Features
Recording Images
Displaying and Editing Images
Supplied Software

Features

Overview: The Olympus Stylus XZ-2 is an advanced point-and-shoot camera with high quality features. It has a bright, fast iZuiko lens, a high sensitivity CMOS image sensor, and a 3" adjustable touch screen monitor. It can record beautiful still images and Full HD video.

Optics: The XZ-2 is equipped with a bright and fast F1.8-2.5 4x zoom lens. The lens has a focal length of 6.0-24mm (equivalent to 28-112mm in 35mm photography). The 28mm equivalent wide angle lens allows you to capture expansive landscapes and group pictures, while the 4x zoom lets you get closer to the action. The 2x Digital Tele-converter doubles the zoom power without degrading the image.

Adjustable LCD Touch Monitor: The camera is equipped with a 3.0" LCD touch screen monitor with approximately 920,000 dots. You can adjust the angle of the display upward to 80° and downward to 50° to get a better view for high- and low-angle shooting. The XZ-2 lets you adjust the brightness and color temperature of the monitor between -7 and +7. Using the touch screen, you can change the shooting mode and playback mode, adjust settings on the super control panel, use the live guides, and tap the subject to focus and take a picture.

Accessory Port: The XZ-2 has a proprietary accessory port on the back for optional electronic viewfinders (VF-2 or VF-3), flashes, lights, or the SEMA-1 microphone adapter set.

Control Ring: The camera has a hybrid control ring around the lens with both analog and digital operations for assigning function settings. With the Fn 2 lever in one position, the control ring has a precise digital control with solid clicks as you turn the ring to change exposure-related settings. Move the lever to another position, and the ring switches to a smooth analog control so it can be used as a focus or zoom ring.

iHS: iHS technology is a combination of the high-sensitivity, high-speed 1/1.7" 12MP backlit CMOS sensor and the exceptionally fast TruePic VI image processor. The result is fast auto focusing, an enhanced iAuto shooting mode that recognizes multiple scenes and subjects, and 2x Super Resolution Zoom that lets you zoom in farther than the optical zoom without degrading the image.

Recording Media: The XZ-2 records still images or movies onto optional SD, SDHC, or SDXC Memory Cards. For test images, or when the memory card becomes full, you can shoot a small number of images onto the camera's 39 MB internal memory. Still images are recorded in JPEG format. Movies are recorded in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 with sound.

Eye-Fi and FlashAir: When you use an Eye-Fi or FlashAir memory card in the XZ-2, you can transfer photos wirelessly to smartphones and tablets via Wi-Fi.

Dual Image Stabilization: The camera combines Sensor-shift Image Stabilization with high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds, so you can capture sharp, blur-free images, even if your subject is moving.

Multi-Motion Movie IS: You can activate a special IS Movie Mode to reduce the blur caused by camera shake while shooting movies.

Focusing Range: The focus range for the normal and macro shooting modes is 2" to infinity for wide angle and 8" to infinity in telephoto. Super Macro mode allows you to take shots as close as 0.4"

AF Illuminator: The camera has a built-in LED illuminator that assists in Auto Focusing, or illuminates a subject in shadows. It can be set to automatically illuminate when the shutter button is pressed halfway.

Flash: The camera's built-in flash operates in the following modes:

• Flash Auto: The flash fires automatically in low light or backlight conditions.
• Red-eye Reduction Flash: This emits pre-flashes for red-eye reduction.
• Fill-in Flash: The flash fires regardless of the available light.
• Slow Synchronization: Slow shutter speeds are used to brighten dimly-lit backgrounds
• Slow Sync/Red-Reduction: Combines slow synchronization with red-eye reduction.
• Flash Off: The flash does not fire.

Optional Wireless Flash: You can use an optional external flash unit to achieve a flash suited to your needs. Compatible external flash units can be mounted to the camera via the hot shoe. These compatible flash units have a remote control mode that can be used for wireless flash. Compatible flash units include the FL-14, FL-36R, FL-50R, FL-300R, and FL-600R.

Self-Timer: You can take pictures of yourself using the 12-second built-in self timer. The 2-second self-timer also aids in preventing camera shake.

Power Requirements: The XZ-2 is powered by the LI-90B Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (3.6 volts, 1270 mAh). The battery charges in the camera in approximately 5 hours when it is connected to the supplied F-2AC-1B AC adapter via USB. You can also charge it via USB from your computer in about 10 hours. A fully charged battery lasts for approximately 310 shots, with 50% flash usage.

Recording Images

Recording Images and Movies: The Stylus XZ-2 can record still images and Full HD movies in the following resolutions:

• Still Pictures: JPEG and RAW (Large only)
  • Image Size:
    • Large: 3968 x 2976
    • Middle: 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1920 x 1440, or 1600 x 1200
    • Small: 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, or 640 x 480
  • Compression: SuperFine (1/2.7), Fine (1/4), Normal (1/8), Basic (1/12)
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1
• Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
  • Normal: Full HD: 1920 x 1080, HD: 1280 x 720
  • Maximum Recording Length: 29 min or 4 GB file size

Shooting Modes: The top-mounted mode dial lets you choose between several shooting modes:

• iAuto: The camera automatically selects the optimal shooting mode for the scene.
• Program: The camera automatically sets shutter speed and aperture, but allows you to make changes to a wide range of other settings, such as exposure compensation, white balance, etc.
• Aperture Priority: You control the aperture to sharpen or soften background details.
• Shutter Priority: You control the shutter speed to express the motion of moving subjects or freeze motion without blur.
• Manual: You control both aperture and shutter speed. You can shoot with long exposures for fireworks or other dark scenes.
• C1/C2: You can save shooting settings in either of two Custom modes in advance, then quickly recall those settings when shooting.
• Scene: Lets you select from the following pre-programmed settings: Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sunset, Documents, Panorama, Fireworks, Multi Exposure, Beach & Snow, Underwater Wide, Underwater Macro, and Backlight HDR.
• Art: You can choose from the following Art Filters: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Cross Process, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, or Key Line.

Sequential Shooting: The camera can take one frame at a time, or a sequence of pictures at a time by holding down the shutter button. During sequential shooting, the focus, exposure, and white balance are fixed when the first frame is shot. Normal Sequential Shooting records up to 200 photos at about 5 frames per second. During High Speed Sequential Shooting, photos are taken at about 15 fps.

Bracketing: While shooting in P, A, S, or M mode, you can take a series of shots with varying settings. There are 5 types of Bracketing:

• AE Bracketing: Two or three shots are taken with varying exposures in 0.3EV, 0.7EV, or 1.0EV intervals. The camera brackets the currently selected exposure.
• WB Bracketing: Three images with different white balances are automatically created from one shot, starting with the value currently selected for white balance. White balance can be varied by 2, 4, or 6 steps of Amber-to-Blue and Green-to-Magenta.
• FL Bracketing: The camera varies flash level over three shots in 0.3EV, 0.7EV, or 1.0EV intervals.
• ISO Bracketing: The camera varies sensitivity by 0.3EV, 0.7EV, or 1.0EV intervals over three shots, bracketing the currently selected ISO setting.
• Art Bracketing: Each time the shutter is released, the camera records multiple images, each with a different art filter setting.

Sensitivity: The higher the ISO value, the greater the camera's light sensitivity and better its ability to shoot in low light. The XZ-2 can automatically set the camera's sensitivity according to the conditions around the subject. To minimize blur caused by a moving subject or camera movement, the camera can automatically use a higher sensitivity (compared to Auto). Manual settings include ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 and 12800 equivalents.

Exposure Compensation: In some situations, you may get better results by adjusting the exposure slightly using exposure compensation. You can adjust from -3.0 to + 3.0 EV in 1/3 stop increments.

Still Image Audio Recording: When activated, you can record up to four seconds of audio and attach it to a recorded picture.

Displaying and Editing Images

Image Playback: Once still images or movies have been captured, the camera gives you several options for playing them back:

• Manual Playback: view images manually one-by-one
• Slide Show: play still images back as a slide show. You can select to include all, or images from a single event, or in a specific collection created with PC software. You can choose from five types of background music, intervals of 2-10 seconds, and three types of transitions.
• Index Display: For viewing multiple images at once, you can create an index display of 4,  9 or 25 frames.
• Playback Zoom: During playback, you can use the control ring to zoom in for close-up playback.

Outputs: The XZ-2 is equipped with an HDMI Micro Connector (Type D) for connecting the camera to an HDMI-equipped HDTV. The output can be set to 1080i, 720p, or 480p (576p if PAL is selected). If the connected HDTV is compatible with HDMI Control, you can set the camera to be controlled by the TV's remote control. The camera also has a proprietary multi-connector used as a USB port (with the supplied USB cable) or an audio/video output (with an optional CB-AVC3 AV cable).

Editing Pictures: If a picture you have taken turns out less-than-perfect, you can edit it using one of the following:

• Image Size: You can save a high-resolution image as a separate image with a smaller size to use in e-mail attachments or other applications. You can choose 1260 x 960, 640 x 480 or 320 x 240. Only 4:3 images can be resized.
• Aspect Ratio: You can change the aspect ratio of 4:3 images to 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1.
• Cropping: You can zoom in using the cropping frame, and create a new image.
• Shadow Adjust: You can brighten areas that are dark due to backlighting of other reasons
• Redeye Fix: Red-eyes caused by flash shooting can be retouched.
• Rotate: You can rotate the image to the proper orientation.
• e-Portrait: Makes skin look smooth and translucent.

Erasing/Protecting Images: Unwanted images can be erased one at a time or all at once. You can protect important images to avoid accidentally erasing them. Once an image is protected, it cannot be erased during a single-frame erase or all-frame erase function. Protected images are erased when the memory is reformatted.

PictBridge Printing Capability: Using the supplied USB cable, you can connect this camera directly to a PictBridge-compliant printer. PictBridge is a standard that allows you to connect a PictBridge compliant camera directly to a PictBridge compliant printer and make prints, regardless of brand.

Print Reservation: Applying Print Reservation (Print Order) to your pictures allows you to take the memory card to a DPOF-compatible photo lab for printing, or print them on a DPOF-compatible printer at home, without using a computer. DPOF is the Digital Print Order Format and allows you to add information to your picture files such as which pictures to print, the number of prints desired, add the date and time to each image, etc.

Supplied Software

Supplied Software: The XZ-2 iHS comes with Olympus Viewer 2 software on CD-ROM. The disc also includes a full Camera Instruction Manual. The software is compatible with the following Operating Systems:

• Windows XP (SP2 or later)
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Mac OS X v10.4.11-v10.7

Mass Storage Device: When the camera is used as a Mass Storage device, you can connect it to computers running the following operating systems:

• Windows XP Home Edition/Professional
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Mac OS X v10.3 or later