Newbe Olympus OR SONY

[tangfish]

Anyone here have any opinions on the Olypus C-8080 or any Canon models? I am looking for the most 'bang for my buck' in terms of picture quality (mine will be published), useability on surface, battery life and size. I mirror the sentiment that if its too big to carry around you'll leave it at home (when on land). Also, I think that spending a fortune is not that wise either as you would most likely upgrade in a couple of years anyway.

 

[Marriard]

I am looking for the most 'bang for my buck' in terms of picture quality (mine will be published), useability on surface, battery life and size. I mirror the sentiment that if its too big to carry around you'll leave it at home (when on land). Also, I think that spending a fortune is not that wise either as you would most likely upgrade in a couple of years anyway.

Ok, well it depends on how serious you really are and what you are shooting for a camera today.

First batteries - get several sets of rechargables and make this a non-issue.

Picture quality - the Oly's produce some great image quality, and in general (and in my opinion) produce the nicest images of the prosumer models.

'Published' is a different issue. How often, and what size? If you are shooting a SLR camera now, prosumer cameras can be very frustrating as shutter lag and Aperture/Shutter Speed conversions can drive you nuts. The nice thing with DSLR's is that if you are used to an SLR camera, the transition is reasonably smooth. Also if you already have an investment in lenses you can take advantage of this and keep cost down.

As for cost, if you are shooting a lot now with film, the savings from going digital are significant and you can afford a larger intial investment as the cost of development (i.e. recurring cost over time) goes down to basically nothing.

M

(p.s. I went straight to a Fuji S2Pro DSLR when I switched to digital. I was using a Nikon N90s before that)

 

[Gilligan]

I'm no camera expert but I'll have to agree with Marriard as respects going to a DSLR for a more professional camera.
You may want to do some more research on the Oly 8080 as there are rumblings out there that it is not that great of a camera for underwater use.