Olympus Stylus 1 enthusiast compact for zoom lovers (pictures)

If your enthusiast compact's zoom range isn't cutting it, the Stylus 1 offers 28-300mm lens with a constant aperture of f2.8.

Joshua Goldman

Dec. 18, 2013 11:57 a.m. PT

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Olympus Stylus 1

The enthusiast compact market has reached a bit of a saturation point, but the Stylus 1 hits a part of it that's still lacking. While most have 4x or 5x zoom lenses, the Stylus 1 has a 10.7x zoom lens.

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Lots of modes, lots of control

The Stylus 1 has plenty of shooting options including manual and full manual modes, and two custom spots. There's a thumb dial on top for easy changes as well as two programmable function buttons, one on back and one on front.

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Big, but still pocketable

It measures 4.6 inches wide by 2.2 inches deep by 3.4 inches high, so you're not exactly slipping this into a back pocket. However, it's still small enough to put in a coat pocket and definitely a small bag.

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Touch LCD, EVF, and hot shoe

On back is a 3-inch 1M-dot-resolution tilting touch-screen LCD, a built-in electronic viewfinder (the same EVF found on the Olympus OM-D E-M5), and a hot shoe for adding an external flash. The camera also has built-in Wi-Fi that can be used with Olympus' iOS and Android apps for transferring shots to your smartphone or tablet directly, and remote control of the camera.

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Extra control

Around the lens barrel is a digital/analog control ring. A lever on the front lets you quickly switch modes: digital mode for fine zooming or manual focusing, or analog mode to adjust settings such as aperture, shutter speed, and more. There's also a variable speed zoom lever on the lens barrel and a button for the pop-up flash.

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CLA-13 and TCON-17x

If 300mm still won't cut it for the zoom fiends out there, Olympus has the CLA-13 converter adapter and TCON-17x 1.7x teleconverter lens. Combined, they extend the focal length of the camera to 510mm while retaining the brightness of the constant f2.8 aperture.

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Easy attaching

The lens just screws into the body around the lens.

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It's a long lens, but not too long

With the lens attached it's not as easy to travel with but it's still reasonably compact, all things considered.

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Micro-HDMI

There is a Micro-HDMI port on the left side as well as Olympus' proprietary USB/multi port.

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Bubble level

Along with a horizon level, there's an electronic bubble level available.

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Lens cap

Instead of using a manual lens cap that pops off when you turn the camera, the lens cap screws onto the body and has petals that are pushed open when the lens extends.

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Not cheap

With its components, features, and seemingly very good build quality, it's not a surprise that this camera has a premium price tag. When it goes on sale in December the price will be $699.99.