Customer Reviews

Olympus Camedia C-5050 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have been an avid photographer for over 35 years. I recently sold over $7,000 worth of Leica equipment because it was gathering dust. Even so, I have not given up on film-based photography just yet and have a complete collection of professional-grade Nikon SLR equipment. This is the context in which I make the following comments about the Olympus C-5050, a 5 megapixel digital camera.

I have been watching the evolution of digital cameras for a number of years, wondering if they would ever approximate film-based photography for the advanced hobbyist. I can report without reservation that based on my brief experience with the Olympus C-5050 that day has come.

Are we there yet? - When I reviewed the current crop of "pro-sumer" non-SLR digital cameras, I expected to pick up an interim camera that would hold my "digital curiosity" for a couple years and revisit the issue when 20 megapixel cameras were the norm and film-based photography was dead to all but a few narrowly focused professionals. What I came away with is that 5 megapixel is more than adequate for 99% of your print requirements and strikes a good balance in the areas of file size and write speed. Will 6, 8 and 10 megapixel cameras that come out in the next couple years do a better job? Not necessarily if the bulk of your prints are in the 5x7 to 8x10 range (although even 11x14 fairs rather well) and you crop your subjects with care.

The images - After reading a couple of reviews, not the least of which was at dPreview.com, I was concerned about a couple issues; noise levels (the equivalent of grain in film-based photography) and chromatic aberrations in high contrast images. There was also criticism that the sharpness of the images was a little harsh. Resultantly, I set the camera for sharpness, contrast and saturation as recommended by this well respected reviewer. The first thing I noticed was the images were not contrasty enough. Then I started to look at other attributes including the noise and CA issue. I came to the opinion that Olympus may have taken these criticisms to heart and recalibrated their software to correct the noise problem and zeroed out the sharpness, contrast and saturation adjustments. In terms of the CA issue, I simply haven't shot into situations where this is a problem. Then again, maybe I'm not as critical as some reviewers.

Point is, the camera takes wonderfully sharp, contrasty, and "noiseless" photographs that 99% of the people using this camera would be hard pressed to differentiate from a 35mm pro-sumer SLR.

The camera - I was an owner of Leica rangefinder equipment for over 10 years so I appreciate a well made camera. I loved the solid feel of the Leicas, the ergonomics, and precision of these photographic instruments in miniature. I wasn't expecting this, but I have the same appreciation for this Olympus. The magnesium body has weight, it feels solid (with the exception noted below), it fits your hands perfectly, the controls are where you would expect them, and there is just the right number of external controls; not too many to be confusing and not too few to require frequent visits to "drop-down menu hell" which is a place even Nikons occasionally send you to.

The caveat to the comments about the "feel" of the camera is the lens that extends and retracts when you turn the camera on and off. It looks cheesy and subjects the extendable plastic lens housing to damage. The solution is to permanently install an Olympus CLA-1 conversion lens adapter, a 43-46mm step-up ring and a UVa filter. This well machined metal extension provides a self-contained extension in which the lens extends and retracts and looks every bit a part of the original design of the camera. The lens is protected and it improves the looks of an already good looking camera.

The competition - I didn't start looking for the Olympus. I was initially looking at the Leica Digilux 1, the Nikon CoolPix 5000 and 5700. I also looked at the well-regarded Canon G3. When I asked the salesperson whether there were other cameras I should consider, he pointed me to the Olympus C-5050, "Try this, a lot of people come away with a very favorable impression of the Olympus and end up buying it." Mind you this is at a high-end camera store in the Bay Area.

The Leica was a little bigger and boxier than it needed to be; not a bad camera but didn't necessarily follow in the footsteps of the M6 or M7. I was disappointed by the Nikons. In addition to the reliability problems reported about the CoolPix 5000 elsewhere, the ergonomics weren't quite right and you needed to delve into confusing menu options too change basic settings. The 5700's LCD was simply too small and it was annoying how you either got the LCD screen on the back of the camera or the LCD through the viewfinder, never both. The Canon was nice but felt a little too much like a point-and-shoot.

Other picks, the Leica and Nikons use a proprietary battery which means you will have to add an additional hundred dollars or so to the purchase of the camera if you don't want to run out of power. The Olympus wisely uses standard AA's that you can get anywhere in a pinch and even the best rechargeables cost only $20 for a pack of 4. Additionally, the Olympus is very good on battery power, you can shoot an entire day and the batteries still have a good charge. The Leica uses only SD memory and the Nikons use only CF whereas the Olympus can use 4 different types of memory.

Bottom line, the Olympus exceeded my expectations in every respect. And here's the best complement one can pay any camera - with the Olympus C-5050, I don't miss my Leica's.

I was very leary of the digital world, having seen very mediocre pictures from friends' digital cameras in the 1.0 megpixel range. I was very concerned when my wife presented me with an Olympus D-490 2.1 megapixel camera as a gift. The first few shots of our dog (zoomed in to show the whiskers with a wonderful sharpness) changed my mind. While the difference between film and this camera's pictures was apparent, the benefits of digital made this our camera of choice 90%of the time. A fall put the camera out of service, and I "upgraded" to a Nikon 885, thinking that our other Nikon film cameras were top notch, and Nikon wouldn't let a poor performer out the door. The disappointment despite my trials at fixing the poor contrast, smudged appearing results was a constant reminder of this poor choice.

When Olympus announced the C-5050, I decided to try it again, specifically because of the experience with the D-490, and the fact that I had a collection of Compact Flash cards that would now fit into this Olympus product.

The thrill is back! The first few pictures brought back the same excitement of seeing a wonderfully crisp, well exposed photo. There is a significant improvement in the ability to "zoom in" on portions of the image and still get very acceptable 5x7 prints. The lcd screen's sharpness and detail are improved. This is what the Nikon should have been.

Sure, the menus take a bit of getting used to. And the on-off switch invariably gets turned to the on position when I put the camera back into my coat, and the position of the tab on the switch makes it less intuitive to switch it off without looking. The pivoting lcd only pivots 20 degrees down, making it hard to frame a shot while holding the camera above your head and the rest of the crowd. But despite a few rough edges, this camera's performance and features now place it as one of the best I've had the pleasure to handle. I've yet to test the night shots and extended exposure times, and the flash needs augmentation for larger group shots, but after all, there is a hot shoe on top. The feel of the camera is solid and professional, and while a tad hefty, its compact size adds to the feel of quality.

I hope the depenability of my original Olympus flows through to this camera.

I have had the Olympus 5050 since November and now feel comfortable with many of the cameras features (many of which are different from traditional, manual 35mm cameras). I didn't have the benefit of many reviews at that time; but decided the time, features and price were right. To put things in perspective, I was (and still am) a 35mm photographer of landscapes using slide film although I use the film camera much less now. I have a film scanner that I used to convert the negatives and slides to hi-res digital image files and would print these files after editing in Photoshop LE and/or Elements. The 5050 has improved the process in these areas:
1. instant feedback. I have a good idea as to whether or not the shot will be a good one.
2. no wait for developing, no associated film and developing cost
3. sufficient megapixel count for larger prints. Camera includes internal interpolation to 8 megapixels. Use of Photoshop Elements bicubic (or equivalent) interpolation to larger pixel counts can result in great large prints. I've printed 10x15's that look as good as the 35mm prints. I have yet to print 20x30s; but I expect to be pleased (note: interpolation will be required via photoshop elemets or equiv.).

Additional pluses: uses a CF card, XD or Smart Media... I like having these choices given the uncertain nature of different memory standards.

The camera feels good. It's metallic and heavy feeling which gives at least the illusion of being well made. (e.g. passes the kick the tires test) ;-)

The camera has exposure times up to 16 seconds which can enable fairly low light shooting including night shots (see sample photos links below).

The camera includes a built-in number of modes for point and shoot picture taking as well as a manual mode (which I use exclusively except when taking panoramics).

I use the 1gb CF microdrive and can fit almost 300 pictures on it taken at max resolution (SHQ enlarge size (jpg)). Less for RAW and TIFF pictures.

A couple of minor points:
- I took several test shots under controlled conditions and found that a sharpening settings of -2, or -3 yielded prints with less noise
- Constrast and saturation settings of -2 seemed to work best
- I use iso setting of 64 exclusively for landscape shots. Results in lower noise than at higher ISOs.
- Movie mode is ok; but more of a toy than anything else (resolution 320x240) and is QuickTime format which is proprietary and the included Camedia software doesn't include the ability to edit or save to a different format.
- Raw import plug-in wasn't available for photoshop at the time; but is available now
- Olympus requires use of Olympus media to use the panoramic feature on the camera. You can use the 32mb XD card to take the shots and use the camera's internal copy feature to copy the pictures to a non-olympus brand CF card.
- I'm still tinkering with the white balance when shooting sunsets. The colors don't seem to look as nice; but I've been able to correct this in Photoshop.

My review is going to be very valuable for those who bought already and have problems with Olympus C-5050 digital camera. That's the reason I post this as a Negative review although I think this is a very good camera when you understand how to use it. Here it goes. Read my lips: do NOT use Auto ISO - you'll get a lot of noise in your pictures. Configure you own settings (using My Mode) and set your ISO to 64 at all times. Any ISO higher that 64 (even 100) will produce noticeable noise. Also, while configuring "My Mode", set Noise Reduction to "On" and, the most important, set Sharpness to "-4" or "-5". If you do all the above, Canon G3 owners will be jealous of your shots.

I am an experienced amateur photographer and like this camera a lot because of its great picture quality, its excellent automatic adjustments in program mode, its high burst speed, its excellent low-light capabilities and its use of standard AA rechargeable batteries. It is very easy to use; and after the initial short learning curve, the extraordinary numbers of available custom adjustments are easy to make even from a somewhat confusing interface. I have taken spectacular pictures with it out of the box; and it is a great easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera despite its sophistication.

However, pictures shot at wide angle have an unacceptable amount of noise and purple fringing (from chromatic aberration in the lens) which flaws otherwise gorgeous pictures; and there is too much lag time between pressing the shutter and taking the shot (even in pre-focus mode), which means that despite its burst speed, you won't be able to use it easily for action or candid shots to get the picture you saw through the viewfinder. These problems have been documented in various reviews of the camera on established digital camera review sites. It should be noted, however, that all of the 5 megapixel cameras of this sophistication (such as the Nikon 5700 and the Minolta 7IL) have some issues which make them less than ideal; and if you can accept the flaws in this camera, its price-performance ratio is spectacular.

I think this camera is worthy of a different kind of review than some of the ones I've read here, so I'll try to deliver that. I was a first-time-digital-user & buyer before this camera, and this is what I'd have wanted to know before buying this camera. First: You've probably heard now that this camera offers a thorough selection of manually adjustable options. If you're patient with the camera-manual (first the paper-bound one, then the much-longer CD-based one -which I ended up printing out) you can learn enough about the camera to experiment with every aspect of it. This brings me to my main point about this machine: Even though there are many controls, you can figure them out in a reasonable amount of time, and you get to EASILY experiment by taking pictures with different settings & simply learning what does what. My knowledge of photography has grown SO MUCH (from virtually nothing to a decent basic-understanding) because of trial & error with this c5050Z. You can do this too, and I think you'll like having so much control when you want it (it also has all the same pre-programmed "auto" modes for those who want to just point-&-shoot). AND NOW THE BEST PART ABOUT HAVING THE C5050: This camera features a "superbright" 1.8 lens. What this allows you (essentially) to do is take many pictures indoors WITHOUT using the flash (you can just turn it off). I've taken most of my pictures indoors (low-light settings seem to be the biggest challenge for digital-cameras), and I've been absolutely DELIGHTED with the ability to leave the flash off. This way, the subtle shadows that you see & warm lighting colors of your home don't get lost or bleached out, and you have pictures that are MUCH more realistic looking. MOST other 5MP cameras sacrifice this low "1.8" number for a greater optical zoom. Check out the f-stop range & see for yourself! (The higher the number, the less you have the ability to take living-room-light pictures without being forced to use flash.) Even Olympus sacrificed this feature in it's newer C5060, and I wouldn't make the trade-off for myself. TRUST ME, I LUCKED INTO THIS FEATURE, NOT KNOWING WHAT IT REALLY WAS, and wouldn't trade it for anything! Another nice feature is that this camera is actually MADE IN JAPAN. Call me 'old-fashioned,' but I still think that's better than being made in China or Indonesia (which they do with their more basic models). The feel and build quality of this product is just great. This model's already over a year old (which I knew before buying it last month), and there are fancier things out there now, but I think now's the time to get a great deal on this machine, and I would be surprised if you felt left-behind in any sense. In one of my recent Consumer Reports issues (November or December 2003), they rated this camera #2 in the 5MP group. But the camera that they listed as #1 (a Nikon) makes the kind of trade-off that I described earlier. It's also a good deal more expensive. My bottom line is that I believe you'll get a better value here than with most other cameras right now, and I offer you my encouragement to feel comfortable & excited about this choice. I'm sure there are drawbacks compared to other models & vice-versa, but I'm a very picky person, and I'm entirely satisfied that I bought an excellent product all-around. Good luck!

This compact camera takes beautiful & sharp photos & has tons of features to boot. Nice ergonomics with a good sturdy grip. Works well in low-light situations. The camera accepts various storage media, SM, CF, XD and you can have load both an SM/CF card and an XD card & switch off between them. Nice tilting lcd although I must say I'm disappointed with the rather cheap viewfinder. It takes some time getting used to the camera & the many menus but it's not too overwhelming. Lots of flash options including red eye & 2 slow flash options plus slave. The live histogram is an interesting & very helpful function. After reading up on it & experimenting with it, I'm sure it will help me with proper exposure. Will update in a few months or so after I've worked more with the camera. For now, I'm very happy with it & the pictures I've taken & look forward to improving my photography skills.

Typically, digitals have suffered from two major problems. Shutter lag and poor performance in low light situations. The Olympus cameras (particularly this one) suffer none of that. The shutter opens when you push the button which is crucial when your subject is a two year with the attention span of a gnat. Additionally, the f1.8 aperture lens is as good as it gets for a non-slr and consequently this camera does a great job in low light situations. Combine this with the incredible # of features (umpteen shooting modes, you can shoot the shot in Sepia, save to SmartMedia, CompactFlash, & XD picture cards), this is one great camera. I simply could not be more pleased. Finally, if you learn to master a decent photo editor (e.g., photoshop, paint shop pro), you can produce near works of art with this camera that people are willing to part money for. I have.

I love this camera. That said, I have experienced a major glitch you should know about. I originally bought a Viking 1 GB CompactFlash card to go with it. Hours out of the box the card doesn't work. After reading extensive forums on the subject (look under Olympus forum ..., it seems there are major compatibility issues with higher capacity CompactFlash cards and this camera. Specifically firmware version 77 and 76 (and lower if you have it). Version 78 seems to have very few complaints and you only get v79 when you send in the camera for repair and they happen to update it. Now, there seems to be no way to check this version until you take a pic, put it onto you computer and use a program to look at the Exif information (like Exifer, freeware). Olympus, Nikon, and other companies experiencing this are not giving up any info on this subject. Apparently Olympus firmware upgrades can only happen overseas. Some CompactFlash card companies are starting to list camera compatibility charts, but be warry. Viking says the CF1GB works with the C-5050, but it didn't in my case. I'm still trying to figure out whether I will be returning the camera and try to get another one in hopes it will have the better firmware. Fortunately this camera takes 4 types of media. Interesting how Olympus and Fuji make there own, new media type (xD Picture Card) and now the camera has problems with the CompactFlash. Hmmm. Maybe I should buy the Olympus brand card. Kind of fishy, but I bought this camera with plans of using the cheaper CF cards. I'm no expert on this. You now know what to look into if you want or have this camera. This is an annoying issue, but notice I still gave the camera 5 stars. I love it otherwise.

Admittedly I'm an Olympus fan. This is my 4th Olympus starting with the D-340R and moving through the C2000Z, C3040Z, and now the C5050Z. With each model I've found that Olympus has incorporated improvements that solve real user problems and have added useful features. The C5050Z is no exception. There has always been some aspect of each camera that I wished they had done differently. On the C5050Z the only thing I would change is the on/off lever. I carry my cameras with me everywhere (and take more than 1,200 photos per month) and the new on/off lever projects enough to get advertantly turned on in the camera bag. The ability to hold two memory devices is a great addition, especially since they retained the SM card for backwards compatibility. A great camera with all the features I could have ever asked for!