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Olympus Camedia C-50 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Olympus Camedia C-50 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $549.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera
Review: This is a great camera, 4th digital camera for me. 2 Kodak, 2 Olympus. Perfect size and controls are easy to get to. Navigation and menus are easy, didn't even read the manual and was taking pictures in 2 minutes and connected to my computer for download in 5 minutes. Quality is great, don't really see a difference in the 4.1 mp to the 5.0 mp but I may on printing larger size phones. If your number one goal is to have a quality camera that fits in your pocket or bag this camera with work for you.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The camera itself isn't the problem
Review: I've never owned a digital camera before, and bought this one on the advice of a trusted photoshop guy. I have no basis of comparison for the actual photos it takes or the features in the camera. However, I find the software and the lack of effective instruction so appalling that it makes me regret buying this camera. ... Of course, there is no "troubleshooting" guide to tell me what's wrong. If I'm going to spend even more cash for software, I would consider Adobe Photo Album--but I am not looking for any more disappointments. Obviously, I am not the "technical" person most people are--but I was hoping I wouldn't have to have been.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice camera, but overpriced for what you get
Review: I bought a C-50 on the advice of a salesperson. I was looking for a C5050 and the store I was at didn't carry it, but he suggested that I give the C-50 a try, and that I could return it if I wasn't satisfied.

I tried it for a few days, and while it is a decent camera, I felt like it was too expensive for what is essentially a point and shoot camera. So I returned it and have ordered an Olympus D560, which isd only a 3MP camera, but sells for about half the price of the C50.

That being said, I don't think this is necessarily a bad camera if you want a 5MP camera in a very compact form factor. I've had an Olympus D460 for a couple years and was reasonably happy with it. The C-50 is very small and compact and offers several improvements over the earlier models. First of all, it is very small and compact. Also, it has a magnesium outer case, which I believe will hold up better than the plastic case of the D460 did. Also, the LCD screen is very bright and easy to see. The menus are easy to see and very intuitive, something that has led me to stay with Olympus.

This camera uses the new XD card, which promises faster write times, and it does in fact deliver. I found that the write time for highest resolution images was about a second (informally). This is much better than what I experienced with the D460, which when I added a 128mb card, had save times of about 5 seconds, which was really a pain. I was a little put out to find that Oly had switched card formats, but now that I see the performance improvements, I can see why. The XD cards are also supposed to be much lower power consumers.

The battery in this camera appears to be undersized. I found that it only lasted for about 50 pix. And it uses a proprietary Li-ion battery, so you can't just pop another pair of off-the-shelf AA Ni-mH's in it. The battery is very small though, most likely in an effort to save space and weight. It's a trade-off. But I'd buy an extra battery if you get this camera, cuz you're gonna need it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Camera despite what reviews say....
Review: After spending days and days surfing the internet and reading review after review, some good and some not so good regarding this camera, I went forward with the purchasing of one about three months ago. All hesitation and concern has since subsided and I have to say that this camera is really quite excellent. Is there a learning curve? Sure. However that is NOT to say that the 'auto' feature is insufficient and won't take great shots. What it does mean is that with a few minutes of investigation and time, you can work with all of the many different settings (that I've not seen on other similarly priced cameras) and take even better pictures.

I came to this Olympus from a Fuji (2 MP - Finepix 2400 zoom) and I always thought that my Fuji took brilliant pictures and that it couldn't be beat. Boy was I wrong. I can't say enough about the differences. My Fuji was a great camera, however whenever I take a look at my older pictures taken from my Fuji, they are WAY too bright and in retrospect look quite horrible. This Olympus' pictures are much softer and easy to look at, more true to life. In the three months that I've had this camera I've come to realize that this camera really does take fabulous pictures, both in manual and auto mode. I just can't say enough about the picture quality.

One other factor for me was being able to print 4x6 photos on my HP printer. I've been doing this now for a while and in many cases you're hard pressed to tell the difference. I've also printed a couple of black and white 8x10's and they look great. Each full resolution picture takes approximately 2-3 megabytes so make sure you have the disk space for these photos.

Overall this camera is excellent. I was hesitant to spend this much but I've really wanted a 5 MP and believe me it's worth it. You can zoom and zoom in on a picture and the resolution doesn't change, thus making it easier to zoom in and crop for printing purposes.

Buy it..you will NOT be disappointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to use and great pictures
Review: After a couple of hundred pictures, I have no complaints (well only that it should have come with a carrying case). The colors are rich and well balanced. Zoom and focusing are excellent. Battery life is long, but removing the battery from the camera for charging seems kinda odd, although many cameras are currently that way. I would give this camera a 10+. It is well worth the money.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera to toss in your bag / fanny pack
Review: I had an Olympus 3040, which my wife took over, but I saw that she didn't always bring it places, because it's odd shape meant getting an medium sized camera bag. We got our nephew an Olympus C-40 when he and his wife had a baby, and they loved it. So, for her birthday this year, I went to get my wife one, only to find out the C-40 Zoom was no longer made, but the C-50 was even better (the new lithium-ion battery has longer life, and the XD Picture Cards are smaller and faster). She brings this camera everywhere, and besides the travel / family picts, she's now starting to take some artistic pictures, as the camera is always with her. If you can afford it, it's a great camera. Only drawback we've seen so far is the 3x optical zoom, and no ability to add an extender - but, I basically knew that going in, so I shouldn't complain!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great camera - mostly
Review: This is my first Digital. It takes great picts in good light. The clarity of 5MP is outstanding. You can crop-in alot and still produce high quality pictures. It is fast if you pre-focus by pressing the shoot button halfway, then is takes about 1/2 second. If you dont do this, a picture takes about 3 seconds which (with small children) means a lost shot.
The flash is amazing and at times can be too bright, causing wash-out. The "my settings" option allows you to dim the flash and I do that for night photos.
In low light, however, it has real problems. The focus does not work at all, so make sure your subjects are about 10-12 ft away (the default focus?) Anyone 20ft+ will be fuzzy. Turn on a light and this problem goes away.
The unit is very resilient. It dropped ~2ft a couple times and still works fine. I even let my 4yo shoot her own pictures occasionally.
Easy-to-use:
It needs no special software to use with your PC (XP & NT) just plug it in and the PC recognizes it as a drive. you can then drag&drop your photos. The small camera size is very handy and allows me to take it anywhere. I kept it in my jacket all winter! The battery holds its charge for a typical day, even with heavy use (150+) shots. But, you still need a second battery to alternate between because it charges outside the camera & date-time will be lost if the battery is out for a few minutes. The xD memory works well, is fast and holds alot. I bought a 128meg card, which is perfect for a party with a lot of quick shots or a week long trip with more prepared shots. (~120 HQ2 photos). Review a day's shots at night and discard the bad ones. This can be done on the little screen or plugged into a TV.
Overall high score for quality, performance, and convienience. only drawback, low-light focusing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This camera serves it's purpose, well...
Review: The only bad things I can say about this is the lack of sound from the Movie option and the media format(xD) that limits compatibility with other devices. Low indoor light photos are somewhat poor as well, but with some practice, you could still get a decent pic.

The good thing about the camera was the battery life. The size of the camera( though I wish it could be thinner). The customize settings for your preferred shooting style. The zoom was nice. The remote is totally awesome. No more having to run back a forth to the camera to reset the timer. If the C-5050 had the remote I might have bought that one instead.

Warning for all buyers of this camera. Once you get it, use it a lot to get the feel of it. Practice with it so you can find out the limitations and surprises. Since your not using film shoot away get a feel for the battery life. Just have fun. Don't wait for a special occasion to start taking pictures. Ignorance of its capabilities can lead to disapointments with the camera. Oh and get an extra battery if you do long excursions away from a charger.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well Worth the Money
Review: I recently bought a C-50 with some reservations about picture quality based on other user reviews. However, I am very pleased with this excellent little camera and the pictures have amazed my friends.
The camera is easy to use and takes just a few minutes to master. The battery life is good comapared to other digital cameras I have owned.
My only beef is that there is no sound on the movie mode (which takes good quality (though brief) movies.The included software is barebones, but adequate, also, the included manual is weak although there is a full one on the CD.
I would certainly reccomend this camera to anyone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great pictures with ease
Review: I have had this camera for about a month. It meets or exceeds my expectations except for the editing software.
It is small and light to fit in my pocket.
It makes crisp clear shots that can be enlarged - A face in the crowd can be enlarged it seems forever before it begins to break up.
It is fast. On a par with my 35mm.
Automatic setting are easy to use and provide so much flexibility that I have not felt the need to use the manual overides.
I got the 128 mb card that holds about 115 high res pictures.
The cameral is very small and thus the viewing screen is small. This makes it difficult to see the pictures and printing if your eyesight, as mine, is not very good. Practice with the the menus before picture time has helped.
The Camedia editing software works but I find it awkward. To be used properly it has to be upgraded for a few bucks but I would hope there is something better available.


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