8080 WZ questions

[Nikkem]

Hi all, above all sorry for my poor english.

I want to buy a 8080 but i have some questions:

-infinity focus

Is possible to shoot at infinity focus with AF?The problem is only in MF? How do you live with this problem?

-wide + flash

I readed from few reviews that if you shhot at wide angle with flash that one produces some shadows caused by big lenses.is that true?

-firmware

is there any possibility that Olympus give us a new firmaware to this camera to fix infinity anf focus problems, even if the camera semms discontinued?

-e 300

I know that them are differents cameras, but if the price would be the same wich one do you buy?

Thanks in advance for yours answer

nicola

 

[Alekko]

Hi Nicola,

You have interesting questions and some of them are hard to be answered easily.

1. Yes, it is. The problem is if you have hazy horizon with no clear differences to get the focus. You can try to hold camera vertically, hoping that this will help. This happened to me once (at the very begging of owning this camera) and I had hard time getting the focus.

2. Yes. Even if you have lens hood attached, its shadow will be visible in wide angle. That’s why you have to take off any attachment.

3. All the signs are that they’re not going to fix this problem, unfortunately…

4. Now, this is difficult question. They belong to different worlds, 8080 being p&s and E-300 dSLR. How familiar are you with SLRs? Also, it all depends on your personal needs. Do you want to be light and mobile? Do you want to spend some more money for lenses? Both cameras will give you great pictures. So, this is why I can’t give you direct answer. I have both and I found myself using E-300 more and more often than 8080. I like higher ISO, larger zoom and fast RAW writing.

If you give us more info on how you are going to use the camera and how familiar are you with the both systems, we could give you better help.

Hope this helps,
Alex.

--
Oly E-300, C-8080 & IS3.
Oly 14-45, Sigma 55-200, HLD-3 & FL-36.
http://alekko.fotopic.net - C-8080 - Wowzie
http://alekk.fotopic.net - E-300 - Voltzie

 

[JackAce]

Is possible to shoot at infinity focus with AF?The problem is only
in MF? How do you live with this problem?

Yes. It is not as easy as it should be, but it is possible. As you doubtless are aware of, there are many threads in this forum addressing this issue. I think it is somewhat difficult to know what AF is focusing on, but probably easier if you can use the the EVF (I wear glasses and I find using the EVF difficult).

I have a bunch of good shots and some very nice ones in spite of this. I can put up with it.

-wide + flash

I readed from few reviews that if you shhot at wide angle with
flash that one produces some shadows caused by big lenses.is that
true?

Yes. I agree with Alex' answer.

-firmware

is there any possibility that Olympus give us a new firmaware to
this camera to fix infinity anf focus problems, even if the camera
semms discontinued?

No. Seems like they are placing their stakes on entry level dSLRs (most manufacturers probably are).

-e 300

I know that them are differents cameras, but if the price would be
the same wich one do you buy?

If I had the money, I would get the E-300. But the question is not a simple one. Comparing a P&S, albeit an advanced one like the C-8080 and an SLR is like comparing a motorcycle and a car. Both travel fast but are made for different purposes...

Personally, I don't want to carry a lot of gear along. If I had an SLR, I would probably just carry one lens at a time. You don't find many SLR lenses with the zoom range and the quality of the C-8080 and they cost. When I looked at the E-300 & C-8080, I chose the latter because it was $300 cheaper (this was for me, in Sweden). That is including what I consider a minimum kit of
1) camera,

2) a good lens with both reasonable wide angle (28mm or less) and reasonable zoom (around 150mm). This typically requires two SLR lenses, though there are exceptions.
and
3) a memory card.

I would have paid $300 ($1400) more for the E-300 & two lenses & 1GB memory card than I paid for my C-8080 & memory card ($1100). Most Americans (well, most non-Scandinavians) won't probably have anything near to our prices and will be shocked at what I paid for my C-8080 ($950, the Kingston 1GB CF card was $150), but that's what we've got to pay here...

BTW, I bought my camera in feb 2005 (!!!). Dreaming of overthrowing the social government here in favor of a more capitalistic one...

I'd love the RAW writing speed of the E-300.
I'd love having a real manual focus.
I'd love having a real manua zoom.

I'd love being able to choose which lens to use (if I could afford more than one...)

But hey, take a look at Gary Hebert's gallery at http://www.pbase.com/turnstyle - you can achieve amazing results with the C-8080.

But if you've got the bucks, I'd say go for the E-300.

Jack
-----------------------------
C-8080 owner
Gotland... de' du!

 

[Nikkem]

Thanks for your answers, this forum is really wonderfull for people like you that answers to newbye, like me, with a lot of useful information.

1. Yes, it is. The problem is if you have hazy horizon with no
clear differences to get the focus. You can try to hold camera
vertically, hoping that this will help. This happened to me once
(at the very begging of owning this camera) and I had hard time
getting the focus.

Ok it seems a problem but not to big, in any case i read that if you put the camera in sleep mode and then use manual focus it can be set to infinity, is that true?

2. Yes. Even if you have lens hood attached, its shadow will be
visible in wide angle.

so it is unusable at wide angle, isn't it?

That’s why you have to take off any attachment.

sorry but i dint understand what do you mean

3. All the signs are that they’re not going to fix this problem,
unfortunately…

:-((

4. Now, this is difficult question. They belong to different
worlds, 8080 being p&s and E-300 dSLR. How familiar are you with
SLRs? Also, it all depends on your personal needs. Do you want to
be light and mobile? Do you want to spend some more money for
lenses? Both cameras will give you great pictures. So, this is why
I can’t give you direct answer. I have both and I found myself
using E-300 more and more often than 8080. I like higher ISO,
larger zoom and fast RAW writing.

i dont want spend more money for lenses, i'm not familar with dslr(but with no one digital camera at all, until now i used always film camera),i want to be quite light and mobile, for example i want to use camera in travels.

 

[Nikkem]

Is possible to shoot at infinity focus with AF?The problem is only
in MF? How do you live with this problem?

Yes. It is not as easy as it should be, but it is possible. As you
doubtless are aware of, there are many threads in this forum
addressing this issue. I think it is somewhat difficult to know
what AF is focusing on, but probably easier if you can use the the
EVF (I wear glasses and I find using the EVF difficult).

I have a bunch of good shots and some very nice ones in spite of
this. I can put up with it.

-wide + flash

I readed from few reviews that if you shhot at wide angle with
flash that one produces some shadows caused by big lenses.is that
true?

Yes. I agree with Alex' answer.

-firmware

is there any possibility that Olympus give us a new firmaware to
this camera to fix infinity anf focus problems, even if the camera
semms discontinued?

No. Seems like they are placing their stakes on entry level dSLRs
(most manufacturers probably are).

-e 300

I know that them are differents cameras, but if the price would be
the same wich one do you buy?

If I had the money, I would get the E-300. But the question is not
a simple one. Comparing a P&S, albeit an advanced one like the
C-8080 and an SLR is like comparing a motorcycle and a car. Both
travel fast but are made for different purposes...

Personally, I don't want to carry a lot of gear along. If I had an
SLR, I would probably just carry one lens at a time. You don't find
many SLR lenses with the zoom range and the quality of the C-8080
and they cost. When I looked at the E-300 & C-8080, I chose the
latter because it was $300 cheaper (this was for me, in Sweden).
That is including what I consider a minimum kit of
1) camera,
2) a good lens with both reasonable wide angle (28mm or less) and
reasonable zoom (around 150mm). This typically requires two SLR
lenses, though there are exceptions.
and
3) a memory card.

I would have paid $300 ($1400) more for the E-300 & two lenses &
1GB memory card than I paid for my C-8080 & memory card ($1100).
Most Americans (well, most non-Scandinavians) won't probably have
anything near to our prices and will be shocked at what I paid for
my C-8080 ($950, the Kingston 1GB CF card was $150), but that's
what we've got to pay here...

BTW, I bought my camera in feb 2005 (!!!). Dreaming of overthrowing
the social government here in favor of a more capitalistic one...

I'd love the RAW writing speed of the E-300.
I'd love having a real manual focus.
I'd love having a real manua zoom.
I'd love being able to choose which lens to use (if I could afford
more than one...)

But hey, take a look at Gary Hebert's gallery at
http://www.pbase.com/turnstyle - you can achieve amazing results
with the C-8080.

But if you've got the bucks, I'd say go for the E-300.

Jack
-----------------------------
C-8080 owner
Gotland... de' du!

thanks for your answer too!

and i add another question:
is better pro1 then 8080?

 

[Alekko]

Ok it seems a problem but not to big, in any case i read that if
you put the camera in sleep mode and then use manual focus it can
be set to infinity, is that true?

I never read something like that. Putting camera in sleep mode shouldn’t affect infinity focus. More likely is something else.

sorry but i dint understand what do you mean

If you have something attached to the lens, it will create shadow in wide with flash. If you have lens only, you’ll be just fine, no problems…

E-300 could be light and mobile even if you take additional lens (like Sigma 55-200, which will take you from 110-400mm). With those two lenses (kit & Sigma), you’ll be able to cover from 28-400mm. All that is not that bigger or heavier than 8080.

I know that this is hard choice. Different tools for different tasks. If you are in landscapes and portraits, 8080 will be just fine. This is the best camera in 8MG p&s world...

If you want to shoot RAW, need higher ISO, more zoom, easier manual focusing or you care for fast focusing even in low light, E-300 is a good choice. Either way, both cameras are excellent.

Cheers,
Alex.

--
Oly E-300, C-8080 & IS3.
Oly 14-45, Sigma 55-200, HLD-3 & FL-36.
http://alekko.fotopic.net - C-8080 - Wowzie
http://alekk.fotopic.net - E-300 - Voltzie

 

[echelon2004]

The pro 1 seems to have slightly better detail then the c8080 but also more vignetting, CA, fringing etc. I'm absolutely confident that the c8080 is superior to the pro1. After all, I did put my money on it

I agree with the others about the other issues but would suggest the Canon EOS350D as the alternative based on the larger and higher quality of Canon lenses versus Olympus. Canon is also better at high ISO even if the straight out of camera JPEGs aught to be better from Oly.

--
Anders

http://www.teamexcalibur.se/iview/index.htm