This camera puts the PRO in prosumer.
Written: Feb 10 '05
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Pros: Great build quality. Battery life is phenomenal. Outstanding photo quality.
Cons: Difficult to eject compact flash card. No manual focus ring. Too many features for most.
The Bottom Line: Has everything a camera should have (and more) for being just shy of a true digital SLR.
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| jbjtkbw00's Full Review: Olympus Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom Digital Camera |
This is my 2nd digital camera, and like most everything else, I spend months shopping around before I make a decision on a purchase. My previous camera was an Olympus C-50. While small and compact, I quickly outgrew its' limitations.
For those of you that keep up with digital photography, Olympus made consumers (and reviewers alike), sit up and take notice with the C-5060 Wide Zoom. Now, they've upped the ante with the C-8080 Wide Zoom.
This camera is rock solid! Build is excellent. This camera feels sturdy and durable and you should have no worries about jostling while carrying around in a camera bag. I've held cameras in this range from other manufacturers and they felt as if they would fall apart if moved too quickly or extensively during a full day's worth of shooting. Some people also noticed that unlike the C-5060, the LCD panel does not swivel side to side, which limits the effective options for shooting with arms extended. This to me is minor as it still adjusts to the all important positions which allow me to take shots while holding above my head and for shooting from the hip. I'm 5' 3" and I managed to shoot over 150 shots of a parade with the camera held at arms length above my head while using the preview monitor.
Exterior design is very intuitive as well. It may take some getting used to if you're coming from another manufacturer, but the majority of the cameras major functions from flash settings to white balance and macro modes are just a push of a button and a turn of a knob on the back of the camera. This is great for when you need to change settings in a flash going from shot to shot. In addition to the ease of which you can change settings, you have 8 My Mode settings which allow you to save some of your favorite shooting configurations. Talk about a Godsend. I don't even think I have 8 favorite setting combinations, and I shoot pictures on a weekly basis.
When it comes to shooting, the battery life seems endless. I have 3 512MB compact flash cards and a 1GB microdrive. I've honestly gone through the microdrive and a compact flash using the LCD and the flash intermittently and still had battery life available for downloading. This battery will not die, and I bought a second battery as a back up, not realizing how good the OEM battery was to begin with. Unless you're traveling, you should be fine with just one battery.
While some may find this to be a potential downfall, I find the over abundance of features to be a bit of a bonus. I got rid of my first camera because I quickly outgrew it. This camera will keep me interested for quite some time to come and has increased my interest in photography as a hobby tenfold. I have so many options to choose from such as multiple storage media options (xD and compact flash), external flash options (I actually picked up the FL-20), shooting modes (P, which is almost automatic, shutter priority, aperture priority, full manual, and several preset shooting modes), and 8 megapixels to take advantage of a plethora of picture quality settings.
Picture quality just goes to show you what went into this camera's planning and construction. I used to spend many hours using a photo editing program to tweak my photos, but I've mainly cropped or just enhanced some of my pictures as they come out pretty darn good. I've compared the quality to several other models and the detail is truly unsurpassed.
Finally, this past weekend, I went shooting with a buddy of mine. He has an EOS 20D digital SLR. Mind you, he's not as into photography as I am, but wants to be. He's been taking photos for a while and seemed to be getting pretty good with his camera. After about an hour of shooting, he wanted to try my camera. As they say, the rest is history. I could barely get my camera away from him to take my own photos and mine was still going after his battery life ended.
As of today, he's sold his camera and picked up an Olympus C-8080!!!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 899.99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
jbjtkbw00
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Member: Michael Mincey
Location: Orlando, FL
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 1 member
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