Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom

Opinion: This is a Great Camera and still takes good shots considering its age. Tilting screen has been a big plus for low or high shot framing. Other reviews here pretty much say it all. Second hand ones can sell from £100 to £200, which keeps this 8.0 meg good spec' Camera as good value for money even now.

Opinion: Should have written a review years a go! Oh well, better late than never :-)

Plus points:

1. Lens alone is worth its weight in gold.
2. At base ISO, SHQ, JPEG image quality is to die for. Simply superb!
3. SuperMacro mode probably as good as it ever got in any compact
4. Tilt LCD
5. Fast to switch on/off.

Negatives:

1. Slow to focus in low light. Slow to re-focus if subject moves.
2. Slow RAW write-to-card time (12-14 seconds)
3. Noise above ISO-200
4. Maximum sensitivity ISO-400

Opinion: Inspired to write this after many years ownership as this camera still has the most satisfying shutter sound of any I have used- a discreet but decisive 'thock', makes the moment of taking the picture a real excitement and pleasure. Oh, and the picture quality, for its age, is great - but it's the shutter sound that still keeps me picking it up and using it.

Opinion: My 2 C8080s rival any DSLR out there for IQ. What more then that can you say.After 5 years of use, I should know.
Once you master the menus :) and that can be frustrating it is a joy to use!

Opinion: I've used my 8080 since they first appeared and I still like it. Great lens. Some reviewers complain about slow write times in Raw - 13 seconds is an eternity. Just for fun I used a 2Gb H xD card. Write times came down to 10 seconds. Not much improvement but every little helps. Camera has the 78 firmware.
The camera is inclined to miss-focus in low light and sometimes I find using spot focus helps. Now that I'm aware of the focus problem I just check more carefully.

Opinion: Fast becoming a real classic

Taking into account that the C-8080 is over 5 years old now (2009), this is an excellent camera. In its day it must have been leading the pack (as many reviewers at that time seem to indicate). Magnesium alloy body, top quality Olympus lens, many user options. Excellent output.

Bought second hand (Ebay) complete with battery grip and original extras, plus 2x 2 Gig cards (XD and CF) and 2 batteries. The C-8080 is a miniature E-1 in many respects, quality of construction not least. Great for when not wanting to carry a DSLR.

The C-8080 is not as fast as current digital cameras, but then what do you expect for five year old technology? The 8080 still does as good a job now as it did 5 years ago - have a look at some of the outstanding reviews if you still need convincing.

If you see a good one - buy it!

Opinion: very poor quality amateur junk

Opinion: This is the First Digital Camera I've bought, researched it for 3 years, bought a used one off ebay, and if it's picture quality for dollar value you want, this is quite possibly as good as it gets. I've taken 2000 pics allready and most are keepers. Stunning clarity

Opinion: I bought mine second hand on EBAY in October 2006 and have been extremely pleased with it. The lens is superb and the image quality is good for a camera of this type. The low light performance is good for a camera of this vintage but focussing can be painfully slow in poor light, the camera also has a tendency to focus on the background when trying to shoot a portrait or group shot, unless there's a face in the middle of the screen. The camera is generally easy to use but the zoom control is a bit "all or nothing" making precise adjustments difficult. I also own the wide-angle and telephoto adaptors, which are good but you can't use the zoom when you have either fitted - the wide angle adaptor can only be used with the zoom right out, and the telephoto adaptor with it zoomed right in. The menus are a bit fiddly to find your way through - lots of layers and no cleaer logic to the layout, some of the icons are a bit obscure.

Over all though I'm extremely pleased iwth the build quality and picture quality. It is very telling that although I keep looking for a new camera to replace it, I haven't been able to find one (apart from the expensive and large E3) that ticks all the boxes, which for me include a fold-out screen and live view so I can use it at waist level like the medium format fillm cameras I used to use.