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Summary: Digital Reincarnation of the OM-1
Review: For more than ten years of mountaineering, running rivers and exploring remote corners of the world, my OM-1 was my constant companion. Although not a professional, I was passionate about photography. In 1990 I was experimenting with low-light color photography. In a cement health clinic in a roadless corner of Nicaragua, my OM-1 suffered a fall and a fatal head injury.
I had bought and experimented with half a dozen cameras since, but none could begin to replace my photographic partner. After only a week with my C5050, I am still learning just how to get the precise image I envision - but already I am capturing wonderful light effects, the color is true, the display almost as good as the SLR. The brilliant optics, the feel of the shutter, the sophisticated but not unfriendly programs and manual override, and the ease of in-camera composition echo this camera's great film predecessors. My beloved OM-1 is reincarnated for the 21st century. I can hardly wait to get back into the wilds.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Quality with great control of settings
Review: GREAT CAMERA: I have owned many Olympus Digital cameras and I find this to be the best near pro model there is. I love the control I get with the many setting options and manual settings. The Multi-storage media and hot-shoe for flash gives added selection and options.You get excellent pictures weather you are a novice or pro. The only problem I can find is in the fact that the owner's manual is on Adobe file and not printed. It could have been written better so you could understand the control buttons more easily.
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Rating: 
Summary: Where's the repair in repair center?
Review: Had to return my camera when the lens would not open. Arrvied at Olympus on Dec 10th 2003. Put into their system on December 15th. Contacted the repair center after the initial 10 day estimate to repair. They informed me that they were waiting on parts. Offered to give me a replacement camera, I declined. On 1/12/04 contacted them for the second time. It was only then that they told me that the parts could take over one month to arrive. At that I agreeded to get a refurbished camera. They told me that they would ship the next day and I would have on 1/16/04. Called on the 1/21/04 only to be told that they did not have any refurbished cameras in stock and that I would have to wait, 1-2 weeks. Purchased the camera in July 2003 and by the time I get "my" camera back, Olympus will have had possesion of it for over two months. If I would have known about the lack of repair in the Olympus repair centers I would have gone for a different camera.
Rating: 
Summary: Olympus C-5050 is great but ....
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera
Review: I am new to he digital camera and this is the first one I got. I still need to learn the different focus mode that works in different condition but, I took quite a few pictures as soon as I bought it with auto setting and guess what, the picture was beautifull. I fell in love with this camera already. One down side is the LCD view monitor was not as flexible as Canon G-3 camera.
Rating:
Summary: a very nice camera with lots of bells and whistles
Review: I got it a week ago and am very impressed. If you are willing to play a little with the settings, the results are amazing! With default settings, the pictures are a little too sharp, and the flash slightly overexposes, but it is all adjustable, and you can make the camera remember several sets of custom settings. The menu system takes some getting used to, but at the end it seems intuitive. The thing is, there is a lot you can adjust. I have seen easier cameras, like Toshiba PDR-M4, with simple menus. It is easy to design a menu system for point and shoot, but not for a complex camera like 5050, and they still did a good job. The software is not that nice, most annoying is keeps re-reading a large image file as you go through menus. Overall, excellent shots! Also the pics are always in focus, amazing! Buy a tube adapter to avoid the extending lens push against the cap when you turn the camera on
Rating:
Summary: Serious film-based photo-hobbyist, the wait is over!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Living with a digital camera
Review: I have been doing photography for 30+ years: portrait, scenery, sports/action and so on. I expect a lot out of my equipment as I push it to the limits. Digital cameras tended to be too much marketing, too little substance and too much changing too rapidly. As such, I held off getting a digital camera for a long time. Overseas travel loomed in my future. I did not want to lug the camera, lenses, films and such across the ocean only to be inspected at every security point. With the possibility of fogged film, I decided to take the plunge. I had used Olympus for decades, liked the gear and found generally good reviews for the C5050 model. So I took the plunge and purchased the camera. After using the C5050 for close to 6 months now, I am quite pleased and happy with the purchase. The images are crystal clear, sharp and true to the original scene or subject. And with 5MP of resolution, I can crop, blow up and print without getting stairsteppy, something that lower resolution cameras do not do as well. The various modes also allow me to adjust to a variety of situations with just the touch of a dial. There is even a setting to take video and sound for motion pictures. All in all, Olympus has done an excellent job with this camera. Only nit: it comes with a 16MB memory card. That's too small for normal use. Solution: go out to Crucial and buy a 512 MB card for it. That gives you 400+ high-res shots, more than enough for even the most snap-happy photographer. Bottom line: if I could take it back and do it over again, I would still buy the camera.
Rating:
Summary: Sudden unexpected problems
Review: I have been using my Camedia C-5050 for 13 months. I was always VERY pleased with good picture quality. One of the big pluses this camera has is the lens. While on a trip in Brazil I was able to take pictures of wildlife at dawn when a friend of mine with a similar 5MP cmaera of another brand could not get his to focus because of lack of light.
Unfortunatelly, just after 1 year of use I had to send it in for repairs since all the pictures started turning out purple! All resetting and formatting of storage cards was to no avail. Sending a great camera for repairs when you've always treated it with great care, is discouraging, but I guess that can happen with any camera or brand.
Rodolfo
Rating:
Summary: Happy customer
Review: 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.
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