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Olympus C5050Z
Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's
Times!) My intention is to replace my (ancient and currently dead) Minolta X700. TIA Richard |
#2
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In article , says...
Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's Times!) My intention is to replace my (ancient and currently dead) Minolta X700. It's one of the best cameras in its class and price range. See here for more information: Olympus 5050 resource - http://www.molon.de/5050.html Olympus 5050 users group with 3500 members: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Olympus4040_5050/ -- Alfred Molon ------------------------------ Olympus 4040 resource - http://www.molon.de/4040.html Olympus 5050 resource - http://www.molon.de/5050.html |
#3
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The Canon G3 is a much better camera. Megapixels are not everything.
The problem with 5 MP cameras like the Oly 5050z and the Canon G5 is that the sensors for these cameras were designed for 4 MP cameras. So when these sensors are used with a 5MP camera, the image is too noisy. OK, the 5050z has a slightly faster lens than the G3/G5. Other than that, no advantage. Richard Savage wrote in message ... Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's Times!) My intention is to replace my (ancient and currently dead) Minolta X700. TIA Richard |
#4
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Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's
Times!) I bought a 5050 prior to my trip to the '03 Tour de France, and have to say it's delivered unbelievable performance. It allowed me to get shots that I'd only dreamed of being possible, even without spending a lot of time with the manual. The wonderful thing about the 5050 is that it's amazingly capable with all manner of settings you can tweak, but it's also easy for a dummy to just pick it up and start taking great photos, by simply using one of the various modes on the dial on top of the camera. The thing that helped me immensely is the so-called "sports" mode, which, when chosen, manipulates things so that your shutter speed stays high. This has always been a problem for me in the past; unless you went to a manual mode, it was difficult with my prior cameras to keep the shutter speed at or above 1/400 second. And manual modes are always risky, because you don't have the exposure latitude with digital that you do with film, so a slight goof renders your shots really bad. Battery life has been exceptional; using 2200 mah NiMHs, I get over 300 shots, and usually find myself changing the batteries before they wear out, so I don't have to worry about losing power when I really want to get a shot. Add the versatility of using three different types of media cards (smartmedia, compact flash and the new semi-proprietary oly), and you just can't lose. You can have both a compact flash and smart media in the camera at the same time and easily choose between them, which is really convenient as you can use the smart media as your emergency spare if you run out of memory on the main one. I'm running a 512 meg flash card (Transcend, $110 and *very* fast) and a 128 meg smart media from my earlier Oly units (a D40 and 3000Z). The noise issue hasn't been a problem for me; I set the camera to a -3 sharpness setting and do any needed sharpening (which isn't generally needed) later on. On a screen, if you go to extreme magnification, yes, you can find noise, but it's rarely visible on prints. Purple fringing has also been a non-issue; *much* better than my earlier Oly digital cameras. What's not to like? Well, I'm a bit spoiled now by having the viewscreen that angles out a bit, and wish it angled more. I'd also like it to be easier to see (brighter). But that's really about it. Oh, one more thing- it would be great if Olympus would provide a nice *printed* manual, and in just the language you need. But aside from those things, it's a great camera, well worth the price in my humble opinion. I can't give you comparisons to other cameras (like the G3/G5) though, as I haven't played with them. They might be great units too! Best thing is to find one that, for YOU, makes it fun to take pictures with. If something about a camera appeals to you, if something makes it easier to take pictures, that's going to be more important than minor spec differences. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com "Richard Savage" wrote in message ... Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's Times!) My intention is to replace my (ancient and currently dead) Minolta X700. TIA Richard |
#5
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Sexy Susan wrote: The Canon G3 is a much better camera. Megapixels are not everything. The problem with 5 MP cameras like the Oly 5050z and the Canon G5 is that the sensors for these cameras were designed for 4 MP cameras. So when these sensors are used with a 5MP camera, the image is too noisy. OK, the 5050z has a slightly faster lens than the G3/G5. Other than that, no advantage. The 5050 is offered with additional 256Mb card (type not specified), charger and batteries, extra year's warranty for £479.99 delivered. How does that compare with the G3, please? My first experience of digital cameras was a Fuji Finepix and I was really really unimpressed by it's low light ability. From what I have read the 5050 is very competant in low light. Rgds Richard |
#6
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Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's Times!) I bought a 5050 prior to my trip to the '03 Tour de France, and have to say it's delivered unbelievable performance. It allowed me to get shots that I'd only dreamed of being possible, even without spending a lot of time with the manual. The wonderful thing about the 5050 is that it's amazingly capable with all manner of settings you can tweak, but it's also easy for a dummy to just pick it up and start taking great photos, by simply using one of the various modes on the dial on top of the camera. The thing that helped me immensely is the so-called "sports" mode, which, when chosen, manipulates things so that your shutter speed stays high. You could use the aperture priority mode, and pick an aperture that gives you a fast enough shutter speed. If f2.8 doesn't do it, then raise the ISO setting from 100 to 200 or 400. Another choice would be to use the shutter priority mode and pick the shutter speed you want, and have the camera choose the aperture. This has always been a problem for me in the past; unless you went to a manual mode, it was difficult with my prior cameras to keep the shutter speed at or above 1/400 second. And manual modes are always risky, because you don't have the exposure latitude with digital that you do with film, so a slight goof renders your shots really bad. Yes, although you also need to use the correct exposure compensation for the situation, like +1 or so for backlighting. You could bracket around this(ie. try one shot at +2/3, one at +1, one at +1.3). The semiautomatic modes(aperture priority, shutter priority) are very handy when used with an offset when appropriate. Battery life has been exceptional; using 2200 mah NiMHs, I get over 300 shots, and usually find myself changing the batteries before they wear out, so I don't have to worry about losing power when I really want to get a shot. Add the versatility of using three different types of media cards (smartmedia, compact flash and the new semi-proprietary oly), and you just can't lose. You can have both a compact flash and smart media in the camera at the same time and easily choose between them, which is really convenient as you can use the smart media as your emergency spare if you run out of memory on the main one. I'm running a 512 meg flash card (Transcend, $110 and *very* fast) and a 128 meg smart media from my earlier Oly units (a D40 and 3000Z). The noise issue hasn't been a problem for me; I set the camera to a -3 sharpness setting and do any needed sharpening (which isn't generally needed) later on. On a screen, if you go to extreme magnification, yes, you can find noise, but it's rarely visible on prints. Purple fringing has also been a non-issue; *much* better than my earlier Oly digital cameras. What's not to like? More telephoto would be nice. Well, I'm a bit spoiled now by having the viewscreen that angles out a bit, and wish it angled more. Yes! I'd also like it to be easier to see (brighter). But that's really about it. Oh, one more thing- it would be great if Olympus would provide a nice *printed* manual, and in just the language you need. That would be expensive. Do you want to pay an extra $20 for this? Perhaps Olympus could offer this as an item that could be purchased in the language you choose?I prefer manuals on cd and lower prices. But aside from those things, it's a great camera, well worth the price in my humble opinion. I can't give you comparisons to other cameras (like the G3/G5) though, as I haven't played with them. They might be great units too! Best thing is to find one that, for YOU, makes it fun to take pictures with. If something about a camera appeals to you, if something makes it easier to take pictures, that's going to be more important than minor spec differences. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com "Richard Savage" wrote in message ... Opinions etc. sought on the Olympus C5050Z? (As seen in Friday's Times!) My intention is to replace my (ancient and currently dead) Minolta X700. TIA Richard |
#7
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JK wrote: Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: I'd also like it to be easier to see (brighter). But that's really about it. Oh, one more thing- it would be great if Olympus would provide a nice *printed* manual, and in just the language you need. That would be expensive. Do you want to pay an extra $20 for this? Perhaps Olympus could offer this as an item that could be purchased in the language you choose?I prefer manuals on cd and lower prices. Regarding the manual; I have just downloaded all the manuals and brochures for the 5050 from the Olympus web page. Admittedly it will cost me a few pennies to print any of them. Richard |
#8
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The thing that helped me immensely is the so-called "sports" mode,
which, when chosen, manipulates things so that your shutter speed stays high. You could use the aperture priority mode, and pick an aperture that gives you a fast enough shutter speed. If f2.8 doesn't do it, then raise the ISO setting from 100 to 200 or 400. Another choice would be to use the shutter priority mode and pick the shutter speed you want, and have the camera choose the aperture. Exactly right! But that requires a lot of work under changing lighting conditions, while the "sports" mode handles all this automatically. What's not to like? More telephoto would be nice. Actually, I find myself wanting a wider lens more often than not. OK, I *want* both, but I really *need* the wider-angle. With 5 megapixels, you can always crop to get what you want (particularly for web work, which is where most of it goes), but the wider wide-angle would make it that much more difficult to miss a shot, especially when you manage to get up-close-and-personal with the athlete but against a spectacular backdrop, as was the case at the top of the Tourmalet during the Tour de France http://www.ChainReaction.com/france0....htm#tourmalet --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com |
#9
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"Richard Savage" wrote in message ... Sexy Susan wrote: The Canon G3 is a much better camera. Megapixels are not everything. The problem with 5 MP cameras like the Oly 5050z and the Canon G5 is that the sensors for these cameras were designed for 4 MP cameras. So when these sensors are used with a 5MP camera, the image is too noisy. OK, the 5050z has a slightly faster lens than the G3/G5. Other than that, no advantage. The 5050 is offered with additional 256Mb card (type not specified), charger and batteries, extra year's warranty for £479.99 delivered. How does that compare with the G3, please? Both are very capable cameras. While 5050 includes charger and batteries, G3 charge in camera and its battery life is far longer than 4 nihm AA. $256mb CF costs $40 and C5050 cost about $100 more. Again, both are great and you will be happy with either one. |
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