I bought it factory reconditioned in May 2003. The pictures on AUTO mode are excellent. It works best outside in sunlight. I read a lot of reviews because the manual was so poor (until I found the complete manual on the enclosed CD).
After reading Phil's review, I wondered whether he was just missing some instructions, so I contacted Olympus by e-mail and received a prompt reply:
"The Portrait and Landscape modes do not enhance the colors or flesh tones in any way. These are composition modes which mostly control the depth of field of the image and not the colors."
"The C-50 does not have a noise reduction mode. As a result it cannot be activated in any modes."
I then asked: "My camera doesn't have a white balance ONE TOUCH button. Can I set white balance for difficult situations by placing a white card next to the object I
want to photograph and framing the white card in the center of the scene and then pressing the shutter button half down, then framing my picture? Or won't
that do any better than just taking the picture without bothering with the white card?"
The answer (that I received the same day I emailed the question) is:
"I would suggest starting with the auto white balance mode. If this does not produce correct colors, then use one of the presets to get the correct colors. The white card may not help in the situation since the camera does not have a one touch system, it would compare the entire scene. If you move the card it may then throw the rest of the colors off. The auto or presets will usually suffice in almost all situations." "Nevertheless, no automatic colour balance can compensate for insufficient lighting. For this reason, you should always make sure that either the lighting conditions are suitable or that you switch on an additional lamp or flash if necessary."
All my focusing problems were encountered in low-light situations. I noticed that Phil's review also found problems in the studio photographic test. I believe that there was inadequate light for the C-50 to perform well.
All my outside shots were fine.
Problems:
1) My problems were with close-ups. Some were excellent, sometimes the camera just wouldn't focus.
2) The printed manual included doesn't mention that the complete manual is on the enclosed CD. I had to read internet and magazine reviews to figure out all the features. I still don't know how to switch to default SHQ on LANDSCAPE and PORTRAIT modes.
After reading Phil's review, I wondered whether he was just missing some instructions, so I contacted Olympus by e-mail and received a prompt reply:
"The Portrait and Landscape modes do not enhance the colors or flesh tones in any way. These are composition modes which mostly control the depth of field of the image and not the colors."
"The C-50 does not have a noise reduction mode. As a result it cannot be activated in any modes."
I then asked: "My camera doesn't have a white balance ONE TOUCH button. Can I set white balance for difficult situations by placing a white card next to the object I
want to photograph and framing the white card in the center of the scene and then pressing the shutter button half down, then framing my picture? Or won't
that do any better than just taking the picture without bothering with the white card?"
The answer (that I received the same day I emailed the question) is:
"I would suggest starting with the auto white balance mode. If this does not produce correct colors, then use one of the presets to get the correct colors. The white card may not help in the situation since the camera does not have a one touch system, it would compare the entire scene. If you move the card it may then throw the rest of the colors off. The auto or presets will usually suffice in almost all situations." "Nevertheless, no automatic colour balance can compensate for insufficient lighting. For this reason, you should always make sure that either the lighting conditions are suitable or that you switch on an additional lamp or flash if necessary."
All my focusing problems were encountered in low-light situations. I noticed that Phil's review also found problems in the studio photographic test. I believe that there was inadequate light for the C-50 to perform well.
All my outside shots were fine.
Problems:
1) My problems were with close-ups. Some were excellent, sometimes the camera just wouldn't focus.
2) The printed manual included doesn't mention that the complete manual is on the enclosed CD. I had to read internet and magazine reviews to figure out all the features. I still don't know how to switch to default SHQ on LANDSCAPE and PORTRAIT modes.