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Olympus C5050Z



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 20th 03, 01:13 PM
Richard Savage
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Default 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





  #3  
Old September 21st 03, 06:16 AM
Sexy Susan
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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  
Old September 21st 03, 08:50 AM
Mike Jacoubowsky
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Default

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  
Old September 21st 03, 06:00 PM
Richard Savage
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



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  
Old September 21st 03, 06:20 PM
JK
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Default



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  
Old September 21st 03, 08:02 PM
Richard Savage
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Posts: n/a
Default



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  
Old September 22nd 03, 12:16 AM
Mike Jacoubowsky
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Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old September 22nd 03, 01:30 AM
Q. Lu
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Posts: n/a
Default


"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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