Olympus C-5050 Zoom Review, Phil Askey
January 2003

Review based on a production C-5050 Zoom

On August 19th (approximately a month before Photokina 2002) Olympus announced their new five megapixel, three times optical zoom prosumer level digital camera the C-5050 Zoom. This camera is one of the first to utilize a 1/1.8" (7.18 x 5.32 mm) 5 megapixel CCD sensor. Previous 5 megapixel sensors had been 2/3" (8.8 x 6.6 mm) in size. The advantage of the 1/1.8" size is that it is identical to previous three and four megapixel sensors and so certain components such as the lens system can be re-used without requiring any redesign. In the case of the C-5050 Zoom it uses the same three times F1.8 - F2.6 lens seen in the two megapixel C-2040 Zoom*, three megapixel C-3040 Zoom* and four megapixel C-4040 Zoom. For more information about sensor sizes click here.

* Now discontinued models

Olympus C-5050 Zoom vs. Olympus C-4040 Zoom (differences only)

	Olympus C-5050 Zoom	Olympus C-4040 Zoom
Sensor	1/1.8" 5.2 million pixels total	1/1.8" 4.1 million pixels total
Effective pixels	5.0 million	4.0 million
Image formats	RAW, TIFF, JPEG (EXIF 2.2)	TIFF, JPEG (EXIF 1.1)
Image sizes	2560 x 1920, 2288 x 1712, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480	2272 x 1704, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480
Interpolated sizes	3200 x 2400	3200 x 2400
Digital zoom	Up to 3.4x	Up to 2.5x
Focus modes	Normal, Macro, Super-macro	Normal, Macro
Sensitivity	Auto, ISO 64, 100, 200, 400	Auto, ISO 100, 200, 400
Scene modes	Portrait, Sports, Landscape portrait, Landscape, Night	None
My mode	Eight memories	None
Shutter speed	16 - 1/2000 sec	16 - 1/800 sec
Aperture range	F1.8 - F8 / F2.6 - F8	F1.8 - F10 / F2.6 - F10
Histogram in record	Yes	No
White balance	Auto, Fine, Cloudy, Shade, Evening Sun, Incandescent, Fluorescent (4 types), Custom (4 memories)	Auto, Fine, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Custom
HQ Drive mode	1.7/3.3 fps up to 11/4 frames	2 fps up to 8 frames
External flash	Hot-shoe	Five pin sync terminal
Movie clips	320 x 240 - 15 fps, max 96 secs
Audio	Record / Playback	Record only
LCD monitor	1.8" 114,000 pixels tilting	1.8" 114,000 pixels fixed
Storage	SmartMedia, CompactFlash, xD	SmartMedia
Jog dial	Yes	No
Custom button	Yes	No
Video output	NTSC / PAL switchable	Fixed by region
Dimensions	115 x 70 x 80 mm (4.5 x 2.7 x 3.2 in)	110 x 76 x 70 mm (4.33 x 2.99 x 2.75 in)
Weight (no batt)	380 g (13.4 oz)	320 g (11.3 oz)

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

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This review is Copyright 2003 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.