica X113 and had no reason to complain. I've read it is no good above iso 400, but I have used it up to 1600 with good results, especially if I go to the raw file. (I always shoot raw+jpeg, so it is no inconvenience.) I'd be surprised if you don't really like it.

 

[theoldsmithy]

Good acquisition, Andrew! I bought a Stylus 1s off eBay a couple of years ago, but returned it as the control ring didn't work. Anyway, based on my experience with the XZ-2, which has the same sensor, DXO Pure Raw can do a great job with anything over ISO 800.( I daresay other noise reduction software would help too.) Enjoy using the Stylus!

 

[gryphon1911]

Congratualtions! The Stylus 1s is a wonderful little camera. Nothing else I know of is a versatile in a similar size. The sensor performs above its class, the lens is stellar, and in all ways it is a great little package. It's a convenient walk-around camera when you think you might need some telephoto reach but want to keep things small and light. I've travelled with just it and the Leica X113 and had no reason to complain. I've read it is no good above iso 400, but I have used it up to 1600 with good results, especially if I go to the raw file. (I always shoot raw+jpeg, so it is no inconvenience.) I'd be surprised if you don't really like it.

So far, am liking it. I agree with you on the ISO. I've been using it and set the auto ISO to the full range. So far I think it has hit 1600 a few times...but I think it does well for itself. Couple that with the modern tools we have for post processing and you can do quite a lot with the RAW files it provides for you.

 

[gryphon1911]

Good acquisition, Andrew! I bought a Stylus 1s off eBay a couple of years ago, but returned it as the control ring didn't work. Anyway, based on my experience with the XZ-2, which has the same sensor, DXO Pure Raw can do a great job with anything over ISO 800.( I daresay other noise reduction software would help too.) Enjoy using the Stylus!

Agree. I was never a fan of the DxO interface, so I looked elsewhere. M<y denoise and sharpening tools of choice is Topaz Labs Photo AI. I normally use it for all my legacy / vintage camera files and it works magic.

 

[Lawrence A.]

Just to follow up with my contention that the camera will produce images that are more than acceptable at iso1600. The jpeg was certainly usable, but I developed this in camera raw anyway.

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