5050 Owners: Jaggies/Noise?

[scubasprite]

Hey all,

For the several weeks I've been doing research on digital cameras (like half the other newbies on this board!) and have been steered toward the Oly 5050 by the numerous good reviews here.

Thing is, we're looking for an all-in-one; hubby is looking for simply a topside camera that takes great shots, and my thinking is hey, while we're doing that, why not get one that'll fit into a nice housing and take great shots below, too! Can you tell I'm the diving-addicted one in the family?

Anyway. After all this research the reviews look great save for complaints about 'jaggies' on diagonal lines in pics, and excessive noise in anything above iso 64.

So my question for all you Oly owners out there is:

a) Picture quality: Does this stand up topside too, or do you prefer a different setup topside? Do you notice jaggies/noise in photos or has it been bothersome?

b) The dpreview site says the shot to shot time is 2.4 seconds and the time from shutter press to actual picture is 0.9 seconds. That seems fairly quick compared to other digitals. Would you owners say that's accurate, or is shutter lag annoying?

c) Is there another setup that would suit an 'all in one' sort of application better, if not this one? The 5050 is a great price these days; but picture quality is more important re: jaggies and noise.

Thanks very much for all your help!

 

[Mo2vation]

Hey all,

For the several weeks I've been doing research on digital cameras (like half the other newbies on this board!) and have been steered toward the Oly 5050 by the numerous good reviews here.

Thing is, we're looking for an all-in-one; hubby is looking for simply a topside camera that takes great shots, and my thinking is hey, while we're doing that, why not get one that'll fit into a nice housing and take great shots below, too! Can you tell I'm the diving-addicted one in the family?

Anyway. After all this research the reviews look great save for complaints about 'jaggies' on diagonal lines in pics, and excessive noise in anything above iso 64.

So my question for all you Oly owners out there is:

a) Picture quality: Does this stand up topside too, or do you prefer a different setup topside? Do you notice jaggies/noise in photos or has it been bothersome?

b) The dpreview site says the shot to shot time is 2.4 seconds and the time from shutter press to actual picture is 0.9 seconds. That seems fairly quick compared to other digitals. Would you owners say that's accurate, or is shutter lag annoying?

c) Is there another setup that would suit an 'all in one' sort of application better, if not this one? The 5050 is a great price these days; but picture quality is more important re: jaggies and noise.

Thanks very much for all your help!

#1: If you approach this as there is no perfect camera, we're half-way there.

ANY shutterlag is annoying. But short of a DSLR, you got it. When you're shaving tenths-of-seconds off of shutter lag for the sake of a spec cheet, its just nonsense. Its still shutter lag, you still get a lot of fish butt and miss some shots topside. its just the nature of consumer-level digitals.

Stair-step lines? You'll get them with EVERY digital. If you shoot on SHQ, at 100 ISO, you'll need a very, very discerning eye to think the effect is annoying. If you belive it is, we need to go back to step #1.

Perspective: Its a $450 camera. You are making compromises. You can house it for $125... that doesn't suck.

Topside accessory lenses (specifically the W/A) are cheap.

Its small so you'll actually take it with you - which means you'll never say "I wish I brought my camera..." That also doesn't suck.

How are the pics? Its a $450 digital camera. Not too shabby. I've printed thousands at 4 x 6 - unreal quality. I've printed hundreds at 8 x 10.. very nice. I've printed dozens at 16 x 20... I was not un-pleased.

Utimately its your call. But for $450 it hard to find a more versatile camera than the 5050. There are many, many nicer digital cameras out there that will take amazing topside pics. But you can't take them diving for about $550 out the door.

K

 

[Dee]

Ditto everything Mo said. There are some who bring comparisons and reviews down to a microscopic level. The pro photographer who needs a a poster size print may need to do that, I don't. My local camera shop makes me excellent prints from my digital. The 11x14 is even good. No, it won't stand up to a loupe to loupe comparison with film but I don't hand out loupes to my guests. They see my photos hanging on my walls or in photo albums. The vast majority of folks using these Pro-sumer digital cameras don't care to get into all the technical why's and how-to's. They are like me who only wants a simple to use system that will give me decent prints. I don't care how or why my camera works like it does as long as it continues to do it reliably.

In my honest opinion, the C-5050 is a very versatile camera, very affordable, with excellent print capabilities. Keep in mind it's the eye behind the camera that makes the pictures, not the price of the camera used.

 

[billseamon]

Three friends got the 5050 and took many pictures on a recent trip to Palau, both under water and above water. The prctures were great. One turtle picture was printed at I thing 13 x 17 format on a EPSON 2200 printer that looked great to me. For the price of the camera, and the price of the housing, you can't go wrong. You may want to wait for the 8080 or the 5060 as the 5050 is not being made anymore and may be hard to find.

 

[scubasprite]

Thanks for the quick answers!

Agreed Mo, re: no perfect camera. Browsing across these boards earlier I saw a number of people use a different rig for UW vs topside and went 'hmm' at that; but you guys more than answered those concerns! I've found a few reconditioned 5050's for $379 with warrantee and standard extras so will likely go for that.

Thanks again!