if 5050 only had xD, would people still buy it as much?

Eric · Jul 24, 2003

I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below. The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050 only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory, including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

Daniella68313 · Jul 24, 2003

maybe not...the memory stick of the 717 was what made me buy a Dimage instead.

Eric said:
I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below.
The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050
only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as
much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but
Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy
another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory,
including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory
formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

--
Daniella
http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=26918
http://www.pbase.com/zylen
C7OO FORUM: http://www.c700uz.com

c7OOuz, Dimage-7, Tcon14tele, C210tele, Cokin-173, Grad-ND, Hoya-red-Intensifier, Hoya_R_72.

Jola · Jul 24, 2003

I think that the CF is one of the main features of the camera that makes it attractive to buyers.

Weth · Jul 24, 2003

I would not have considered the 5050 if it only had xD. I ruled out Sony because of proprietary batteries, MS, and the form factor of the 717 camera.

Charlie Dilks · Jul 24, 2003

--
Olympus C5O5O, B-twenty eight, B-3OO, FL-4O

Keith H Thompson · Jul 24, 2003

What happen to all the other great features this camera has. I can't believe that anyone would buy just because of the card or battery issue. This camera has many more outstanding features to limit the buyer only to these two issue. Come on, does quality of the image not count? Memory cards are now cheap enough if you don't have this format you can make the change. yes I took in account of the memory, batteries, but I also noticed all the many other features this camera has. Quality of the image is why I bought a 5050.....

Jola · Jul 24, 2003

DodgeViper, if you ignore the memory card and the battery then there are a lot of good cameras out there that will compete with the C-5050z.

Just look at the Nikon 5000, 5400, 5700, Canon G3, G5, the Minolta's, Sony's etc.

I agree with your statement that the 5050 has great image quality, but for many buyers the memory card and the batteries also played an important role.

It's the whole package that countd, and, yes, the whole 5050 package is pretty good. Unless you like small, low capacity, slow, expensive memory cards (eg xD), and small, expensive and low-capacity batteries (eg Li-Ion).

DodgeViper said:
What happen to all the other great features this camera has. I
can't believe that anyone would buy just because of the card or
battery issue. This camera has many more outstanding features to
limit the buyer only to these two issue. Come on, does quality of
the image not count? Memory cards are now cheap enough if you don't
have this format you can make the change. yes I took in account of
the memory, batteries, but I also noticed all the many other
features this camera has. Quality of the image is why I bought a
5050.....

Patrick T. Kelly · Jul 24, 2003

Eric said:
I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below.
The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050
only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as
much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but
Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy
another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory,
including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory
formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

voices in afka_bob's head · Jul 24, 2003

I wouldn't have bought one with only xD. I always admired the c-xxxx olys, but I stayed away UNTIL it got CF -- SM was a dead end, and xD would not have moved me to buy.

xD may prove to be the media of the future, but right now CF is rugged, has the highest capacity, and is relatively cheap -- so ten years from now I might buy a digital camera because it has xD, but ten years ago, I wasn't even in the market for a digital camera.

Keith H Thompson · Jul 24, 2003

Jola said:
DodgeViper, if you ignore the memory card and the battery then
there are a lot of good cameras out there that will compete with
the C-5050z.

Just look at the Nikon 5000, 5400, 5700, Canon G3, G5, the
Minolta's, Sony's etc.

I agree with your statement that the 5050 has great image quality,
but for many buyers the memory card and the batteries also played
an important role.

It's the whole package that countd, and, yes, the whole 5050
package is pretty good. Unless you like small, low capacity, slow,
expensive memory cards (eg xD), and small, expensive and
low-capacity batteries (eg Li-Ion).

Also one has to take in account the price. You’re not going to touch a 5700 for the price what you can buy the 5050. I like the compact size of the 5050, the ability to transfer from one card from within the camera, the many selection in image size, and not being limited to any proprietary features that force those to buy from any particular company….

Mason Trullinger · Jul 24, 2003

The prices for the competing formats are almost twice as expensive as CF cards for the same size. That is big factor for me in digital cameras.

256mb xD cards are $106
256mb SD cards are $70
256mb MS Pro are $94
256mb CF cards are $49

512mb xD cards are $255
512mb SD cards are $240
512mb MS pro are $210
512mb CF cards are $97-115 ($115 for the brands that are garanteed for the 5050)

all these prices are from dealram.com

Now, I got four of the Kingston '-S' 512mb cards on a price error of $34.95 each a couple months ago, so this just added to my joy in the 5050.

But also, the superieor color rendition, resolution in comparison to other 5mp and the fastest lens in its class were also the other major factors in my decision on the 5050. For what I use it for, this device wins.

DodgeViper said:
What happen to all the other great features this camera has. I
can't believe that anyone would buy just because of the card or
battery issue. This camera has many more outstanding features to
limit the buyer only to these two issue. Come on, does quality of
the image not count? Memory cards are now cheap enough if you don't
have this format you can make the change. yes I took in account of
the memory, batteries, but I also noticed all the many other
features this camera has. Quality of the image is why I bought a
5050.....

--
Mason Trullinger
http://www.defymagazine.com
http://www.pbase.com/masont/
Oly 5o5o groupie
'You've got to lose yourself before you can find anything.'

Jola · Jul 24, 2003

DodgeViper said:
Also one has to take in account the price. You’re not going to
touch a 5700 for the price what you can buy the 5050. I like the
compact size of the 5050, the ability to transfer from one card
from within the camera, the many selection in image size, and not
being limited to any proprietary features that force those to buy
from any particular company….

Couldn't agree more. Now if Olympus will only bring out a 6060 with the same form factor, same features, but a 6Mp CCD, ED glass lens with less CA, and user-upgradeable firmware then I will be an Olympus supporter for life.

In fact it will be the last digicam that I buy - and maybe that is why they won't do it!

Altaman · Jul 24, 2003

Being that the C-5050 has multiple format support, it is a non issue...XD, CF, SM take your pick!

Altaman

Eric said:
I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below.
The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050
only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as
much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but
Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy
another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory,
including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory
formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

wcheng · Jul 24, 2003

No! and that is why I did not get the C-750.
WC

Eric said:
I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below.
The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050
only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as
much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but
Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy
another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory,
including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory
formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

--
http://www.ImageEvent.com/WCheng999/

Ben Herrmann · Jul 24, 2003

Eric:

I look at your question from two different vantage points. Had I not tried the 5050, I would NOT have considered purchasing it if all it had was the xD card slot.

But after trying the 5050 the way it is, I am sold on the camera and in retrospect (knowing what I know now), I would still have purchased it. The xD card appears to work much faster than CF cards (although my standard are the CF cards). And since Fuji and Olympus will be releasing cameras with the xD card format, why not?

Ben Herrmann
North Carolina USA

Jola · Jul 24, 2003

Ben Herrmann said:
The xD card appears to work much faster than CF
cards (although my standard are the CF cards).

On my tests with a Ridata 40X CF on a 5050, the CF was twice as fast as xD when writing, and about 10% faster when reading.

A cheap Dane-Elec 16X was the same speed as xD, but at a fraction of the price.

If you take the speed into account, a 512Mb xD card should sell at USD75 to be competitive with CF. You can get a 512Mb CF card that is much faster than xD for about USD115.

Dimitrios · Jul 25, 2003

Ben Herrmann said:
purchased it. The xD card appears to work much faster than CF
cards (although my standard are the CF cards). And since Fuji and
Olympus will be releasing cameras with the xD card format, why not?

Ben, there are CF cards that are noticeably faster (and cheaper) than xD. At least the xD that is supplied with the camera. Some CFs are slower than xD at review mode but this is not the case with the recent fast models. See mine and Jola's test:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=5665411
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=5457224
If you shoot raw, speed difference becomes important.
--
Dimitrios
Olympus C-5050 & Minolta Dynax 7xi SLR

Dimitrios · Jul 25, 2003

In the beginning, xD looked promising. I hadn't invested in any other memory format, so I would easily choose xD if price was near to the CF competition. But it isn't and, with a 5 mp camera, even SHQ needs large, cheap memory cards.
--
Dimitrios
Olympus C-5050 & Minolta Dynax 7xi SLR

Jola · Jul 25, 2003

CF is so cost effective that I'm starting to use a 512Mb CF to carry data and backups around with me. As far as I am concerned it works better and faster than CD-RW, and at about USD100 the cost is acceptable.

The biggest danger is losing the card.

Dimitrios said:
In the beginning, xD looked promising. I hadn't invested in any
other memory format, so I would easily choose xD if price was near
to the CF competition. But it isn't and, with a 5 mp camera, even
SHQ needs large, cheap memory cards.
--
Dimitrios
Olympus C-5050 & Minolta Dynax 7xi SLR

Steve Price · Jul 25, 2003

Hi Eric

When someone buys a camera, he usually weighs the pros and cons of each, then makes a decision. Fewer choices on media is a con. So, no doubt, some people would who would otherwise have bought it would not, while others would buy it anyway. The Sony media limitation reduces Sony sales, but it certainly doesn't put them out of the running.

Steve Price

Eric said:
I'm just curious, in reference to the 5050 or F717 thread below.
The propitary batteries issue I can understand, but if the 5050
only had an xD slot, instead of xD/SM/CF II, would people buy it as
much? I saw posts ragging on Sony for using their own memory, but
Oly has done the same thing with SM/xD. I personally won't buy
another Oly because of the limitations of SM and their memory,
including xD, the standard has become CF and SD.

I like Olys cameras, but I don't want to have 3-4 different memory
formats to worry about, I already have 3 (SM and SD/CF on my PDA).

--
Olympus 3040

if 5050 only had xD, would people still buy it as much?

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