Olympus C5050, Fuji F602 ???
I dunno what's come over me as of late, musta gotten tired of staring at money in the bank (don't feel like investing ATM, though the market should be set for some good deals over in next 12-18 months) First the PB, and now this, I want a digital camera.
Compact, but not tiny, high res, fast lense.
The 5050 seems to fit, except that I've read it's auto focus is a little wonky. The 3X zoom is nice, though 4-6X would have been just that much better. According to dpreview, Olympus has actually managed to match the resolution of Sony's DSC F717 even though they're using a smaller sensor. The other problem looks to be excessive chromatic aberration.
Then there's the Fuji, with 6X zoom, and some very nice features, which outputs a larger 6MP file, but most reviews put its resolution at about the equivalent of 4MP competition.
I can get both for the same price.
Opinions? Experiences? I've been slowly learning with my father's selection of film based Nikons. It's a cool hobbie and he enjoys it, though he doesn't do ANYTHING digital. Black and white darkroom at the community center that his club uses, or send out for color processing.
I'm convinced I could learn -- through sheer volume of pictures -- a lot more by just going digital and taking lots of snaps to see what works and what doesn't. I think it'd be cheaper in the end, And I'd like to keep the camera untill the day when I'm ready for an affordable 4/3rds system. The world's heading digital anyway, I think. As such, to practice how to do this right, a camera with a good set of user controls is a must.
I've had these two recommended, whaddaya'll think?
Good, bad, experiences?
[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
Compact, but not tiny, high res, fast lense.
The 5050 seems to fit, except that I've read it's auto focus is a little wonky. The 3X zoom is nice, though 4-6X would have been just that much better. According to dpreview, Olympus has actually managed to match the resolution of Sony's DSC F717 even though they're using a smaller sensor. The other problem looks to be excessive chromatic aberration.
Then there's the Fuji, with 6X zoom, and some very nice features, which outputs a larger 6MP file, but most reviews put its resolution at about the equivalent of 4MP competition.
I can get both for the same price.
Opinions? Experiences? I've been slowly learning with my father's selection of film based Nikons. It's a cool hobbie and he enjoys it, though he doesn't do ANYTHING digital. Black and white darkroom at the community center that his club uses, or send out for color processing.
I'm convinced I could learn -- through sheer volume of pictures -- a lot more by just going digital and taking lots of snaps to see what works and what doesn't. I think it'd be cheaper in the end, And I'd like to keep the camera untill the day when I'm ready for an affordable 4/3rds system. The world's heading digital anyway, I think. As such, to practice how to do this right, a camera with a good set of user controls is a must.
I've had these two recommended, whaddaya'll think?
Good, bad, experiences?
[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
Comments
As you noted, Phil Askey was not too impressed.
[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
Askey seems to marvel that the 5MP res is actually quite good, though chromatic aberration and noise are not good at all. ermm.
Prices? I'm not sure what a G3 will cost me up here compared to the Fuji or Olympus.
My other camera are:
3.2 MP toshiba PDR-3310
1.3 MP Sony 10-U
5 MP Olympus c5050
[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: boba fett ]</p>
<strong>hmmm...
Askey seems to marvel that the 5MP res is actually quite good, though chromatic aberration and noise are not good at all. ermm.
Prices? I'm not sure what a G3 will cost me up here compared to the Fuji or Olympus.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I think he's just astonished that the images don't look completely horrible. The excessive noise is obviously from very aggressive sharpening since the raw image captured by the CCD is very blurry. If there's a lot of noise at ISO 64 and 100, that's a very bad thing.
You're probably right though: a combination of optics and sensor size that will need more sophisticated in camera processing before it completely matches larger (2/3) cameras. I would never buy a camera counting on it, but does Olympus periodically ship firmware updates?
<strong>I have the c5050 and love it. The reason I got this camera was the fact it was so much like a real 35 mm camera. This is my third digital camera and best by far. It can also use 3 different types of media(compact flash, SM, XD) and has a hotshoe for a flash. The XD was also a selling point for me. It's small and cheaper than other cards. It comes with a charger so buy another set of batteries for the road. I also got the lens cap from olycap (www.olycap.com). I'm sure if you wait a bit longer, the entire Fuji line is going to use this format. The menu system is very intuitive. It's also a little smaller than the Fuji.
[ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: boba fett ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
I've had the Olympus's little brother, the C-4040 for a couple weeks now and am very happy with it. Awesome pix. I chose the Olympus because it has a super bright, super fast lens (F1.8--perhaps one of the best in digicams) which gives more flexibility in demanding (low) light, and you can get a nice shallow depth of field when desired. It also has good controls, like manual focus, metering, and white balance. And as mentioned, like the Fuji, the C-5050 also takes multiple media types, so don't let that factor sway your decision toward the Fuji.
Be careful ordering online--I tried ordering from 2 places, only to find out neither had the model in stock. Wasted a lot of time online, and ended up buying from a camera shop.
Only had it for a couple of weeks now, so I can't vouch on reliability.
Good luck!
[ 01-22-2003: Message edited by: josephg ]</p>
Same thing with 4/3 (in that it may not go to it's intended target market). The idea of 4/3 was brilliant untill Canon and Nikon showed some very impressive full frame 35mm sensors. Pros have lenses for this size/focal length up the wazoo, and the good camera makers have a ton of experience making them perform very well. Is a digital photgrapher (or 35mm film based photographer) with thousands of dollars worth of lenses and accessories and a lot of familiarity with their strengths and weaknesses going to jump over to 4/3 when he can pick up a full frame sensor that likely will deliver a higher output resolution and works with all his stuff? Nah, it seems that 4/3, if it's going to have a future will move into a sub-compact class of camera for consumers (and pros), while full frame 35mm usurps some of the territory of medium format cameras and carries it's momentum forward to remain the standard format of demanding in the field photography. 4/3 should get a following among pros too, as some of the better systems ought to perform well and recycle some 35mm lenses. The point is that things don't always hit their target markets in the way a manufacturer/consortium may intend.
I wouldn't look for either Foveon or 4/3 in a high-end consumer/prosumer camera for at least another 2 years. I want a camera with good manual controls that will let me learn as much as I can between now and then, and preferably one that won't break the bank.
Olympus and Fuji and Canon are all decent options. Foveon -- just like 4/3 -- isn't, and it won't be for some time.
The only real thing preventing X3 style sensors from taking over is time. It's a 1.0 product with 1.0 bugs. It's also only available from one supplier. Foveon needs to work out licensing issues, or find a buyer.
[ 01-23-2003: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>