Olympus C8080

[ReyeR]

I got to play with a C8080 today. It is ofcourse reasonably bigger than the C5050 but has a nice feel to it. The zoom is smooth and responsive. I wouldn't say the shutter lag has improved as it still hunts like the C5050/5060. A few things that stood out:
- the start up time is extremely quick, especially if you've parked it on wide before shutdown
- something I was very happy to see is the programable Jog dial*. In the Setup menu you can set the Jog dial to Normal, Custom 1, Custom 2 or Custom 3. In Normal turning the Jog dial will do what it's meant to do e.g. in Manual shooting mode it'll adjust the shutterspeed and holding the +/- direct button and turning the jog will change the aperture. Select Custom 1 and interesting things begin to happen. For example in Manual it'll no longer change the shutterspeed. Instead the shutterspeed can be changed by pressing the up or down arrow keys and the aperture by pressing the left or right arrow keys. NO MORE HOLDING DOWN THE +/- BUTTON AND TURNING THE JOG DIAL! For more details download the Reference Manual PDF and see page 152.
- write times on the xD is now very close to my Transcend 30x CF card. A RAW file (11.8MB) takes about 15secs (from releasing the shutter to the lights stop flashing). On my C5050 a RAW file (7.2MB) takes 5secs on the Transcend and 8secs on the xD.
- the shutter release has been moved to the front and at an angle and needs a little getting used to, especially for the half-press focus lock.

*Interestingly, I suggested something like this to Olympus, Japan when I first got the C5050 - that we should be able to assign functions like changing the aperture in Manual mode to the arrow keys. Whether this is a coincidence or not, I'd like to believe that they sometimes listen to customer feedback. So next time you have a suggestion, write to them, you never know when it'll filter to the correct department.

 

[ReyeR]

Also, the housing for the C8080 has been delayed from an early May release to a mid-June release.

 

[Dee]

Thanks for the review. Those kind of details are what helps make the decision to buy!

 

[Waterbase]

ReyeR,

Thanks for your opinion indeed!
Would you happen to know anything about the writing speed to a (4gB) Microdrive? I found something on the web suggesting the writing to a Microdrive was as fast (or faster) as writing to a XD card -probably because the Microdrive has its own controller.
If I'm going to buy the 8080, I'll need 4 gB storage or I won't make it through a single week of diving....

Cheers, Waterbase

 

[ReyeR]

ReyeR,

Thanks for your opinion indeed!
Would you happen to know anything about the writing speed to a (4gB) Microdrive? I found something on the web suggesting the writing to a Microdrive was as fast (or faster) as writing to a XD card -probably because the Microdrive has its own controller.
If I'm going to buy the 8080, I'll need 4 gB storage or I won't make it through a single week of diving....

Cheers, Waterbase

Waterbase, no idea. It is difficult to assess speeds purely on the manufacturer's specs as it depends on not just the card but the card reader/writer (in this case the C8080) as well. A prime example of this are the tests done on Rob Galbraith's website with DSLRs. Take for example the Sandisk 1GB Ultra II - on the Nikon D70 the RAW write speed is 4669K/sec, with the Canon 300D a shocking 1282K/sec (in fact almost every card averaged at 12xxK/sec with the 300D!). Without actually doing a sustained write test on the C8080 it is hard to comment on what the write speed will be. I was shocked to see the poor performance of my Transcend 30x in the C8080. 15secs for a 11.8MB RAW file is unworkable. I would have thought under 10secs would have been OK considering it saves my C5050 RAW files (7.2MB) in under 5secs. Perhaps it'll be better with the Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme CF cards.
I generally stay away from Microdrives because of the moving parts and prefer solid state technology.
The other problem I should point out is that the C8080 (most probably) uses FAT16. FAT16 cannot use CF cards that are greater than 2GB. There is however a 4GB Sandisk CF card which allows you to use it as 2 2GB cards with FAT16 by flicking a switch. Read about it here: http://www.digitaldiver.net/news.php?story=48

 

[Kim]

The other problem I should point out is that the C8080 (most probably) uses FAT16. FAT16 cannot use CF cards that are greater than 2GB. There is however a 4GB Sandisk CF card which allows you to use it as 2 2GB cards with FAT16 by flicking a switch. Read about it here: http://www.digitaldiver.net/news.php?story=48

According to Steves Digicam reviews the file system is FAT32 compatable - which means you can use cards more than 2Gb.
The full review is here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/c8080.html

 

[ReyeR]

According to Steves Digicam reviews the file system is FAT32 compatable - which means you can use cards more than 2Gb.
The full review is here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/c8080.html

Thanks Kim, I wasn't quite sure. So ignore my comment about not being able to use the 4GB with it. I am now wondering if this would have anything to do with the poor write speeds on my Transcend 30x.... :06: A test is in order.

 

[Waterbase]

Thanks KimLeece,

The link below also points to FAT32 compatibility. I would be surprised if it were not FAT32, as the 5060 is and maybe the 5050 as well. No steps backwards please !

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/c8080wz-review/index.shtml

 

[tangfish]

ReyeR,

Thanks for your opinion indeed!
Would you happen to know anything about the writing speed to a (4gB) Microdrive? I found something on the web suggesting the writing to a Microdrive was as fast (or faster) as writing to a XD card -probably because the Microdrive has its own controller.
If I'm going to buy the 8080, I'll need 4 gB storage or I won't make it through a single week of diving....

Cheers, Waterbase

microdrive is slower than CF, I recommend getting a CF or XD 1GB plus a 40 gb iPod with memory reader, you have virtually unlimited storage and tunes to boot.

 

[Waterbase]

Thanks for the tip... somehow, I think I'll be running out of money quickly this way.... :11: