I am a recent Canon convert, so most of my opinions are biased, or at least subjective in reference to several of that brand.
Update, June 2005:
After some months of use and several trips all over the US, in basically any condition you might imagine, I am more impressed than ever. I have hiked into mountains, attended large crowded events, literally from coast to coast and north to south. Hardly a moment of trouble, phenomenal images and completely predictable function and performance. These are now available at incredible prices and I'm thinking of picking up a second unit. I've used this camera at below zero in snow storms, in the hot sun in CA and FL (as well as MI), nothing seems to bother it or it's performance. The images are crisp, sharp and as near noiseless as I've seen this side of an SLR. The battery stands up for a day's worth of heavy shooting, the dual card slots give me near unlimited storage for hours. Solid, but easily packable. GREAT!!
Update, sep 05
My only real addition will be to the problems section. More travel has lead me into many situations where the focus at full telephoto makes you want to throw this thing. By using a combination of the exposure lock (which is perfectly placed), then tilting the camera (for horizons), or at least moving to some other object that will allow focus, then recomposition and shooting will yield good result. This needs to be repeated, as I have found no way to get the focus to lock where I leave it, but at least images can be made. Other than that, nothing in my initial or more recent opinions have changed. I do extensive business travel, and I have a lot of stuff to carry. The C-8080 allows me to pack a photographic arsenal in a very small space. This fact has prevented me (to this point) from moving to a DSLR. I lay these images next to those made with an SLR and differences can begin to appear, but alone, I see few if any. Threre will never be a replacement for a larger sensor in the noise and tonal gradation aspects, but this camera comes as close as any I've used. Combined with a compact tripod and some filters, it offers great versatility and performs every time.
The first thing I notice with this camera is the same thing I do with a Nikon F or a Leica M series. Solid as a brick. Feels like a camera and handles beautifully (i.e., like a camera). This is something that not all digital camera manufacturers have accomplished. That may not seem like a big deal if you might be new to photography, but if you've been around a while it can confound you. I will go out on a limb here at the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, but cameras are laid out the way they are after decades of design and refinement and some newer manufacturers seem to want to buck that.
The design of the LCD is great for waist level shooting. I think the design on the C-5060 is much better, but this works well.
The EVF is quite nice, but still no optical equivalent. The best part of it is all the frame lines, live histogram, "direct" display of gamut warnings.
Control placement makes sense and the most regularly used ones are under or near a finger or thumb. The use of a button and mode dial combination keep things from getting out of shape accidentally. I will note here that with gloves on, at least fairly bulky ones, I bump the shot review button a bit when I'm trying to lift up the LCD for a shot.
Powers up quickly, focuses well in most situations and the ESP metering system is great. Spot metering seems narrow enough to be useful. One Oly quirk (here comes the Canon out of me) that is the same as Sony is shutter speed limitation in sequence mode. The shutter bottoms out at 1/30th of a second and will go no lower, so the user needs to be sure to be in the correct drive mode if things slow down. Not a big deal, but could lead to some confusion.
I have been able to self diagnose all my issues by use of the .pdf manual, so I have no complaint there.
All in all, nothing but net. There are things that could use a little refinement, but nothing glaring. The images are spectacular.
Problems:
What work out to be minor gripes after months of use:
- Clearly, Olympus thinks we should all be using XD media. This camera has the poorest Compact Flash card slot imaginable. All they had to do is reverse the slot and it would be fine. Very hard to get the card out as the back side of the card (the one with the lip) is up against the body and it is hard to grip. Stupid, stupid design, especially on an otherwise exceptionally well thought out camera.
- Battery charges much slower than other brands, but it has plenty of power with this camera. Web tests show something over 5 hours, so this is minor.
- UPDATE: Focusing isn't the best; in fact at times it really sucks. Can hunt in low contrast or even high key light at the long end of the zoom. Mountainous situations, shooting directly into very contrasty light, fog/mist, gray cloud formations absolutely confound the focus; it simply doesn't do the job without some sort of creative override. Still, a small price to pay for all it does well, but a definite issue that needs to be understood by any user.
- No top panel info display as on the C-5060, Canon Pro-1 and many others. Also, no indication that the camera is on by any light or diode; just the extended lens.
Update, June 2005:
After some months of use and several trips all over the US, in basically any condition you might imagine, I am more impressed than ever. I have hiked into mountains, attended large crowded events, literally from coast to coast and north to south. Hardly a moment of trouble, phenomenal images and completely predictable function and performance. These are now available at incredible prices and I'm thinking of picking up a second unit. I've used this camera at below zero in snow storms, in the hot sun in CA and FL (as well as MI), nothing seems to bother it or it's performance. The images are crisp, sharp and as near noiseless as I've seen this side of an SLR. The battery stands up for a day's worth of heavy shooting, the dual card slots give me near unlimited storage for hours. Solid, but easily packable. GREAT!!
Update, sep 05
My only real addition will be to the problems section. More travel has lead me into many situations where the focus at full telephoto makes you want to throw this thing. By using a combination of the exposure lock (which is perfectly placed), then tilting the camera (for horizons), or at least moving to some other object that will allow focus, then recomposition and shooting will yield good result. This needs to be repeated, as I have found no way to get the focus to lock where I leave it, but at least images can be made. Other than that, nothing in my initial or more recent opinions have changed. I do extensive business travel, and I have a lot of stuff to carry. The C-8080 allows me to pack a photographic arsenal in a very small space. This fact has prevented me (to this point) from moving to a DSLR. I lay these images next to those made with an SLR and differences can begin to appear, but alone, I see few if any. Threre will never be a replacement for a larger sensor in the noise and tonal gradation aspects, but this camera comes as close as any I've used. Combined with a compact tripod and some filters, it offers great versatility and performs every time.
The first thing I notice with this camera is the same thing I do with a Nikon F or a Leica M series. Solid as a brick. Feels like a camera and handles beautifully (i.e., like a camera). This is something that not all digital camera manufacturers have accomplished. That may not seem like a big deal if you might be new to photography, but if you've been around a while it can confound you. I will go out on a limb here at the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, but cameras are laid out the way they are after decades of design and refinement and some newer manufacturers seem to want to buck that.
The design of the LCD is great for waist level shooting. I think the design on the C-5060 is much better, but this works well.
The EVF is quite nice, but still no optical equivalent. The best part of it is all the frame lines, live histogram, "direct" display of gamut warnings.
Control placement makes sense and the most regularly used ones are under or near a finger or thumb. The use of a button and mode dial combination keep things from getting out of shape accidentally. I will note here that with gloves on, at least fairly bulky ones, I bump the shot review button a bit when I'm trying to lift up the LCD for a shot.
Powers up quickly, focuses well in most situations and the ESP metering system is great. Spot metering seems narrow enough to be useful. One Oly quirk (here comes the Canon out of me) that is the same as Sony is shutter speed limitation in sequence mode. The shutter bottoms out at 1/30th of a second and will go no lower, so the user needs to be sure to be in the correct drive mode if things slow down. Not a big deal, but could lead to some confusion.
I have been able to self diagnose all my issues by use of the .pdf manual, so I have no complaint there.
All in all, nothing but net. There are things that could use a little refinement, but nothing glaring. The images are spectacular.
Problems:
What work out to be minor gripes after months of use:
- Clearly, Olympus thinks we should all be using XD media. This camera has the poorest Compact Flash card slot imaginable. All they had to do is reverse the slot and it would be fine. Very hard to get the card out as the back side of the card (the one with the lip) is up against the body and it is hard to grip. Stupid, stupid design, especially on an otherwise exceptionally well thought out camera.
- Battery charges much slower than other brands, but it has plenty of power with this camera. Web tests show something over 5 hours, so this is minor.
- UPDATE: Focusing isn't the best; in fact at times it really sucks. Can hunt in low contrast or even high key light at the long end of the zoom. Mountainous situations, shooting directly into very contrasty light, fog/mist, gray cloud formations absolutely confound the focus; it simply doesn't do the job without some sort of creative override. Still, a small price to pay for all it does well, but a definite issue that needs to be understood by any user.
- No top panel info display as on the C-5060, Canon Pro-1 and many others. Also, no indication that the camera is on by any light or diode; just the extended lens.