Help with new Olympus XZ-1?

[bdaly250]

Hi everyone,

I just bought a new xz-1 the other day and am enjoying it so far. However, once in a while, I'll take a photo and when I view it in "play" mode, the image looks super small on the screen and you can't zoom into it.

I've tried to reproduce the effect (ie. retracing my steps and taking the exact photo with exact settings etc including mode and zoom) and I can't figure out what's happening.

The manual hasn't been able to offer any solution, but does talk about the differences of optical vs digital zoom and size of image etc.

Just for reference. Digital zoom is disabled and my current image size setting is MF. None of the images were accidentally taken in video or sequential image mode.

Can anyone help??

[Photo-John]

First of all, welcome to PhotographyREVIEW.com! Happy to have another user of what is my favorite camera so far this year

I haven't experienced the problem you're describing. The thing that concerns me is that the image looks small on the LCD. That doesn't seem right, no matter what mode or resolution you took it in. As far as I know, image should always fill the screen on the camera and you should always be able to zoom in on them.

I'm going to see if I can get someone from Olympus to take a look at your post since I have no ideas and this doesn't sound right to me. It does sound like you've done a good job of trying to reproduce the problem, too. That indicates that it's could be a camera problem and not something you're doing.

[bdaly250]

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply! I have to say that despite this little glitch, I'm absolutely loving the xz1 so far!

I did a thorough read through the manual last night to see if I could uncover a solution. However, to my dismay, the only aspect that the manual does speak to is the "Cannot Edit this Image" error that I get when trying to use the camera's editing tools to manipulate the photo in any way. Apparently, this indicates that the camera is having difficulties recording the image, rather than an issue with the settings etc.

Unfortunately (and in a way fortunately) this seems to be a glitch with the hardware and not necessarily an extremely frustrating issue that others will encounter.

I plan to exchange the camera today with hopes that this problem will no longer get in the way of me using this fabulous camera!

I look forward to learning (and sharing) more with you in the future!

Thanks!

[SmartWombat]

The image looks small in play mode if you have the info display on, as it shows the exposure info and histogram as well.
But you didn't mention that was on the screen.

The image will be small if you shoot in portrait mode, it doesn't automatically rotate to fill the screen. You can turn the lens ring to rotate the image (I found that by accident).

The image on the screen will also be small if you have taken only one photo and zoom out with the tele/wide lever by the shutter release. Or it will show many images instead of one.

Another possible reason is if you copy images from your computer to the memory card, that can mess things up in odd ways.


What brand and speed of memory card are you using?
Where did you buy it?
I've heard of fake memory cards for sale at extremely cheap prices but with really good copies of big name manufacturer labels - I hope you haven't got one of those.

[bdaly250]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was actually able to return the camera no questions asked as none of the professionals at the camera store had encountered the issue (one who even owned the same ride)

So hopefully the problem won't continue. However, would you mind explaining your point about taking one photo and zooming out. Is that in play mode or when shooting? I've taken several images while zoomed in on the subject and they appear normal size in play mode and are manipulable. These "small" images are not editable on the camera in any way...

And thanks for the tips on the memory card. I did indeed purchase a new panasonic at the time of buying the camera but I'll avoid cheap knock-offs in the future!

Thanks!

[bdaly250]

Hey everyone... exchanged camera in hand, and I'm still encountering the same issues.

I'll be phoning Olympus directly tomorrow to try and troubleshoot with them.

stay tuned...

[bdaly250]

Hi everyone,

I realize that I having updated in a while... but this is because I had thought the issue had resolved itself. After speaking with Olympus directly, they had recommended that I format the card. This seemed a temporary fix, however the problem seems to persist most times I use the camera.

I've also noticed, that when shooting in RAW format, my .orf files are corrupt and I'm unable to convert them to any other format using either PS CS4 (with the 6.4 plugin) Lightroom or Olympus Viewer.

Has anyone else come across either of these issues yet?????

[OldClicker]

Adobe Camera RAW v6.4 doesn't work with CS4. - Terry

[bdaly250]

Thanks Terry. I did realize that after a bit of research however I was able to download a .DNG converter from adobe that is meant to alleviate the problem.

My main issue that I'm having though is that my camera simply doesn't seem to be recording in RAW format? The .orf file seems fine on my card and also when I download it to my computer however, when I attempt to convert using either lightroom, olympus viewer, CS5, or even the converter, the files are corrupt.

I am taking a sequence of shots of a large area in order to stitch them together afterwards... perhaps I'm shooting too quickly for the camera to record properly?

[Laurel421]

I'll be phoning Olympus