Picking a digital camera G3 / Fuji s602z / Olympus c-5050z

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but before I buy a question or two.

My camera:

I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?

I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99

If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than 8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80

If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99

If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Hiya,

well if you have been here for that long you should've learned by now that its NOT JUST the number of megapixels that counts. NO WHERE near it. Just look at some of the 8x10 prints that come from the 2.1MP 3 year? old C2100 to prove that point. The CCD in the Fuji IS better than 3.1MP, I won't bother going into arguments, it's all been beaten enough. I often print A3+ and they are SUPERB !!

Yep, its always better to zoom rather than crop later. I can't give an opinion on the other cameras you mention, I've had no reason to look at anything else .. not that I don't scrutinise every new model that comes out.
JKirk

Robin Ritchey said:

Robin Ritchey wrote:
After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

I am in Canada as well. Why not a G2 for $999? Or if you need zoom and quality the more expensive Sony 717.

There is a problem that everyone who owns a camera thinks it is best. But in reality it is tough to get everything in one camera. (ie zoom and quality)

I own no digicam right now and previously owned a Nikon 950. But I have examined literally thousands of pics. Here is my take.

Oly 5050: Haven't seen much yet, but I am not very impressed with the new small 5mp chip. I would personally pass on this camera. Shots don't seem that clean.

Fuji 602: While it has the zoom it lacks the picture quality IMO. Check out this page for the comparison with the G2:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page13.asp

Or upsized to the same size (with lanczos interpolation) to make comparison easier:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/guidryp/stuff/canFuji.jpg

G2/G3: Clean and detaled output, but lacks the big zoom of the Fuji.

Finally I would say don't let anyone tell you what quality you need. Someone who gets "Superb" A3 (11x17) prints from a 3mp camera has a very different opinion of the meaning of the word Superb than I do. Personally I think 3MP is Adequate at 8x10.

Bear in mind that what you shoot also determines the importance of the resolution for printing purposes. Close portraits don't need high resolution, landscapes generally do.

Normally I don't suggest wasting ink on print tests. But after you think you have decision done, do the following:

Find sample shots of the type of subject matter YOU want to shoot. Crop the image in half (try to keep the half with the most detail, and print it as a full 8x11 on your printer. This will simulate how well the image will hold up at A3 size (11x17), if you don't currently have an A3 printer.

Only you can determine what level of quality is sufficient for your needs.

Peter

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

Peter,
Thanks for the reply.

The most important question I have is;

Is there a mathematical equation that lets me see what I loose in resolution vs digital zoom?

eg.
1 x digial zoom resolution goes down to 4.5 megapixals
2x digital zoom resolution goes down to 4.0 megapixals
3 x digital zoom resolution goes down to 3.5 megapixals

Is there anything like that or am I not understanding that process right?

Robin.

Peter G said:

There is a problem that everyone who owns a camera thinks it is
best. But in reality it is tough to get everything in one camera.
(ie zoom and quality)

I own no digicam right now and previously owned a Nikon 950. But I
have examined literally thousands of pics. Here is my take.

Oly 5050: Haven't seen much yet, but I am not very impressed with
the new small 5mp chip. I would personally pass on this camera.
Shots don't seem that clean.

Fuji 602: While it has the zoom it lacks the picture quality IMO.
Check out this page for the comparison with the G2:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page13.asp

Or upsized to the same size (with lanczos interpolation) to make
comparison easier:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/guidryp/stuff/canFuji.jpg

G2/G3: Clean and detaled output, but lacks the big zoom of the Fuji.

Finally I would say don't let anyone tell you what quality you
need. Someone who gets "Superb" A3 (11x17) prints from a 3mp camera
has a very different opinion of the meaning of the word Superb than
I do. Personally I think 3MP is Adequate at 8x10.

Bear in mind that what you shoot also determines the importance of
the resolution for printing purposes. Close portraits don't need
high resolution, landscapes generally do.

Normally I don't suggest wasting ink on print tests. But after you
think you have decision done, do the following:

Find sample shots of the type of subject matter YOU want to shoot.
Crop the image in half (try to keep the half with the most detail,
and print it as a full 8x11 on your printer. This will simulate how
well the image will hold up at A3 size (11x17), if you don't
currently have an A3 printer.

Only you can determine what level of quality is sufficient for your
needs.

Peter

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

There is a concept called Figure of Merit (FM) which helps compare a camera's zoom including the effect of a larger (or smaller) sensor. Here's a pointer to an article about it:

http://www.mav-magazine.com/Jun2000/FigureofMerit/

Basically, you take the maximum focal length of the zoom lens, square it, and multiply it by the MP size of the sensor. This gives you the FM for that camera which you can compare with the FM for other cameras. The article above gives the FM for several older cameras (it is an old article).

My quick and dirty calculations for the cameras you are interested in are:
G3 76 Billion
602z 137 Billion
c5050z 54 Billion

-barry

Robin Ritchey said:

The most important question I have is;

Is there a mathematical equation that lets me see what I loose in
resolution vs digital zoom?

eg.
1 x digial zoom resolution goes down to 4.5 megapixals
2x digital zoom resolution goes down to 4.0 megapixals
3 x digital zoom resolution goes down to 3.5 megapixals

Is there anything like that or am I not understanding that process
right?

Robin.

Peter G said:

There is a problem that everyone who owns a camera thinks it is
best. But in reality it is tough to get everything in one camera.
(ie zoom and quality)

I own no digicam right now and previously owned a Nikon 950. But I
have examined literally thousands of pics. Here is my take.

Oly 5050: Haven't seen much yet, but I am not very impressed with
the new small 5mp chip. I would personally pass on this camera.
Shots don't seem that clean.

Fuji 602: While it has the zoom it lacks the picture quality IMO.
Check out this page for the comparison with the G2:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page13.asp

Or upsized to the same size (with lanczos interpolation) to make
comparison easier:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/guidryp/stuff/canFuji.jpg

G2/G3: Clean and detaled output, but lacks the big zoom of the Fuji.

Finally I would say don't let anyone tell you what quality you
need. Someone who gets "Superb" A3 (11x17) prints from a 3mp camera
has a very different opinion of the meaning of the word Superb than
I do. Personally I think 3MP is Adequate at 8x10.

Bear in mind that what you shoot also determines the importance of
the resolution for printing purposes. Close portraits don't need
high resolution, landscapes generally do.

Normally I don't suggest wasting ink on print tests. But after you
think you have decision done, do the following:

Find sample shots of the type of subject matter YOU want to shoot.
Crop the image in half (try to keep the half with the most detail,
and print it as a full 8x11 on your printer. This will simulate how
well the image will hold up at A3 size (11x17), if you don't
currently have an A3 printer.

Only you can determine what level of quality is sufficient for your
needs.

Peter

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Robin Ritchey said:

Peter,
Thanks for the reply.

The most important question I have is;

Is there a mathematical equation that lets me see what I loose in
resolution vs digital zoom?

eg.
1 x digial zoom resolution goes down to 4.5 megapixals
2x digital zoom resolution goes down to 4.0 megapixals
3 x digital zoom resolution goes down to 3.5 megapixals

Is there anything like that or am I not understanding that process
right?

Click to expand...

Hi,

Take a look at

http://luminous-landscape.com/

There you will find several articles about resolution, image quality, explanation of megapixels vs. image quality vs. print size and so on.

Regards,

Yello ( ... mostly happy with his s602z ...)

Barry Margolius said:

My quick and dirty calculations for the cameras you are interested
in are:
G3 76 Billion
602z 137 Billion
c5050z 54 Billion

Click to expand...

Others:
Sony 717/707 = 177 Billion.
Canon Pro90 IS at 353 Billion, if you can find one.

Not a bad idea. This most likely is really only going to come into play when the cameras are close in zoom power. Think of this as another way to measure maximum zoom. As it is a Pixel adjusted Max zoom.

Barry Margolius said:

There is a concept called Figure of Merit (FM) which helps compare
a camera's zoom including the effect of a larger (or smaller)
sensor. Here's a pointer to an article about it:

http://www.mav-magazine.com/Jun2000/FigureofMerit/

Basically, you take the maximum focal length of the zoom lens,
square it, and multiply it by the MP size of the sensor. This
gives you the FM for that camera which you can compare with the FM
for other cameras. The article above gives the FM for several
older cameras (it is an old article).

-barry

Robin Ritchey said:

The most important question I have is;

Is there a mathematical equation that lets me see what I loose in
resolution vs digital zoom?

eg.
1 x digial zoom resolution goes down to 4.5 megapixals
2x digital zoom resolution goes down to 4.0 megapixals
3 x digital zoom resolution goes down to 3.5 megapixals

Is there anything like that or am I not understanding that process
right?

Robin.

Peter G said:

There is a problem that everyone who owns a camera thinks it is
best. But in reality it is tough to get everything in one camera.
(ie zoom and quality)

I own no digicam right now and previously owned a Nikon 950. But I
have examined literally thousands of pics. Here is my take.

Oly 5050: Haven't seen much yet, but I am not very impressed with
the new small 5mp chip. I would personally pass on this camera.
Shots don't seem that clean.

Fuji 602: While it has the zoom it lacks the picture quality IMO.
Check out this page for the comparison with the G2:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis602z/page13.asp

Or upsized to the same size (with lanczos interpolation) to make
comparison easier:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/guidryp/stuff/canFuji.jpg

G2/G3: Clean and detaled output, but lacks the big zoom of the Fuji.

Finally I would say don't let anyone tell you what quality you
need. Someone who gets "Superb" A3 (11x17) prints from a 3mp camera
has a very different opinion of the meaning of the word Superb than
I do. Personally I think 3MP is Adequate at 8x10.

Bear in mind that what you shoot also determines the importance of
the resolution for printing purposes. Close portraits don't need
high resolution, landscapes generally do.

Normally I don't suggest wasting ink on print tests. But after you
think you have decision done, do the following:

Find sample shots of the type of subject matter YOU want to shoot.
Crop the image in half (try to keep the half with the most detail,
and print it as a full 8x11 on your printer. This will simulate how
well the image will hold up at A3 size (11x17), if you don't
currently have an A3 printer.

Only you can determine what level of quality is sufficient for your
needs.

Peter

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

http://www.pbase.com/ihor/review

Save your money!

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

Don't really understand the shortlist you have come down to. They seem to me to have very different characteristics.

If you are looking for zoom I would be comparing the Sony 717, Minolta 7i and the Nikon 5700 with the Fuji 602.

The G3 is altogether more compact and hasn't got anything like the same amount of zoom.

I'd give a little more thought as to what your chief uses are going to be, and take it from there.

--
DaveMart

Wow,

I thought that most of my research was done, now all this information. It is going to take a day or two to figure this stuff out now.

And all I wanted was to switch to a digital camera, HA!

This is working the brain to the max..

Megapixals don't really count except for maximum printable size or how far you can crop or enlarge a photo.

Bigger sized pixels means less noise and better picture quality.

Since the c-5050z has more but smaller pixels = more niose.

The cannon G3 has the same size ccd but less pixels therefore bigger pixels = less noise

s602 has smaller ccd and less pixels but big lens.

I'm going to have to go in and look at them to see what handles best, even though I have not handled on before. Who knows.

Robin.

Yello said:

Robin Ritchey said:

Peter,
Thanks for the reply.

The most important question I have is;

Is there a mathematical equation that lets me see what I loose in
resolution vs digital zoom?

eg.
1 x digial zoom resolution goes down to 4.5 megapixals
2x digital zoom resolution goes down to 4.0 megapixals
3 x digital zoom resolution goes down to 3.5 megapixals

Is there anything like that or am I not understanding that process
right?

Click to expand...

Hi,

Take a look at

http://luminous-landscape.com/

There you will find several articles about resolution, image
quality, explanation of megapixels vs. image quality vs. print size
and so on.

Regards,

Yello ( ... mostly happy with his s602z ...)

Click to expand...

I know converting to Canadian Dollars is awful...I just received my C-5050 (I am very new to DP but I am impressed,) from cameracanada.com (1 day earlier than expected!) Excellent people do deal with on the sales side and very good deals.

Robin Ritchey said:

After saving and reading for six months these are my choices, but
before I buy a question or two.

My camera:
I use a nikon em with a telephoto lens ~ 310 but mostly use it
around 200 for pictures.

The camera I have researched the most:
The one I am looking at most is the s602 because of the zoom lens
lenght.

Wish: The s602 was a 5 mega pixal camera. Why?
I want to get into printing pics bigger than 8x10. With the
cropping I know I always do, that is as big as I could print out
without it loosing res. with a 3.1 camera.

Olympus c 5050: $1,131.99
If I go for the 5050 5 mega pixal can I edit or use the digial zoom
and stay above the 3.1 mega pixal range when I edit/crop? Or how
much cropping can you do with 5 megapixal and print bigger than
8x10.

Fuji s602 zoom: $1,094.80
If anyone uses the s602 how often would you use the movie clip
feature or is it a useless type of feature?

G3: $1,299.99
If I go for the g3 is the s602 close enough to 4 mega pixal to
nulify the extra expense?

Got the money and now it comes down to the choice...

Robin.
Converting to Canadian dollars suck.

Click to expand...

--
PERRY...C-5050 and lots of enthusiasm...

they both have the same senzor, size 2/3, and excellent picture quality. A bit more expensive, but perhaps worth the money. And if you're not in a hurry, after Xmas sales may be a good opportunity.