Olympus XZ-2, Canon G15, & Panasonic LX7 - shooting impressions

Indeed. Nickel and diming a customer by not including a charger is unacceptable. It's bad enough that companies like Oly don't even include a hood for $900 lenses. But chargers???
 
Which reminds me of one flaw I forgot to mention with the XZ2 - its probably not fatal but its a damnable little thing that seems to be infecting more and more camera makers. OK, I don't know if this is true or not, but it Sony's doing it and Olympus did it with the XZ2.
They had already begun the trend with the XZ-1. I don't like it, its a royal PITA. But.. cant be fussed getting one.
 
I guess the upside, as I had thought about it, is that you don't have to take an extra charger with you when travelling. The downside is that its hard to charge and use the camera at the same time. This also means that a laptop or some other USB host device needs be taken to charge it too.
 
I guess the upside, as I had thought about it, is that you don't have to take an extra charger with you when travelling. The downside is that its hard to charge and use the camera at the same time. This also means that a laptop or some other USB host device needs be taken to charge it too.

No, you can use one of those USB plugs that come with any number of devices - iphones, kindles, etc. You don't need a laptop and I guess not having to travel with a charger is a good thing, but you have to travel with a cord and I can get most chargers to work without a cord, so its six of one, half dozen of the other. I just don't like it. Maybe in-camera charging can be an option for those who prefer it (all cameras pretty much ship with a usb cable anyway), but don't make it the only choice or make folks pony up for a charger as an "option". I'm sure everyone will be doing it in a couple of years and I'll sound like a bitter old man, but some things just get under my skin a bit.

-Ray
 
No, you can use one of those USB plugs that come with any number of devices - iphones, kindles, etc. You don't need a laptop and I guess not having to travel with a charger is a good thing, but you have to travel with a cord and I can get most chargers to work without a cord, so its six of one, half dozen of the other. I just don't like it. Maybe in-camera charging can be an option for those who prefer it (all cameras pretty much ship with a usb cable anyway), but don't make it the only choice or make folks pony up for a charger as an "option". I'm sure everyone will be doing it in a couple of years and I'll sound like a bitter old man, but some things just get under my skin a bit.

-Ray

I actually like the convenience of it, but a camera designed for "serious" use should include the charger.
 
Thanks for the info Ray! Noisy cameras are a major annoyance to me when street shooting and you said the XZ-2 is "dead silent". I just wanted to double check with you on this issue as it's very important to me. Are any of the other cameras you handled quiet cameras?
 
Thanks for the info Ray! Noisy cameras are a major annoyance to me when street shooting and you said the XZ-2 is "dead silent". I just wanted to double check with you on this issue as it's very important to me. Are any of the other cameras you handled quiet cameras?

Actually, the only of these three cameras I own (and, thus, still have access to) is the LX7. Its shutter is basically silent also. I think the G15 is also, but I honestly don't recall well enough to assure you of that. All of these cameras make some noise on startup, but they're pretty quiet beyond that. The LX7 is basically silent focussing, a little sound when zooming, and a shutter so quiet I have to hold the camera up to my ear to hear the tiny little click that happens in there.

Absolutely all three of these are quiet enough for street shooting, where you don't need silent, but you may not want a loud shutter or mirror slap sound.

-Ray
 
Actually, the only of these three cameras I own (and, thus, still have access to) is the LX7. Its shutter is basically silent also. I think the G15 is also, but I honestly don't recall well enough to assure you of that. All of these cameras make some noise on startup, but they're pretty quiet beyond that. The LX7 is basically silent focussing, a little sound when zooming, and a shutter so quiet I have to hold the camera up to my ear to hear the tiny little click that happens in there.

Absolutely all three of these are quiet enough for street shooting, where you don't need silent, but you may not want a loud shutter or mirror slap sound.

-Ray

If you turn off all the sounds of the LX7, the camera becomes virtually silent. I have taken photos of many people standing or sitting about 1-2 meters (3-6 feet) from me in a room without them noticing.
 
In a street environment, any leaf shutter camera is going to be quiet enough to be totally unnoticeable. Even some of the better damped focal plane shutter cameras (with or without mirrors) are barely audible above the ambient noise.
 
Interestingly enough, I went over to DXO mark and it appears the new LX7/X-Z2 have about a stop better in Dynamic range than their predecessors. Actually better than the old 12mp m43 sensor!
 
I know what people mean with focusing problems in low light for the XZ-2. I actually gave my first one back to the shop because it would not focus AT ALL in low light, not even using manual focus. The second one I got did focus in low light, with a bit of persuasion, but it couldn't focus on anything that moved even slightly. The focus would seemingly be on the subject, but you always ended up with the background in focus instead. Anyhoo, it's a moot point now, since my second XZ-2 had a leetle accident involving a bottle of Pepsi.

So now I have to choose between the G15 and the LX7 (the problem with taking pictures of moving subject was the last straw, I don't want an XZ-2 anymore). It's difficult, because you say the G15 doesn't focus well in low light, but whenever I compare the pictures the LX7 takes to that of its competitors, the LX7 always seems to come off worse.
 
i think one has to be realistic when choosing a camera of any kind or disappointment is inevitable. these are essentially p&s compact cams. truth is many higher priced 'state of the art' compact interchangeable lens mirrorless have problems focusing in low light and/or tracking moving subjects. so it stands to reason these much less sophisticated cameras will have similar limitations.

if those criteria are one's main shooting objectives, these simply are not the cameras for you. those objectives are really only met by using the larger non mirrorless dslrs from canon, nikon or sony.

the three cams of OT are 'snapshot' cams, meant to be used in good light. they are silent, pretty quick focusing, jacket pocketable, really high IQ p&s w fixed zoom, and they should be judged on those criteria and not really on criteria theyre not purposed to accomplish. just my opinion.

further, the manual focus option on the xz-2 is imo outstanding, and is a big leap qualitatively for this kind of camera. with practice and technique, one can use this feature to overcome most lowlight focus and moving target issues. and the articulating 'touch, focus, fire' screen has vaulted it to the front of the line for the discreet street shooter.
 
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