Answers from Olympus

[Inigo Montoya]

well, buy the other brand camera...

Exactly my point. The other side to "overdomineering parental authoritarianism" by Olympus one might say there's some "gimme gimme gimme crybaby" behavior taking place on the part of some of their customers who didn't do their homework before making their purchase decision.

 

[Jola]

... of their customers who didn't do their homework before making their
purchase decision.

This homework presumably being not making sure that the camera performs to specifications before buying ...

Like many CF cards don't work, camera control doesn't work before v78, default settings create excessive noise, "Card Door Open" errors on v77, excessive shutter lag on v76 and v77, camera lock on multi area focus, etc.

Just what are you trying to say, Inigo?

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I suppose you would buy a new car that read anything on the
odometer?

No, I wouldn't. But what does this have to do with firmware upgrades? You're confusing the company providing warranty service for a defective component vs having a right to free upgrades/improvements.

Then in the next two months they were able to zero the
odometer consistently and improve handling and performance. You
wouldn't care right? Even when it came to sell the car when you
were asked about the milage?

Happens all the time. Improvements are made, new models are released, etc. Do you really think the last car off the assembly line for a given year of auto production doesn't have any improvements over the first?

The price Olympus charges for their camera is similar to what other
manufacturers charge

Similar? Yes. But $20-$50, or even $100 on a $700 item is "similar". But that same amount of difference often sways buyers one way or another. How is Olympus cheating anyone if they make the concious decision to offer a lower price at the cost of "no free upgrades"? That's their perogative, and it's then up to their customers to decide to buy the product or not. Based on the numbers I've read, it's certainly not hurt their sales.

who offer better software and a free firmware upgrade.

Define better software? Software that regularly needs updating to all owners is better? I've read people here complaining about Nikon's menu system being hard to navigate while praising the Oly software. How is that better?

The materials of the camera are the same unless there are
some gold coins in there I don't know about.

If you really believe that, go out and by a JamCam. The lens, the sensor, etc. all vary from camera to camera and have a direct bearing on quality and cost.

Face it. Olympus user
firmware availability is just the adult version of overdomineering
parental authoritarianism. It has nothing to do with improving the
product or the size of the customer base.

From the reports I've read, their customer base is improving just fine.

And my post said nothing about "parental authoritarianism" it was about whether they were cheating their customers. Offering one pound of product and deliverying 15 ounces is cheating. Offering 5MP of resolution and delivering 1600x1200 is cheating. Another vendor offering a service or feature you find desirable at a competitive price does not mean Olympus is cheating you. It means you made the wrong choice for yourself. Unless they held a gun to your head, don't blame them, blame yourself.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

You must work for Olympus. No, that's just your opinion that it's
"utter nonsense". And, you're comparing apples to oranges......or
possibly not even fruit. Digicam's are not automobiles. You
statement would be analogous to getting a free camera loaner when
OM is upgrading your camera which is not the point here.

Clint, thank you for proving my point, and no, I don't work for Olympus, and if you've followed some of my older posts you'd know that I personally would PREFER that Olympus offered free, user-installable firmware updates. My point here which you and others can't seem to understand is that while it's something I'd like to have, it was never presented/promised/advertised as something I was entitled to with my purchase. As such, it is utter nonsense to claim to have been cheated.

The "free loaner" comparison was not meant to compare to firmware, it was a service that one dealer advertised and offered that another didn't. It was meant to illustrate how not getting something that wasn't promised to you is not being cheated.

I was not aware that OM did not offer firmware upgrades. If I
would have known that, I would gotten a G3 or waited on the G5...of
which the G3 is same price if not less than the C5050, and G5 is
even less at some places.

Ok, so you didn't do your homework on this issue and now somehow that's Olympus' fault?

I have ALL basis for this position (as do 99% of all the other 5050
owners according to all polls) when (ok, not all, but) ALL BUT ONE
digicam maker has the firmware updates available to all from their
website.

Interesting point. Please post the URL on Sony's web site where their customers can download firmware updates for their cameras.
While you're at it, show me the link for the Canon 10D updates.
I'm waiting.

Since I mentioned Sony.... I'm pretty sure that Sony only offers a 90 day warranty on their digicams vs a full year from Olympus and most other manufacturers. Are they cheating their customers out of 9 months of warranty coverage?

 

[Jola]

You must work for Olympus. No, that's just your opinion that it's
"utter nonsense". And, you're comparing apples to oranges......or
possibly not even fruit. Digicam's are not automobiles. You
statement would be analogous to getting a free camera loaner when
OM is upgrading your camera which is not the point here.

Inigo's example is a bit roundabout. He is just trying to say that if you want full support you have to pay more. For example, Nikon and Canon P&S cameras like the G5 and 5700 cost more than the 5050.

I was not aware that OM did not offer firmware upgrades. If I
would have known that, I would gotten a G3 or waited on the G5...of
which the G3 is same price if not less than the C5050, and G5 is
even less at some places.

That is what Inigo is saying - you should have checked this out first. The other side to this argument is that you then expect perfect firmware first time out, not beta stuff like the v77. Olympus themselves have stated that the camera control portions of v77 is beta.

I have ALL basis for this position (as do 99% of all the other 5050
owners according to all polls) when (ok, not all, but) ALL BUT ONE
digicam maker has the firmware updates available to all from their
website.

Sony also don't provide firmware, but Nikon, Canon, Minolta,Pentax, Fuji, Sigma, Kodak, Ricoh, etc, etc, do.

I would have though it logical to expect firmware support, just about all makers of electronic devices do (except trivial stuff like your microwave - the I/O for a USD50 microwave just costs too much!).

 

[Agustin Martinez]

What is the firmware? what do you mean to send the camera for a firmware upgrade?

Thanks,

Agustin

This is what Olympus emailed me back in regards to a few questions
I had.

"When using a digital camera to photograph subjects that are very
strongly back lit, a purple or white halo effect may be present in
high contrast areas of the image. For example, this could occur
when photographing beams of light coming through leaves of a tree.
This phenomenon is normal and is not a malfunction of the digital
camera. It appears when different wavelengths of light are not
focused onto the same focal point when going through the camera
lens. An UV filter can be used to minimize the effect.

Olympus does not offer firmware upgrades that can be loaded by the
customer. In the rare event that a firmware update is released,
the camera must be sent in to the service center to have the
firmware updated. Olympus rarely produces a fimware update. Most
updates do not enhance or add features to the camera. The cost of
the update will depend on each situation and the reason the update
was released".

--
eL

 

[Inigo Montoya]

LOL Steve. Excellent point, but it needs further correction/update:

"If you exclude Sony and Fuji, Nikon DSLRs..."

But hey, who needs facts when they get in the way of your argument? ;-)

If you have to make exclusions for the statement to be true, then
the statement is false. If you change the statement to "Every
digital camera made by evey other maker", it becomes even falser
(is that a real word, "falser"?).

Steve Price

Every other digicam maker? I must have missed something.

If you exclude Sony then that statement is true.

 

[Jola]

Somy, what you say makes a lot of sense.

I think that what got some of us het up is simply Olympus' attitude about the issue, and also the fact that THEY (not us) are making quite a big deal out of something that is actually quite simple.

Some users did get needlessly hyped up by this, but I still think that they learnt a lot, and some others did (do) actually have problems with the firmware. Sometimes you can work around these, for example by sending perfectly good CF cards to the other side of the world, and then get them replaced by others that may or may not work - this hassle and cost instead of a 60 sec firmware download !!! By shifting your support costs / hassles off onto other people (eg users / peripheral manufacturers)!.

You could argue that Olympus is behaving unethically with this approach. But I'm not really saying that, all I'm saying is that's its just amazing that a company with significant technical skills, and that are quite good with marketing in some respects, can also be so very bad with their PR effort in other respects. And just because some individual or small group in the organisation have taken a view about that. I'll put a bottle of Bell's on it that the technical support staff don't agree with the organisations approach. One of the e-mails from Olympus Technical Support seemed to imply that.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm saying that if you have a problem such as compatibility with a particular CF card, or some other malfunction , then return it to Olympus for service under warranty. They have a responsibility to make it right for you under the terms of that warranty.

They have no responsibility to make firmware updates user-installable and/or freely downloadable.

Please don't confuse these two loosely related but distinct issues.

I fully agree that for some minor problems that firmware alone could correct, it would be nice and I'd prefer they provided downloadable updates. But no one is being cheated by having to send the camera in for repair.

Now, if you or anyone else is saying that Olympus is refusing to acknowledge that there's a problem, or refusing to honor the terms of their warranty, that's a completely different point, and one I would not disagree with.

The camera should perform to spec, and Olympus' warranty obligates them to correct any unit that does not within the year term.

Also, I don't believe that "shutter lag" is a stated spec on the 5050, or most digicams. It's measured by reviewers such as Phil, but I don't think there are any published times Olympus guarantees to meet. As such, if they do happen to find a way to improve the lag, they are not obligated to make this improvement available for free to previous customers. It would be nice , and a good public relations move, but since it's not a defect it's not something anyone is "entitled" to, and hence you or anyone else is not being cheated out of anything.

In contrast, they advertise and claim compatibility with CF media. They are obligated to make good on that claim. This particular issue with one or two particular brands/models of CF may get a little sticky as it's not immediately clear whether it's the camera or the CF card that is the source of the problem.

Do you see the difference now?

... of their customers who didn't do their homework before making their
purchase decision.

This homework presumably being not making sure that the camera
performs to specifications before buying ...

Like many CF cards don't work, camera control doesn't work before
v78, default settings create excessive noise, "Card Door Open"
errors on v77, excessive shutter lag on v76 and v77, camera lock on
multi area focus, etc.

Just what are you trying to say, Inigo?

 

[Jola]

Steve,

It's not a real word.

BTW, I have always qualified my statements, and have never said everyone else. I usually just list the eight or so major manufacturers by name. Go and check.

You are the one who makes sweeping statements, amongst others by continually implicitly stating that the Olympus technical guys are incompetent.

So go and critizise whoever deserves it - but I'm still not buying your argument WRT the Nikon dSLR - that's just bring BS into the discussion.

 

[Jola]

See above, already answered.

 

[Jola]

BMW also insist that I bring my car in when they do firmware upgrades.

Are you going quote that as another example of what good guys Olympus are with this stupid policy of theirs?

I'm sure that I can think of more irrelevant examples that will be interesting for you.

 

[Clint D]

That reply for was for Inigo's post which was right after mine, right above this one. (have to delete from below now due to limits).

Perhaps Fuji and Nikon cam's don't have the problems the C5050 does. Think about that. You go to any C5050 forum though, and it's FULL of firmware messages such as this thread. This should tell you something.

If you have no complaints as you admitted, then you cannot see this issue objectively the way users that ARE having some issues can. If your v77 is perfect, that's GREAT. But how are you going to feel when a new firmware upgrade gives you something like more useful & better features, support for new CF media, etc., and you're going to have be without your camera for weeks, and even PAY to ship it, and pay for the dam' firmware? THIS is the point we are trying to make. Then, you're going to be the same boat us others are thinking it's a rip to not be able to get the firmware from the OM website.

v83 of firmware is now out according to some other forums. This makes 77, 78, 79...(and I guess 80, 81 & 82?) in addition to v83 just out, all in a matter of months. An analogy somewhat to Windows XP; and MS releasing it WAAAAAAAAAAY to early requiring it to hold the 'current record' for the most updates and patches needed for any OS 'out the box'. They, and OM, should not be releasing things that are not FULLY READY for release.
-Clint

woah now. calm down there clint =)

it's okay. take deep breaths. in.... out.... in.... out....

in... out... ok. now.

first. that wasn't too bad a comparison, and it was, of course,
also done half in jest. i'm sure you caught that too.

second. as a v77 user with pretty much no problems so far (knock on
wood), i just really haven't seen the need to get involved in some
of these discussions so far. people who do have legitimate problems
with their camera (and in this limited respect i can only fully
sympathize with jola so far, who has real problems not only with
oly's support system, but actually with his camera) certainly have
their right to voice out their displeasure.

i dont' want to get into some other issues which have their own
things behind them (certainly ben hermann's runaround by oly's
support was no good either)... BUT, some have really taken this a
bit overboard, to the point that it's more a quest to have the
"latest firmware" (somewhat akin to the biggest this, longest that,
etc syndrome) than anything else. sure it's sorta gift-wrapped in
some issue or another but just my gut feeling points me to another
decision.

many have taken the time also to learn and to tweak. not everyone
post processes, so i bet that oly probably set the initial
sharpening defaults at a higher level thinking of that crowd. i
suspect they found out that some users do not, and thus may have
adjusted it and perhaps... even marked one firmware version as a
"reduced sharpening version" .. hey it could happen.

but back to the point. as a v77 user that has not faced any
problems, and have taken the time to tweak and adjust settings to
get what I feel is the best out of the camera, i have no
complaints. and see no reason to come here and proclaim loudly to
every one who may or may not have a problem, that i'm so very happy
with my camera and i need to gush it out to all of you and yadda
yadda yadda.

but at the same time, no oly is not the only one. just read around.
Nikon dslr, and Fuji both do not. in fact, fuji's even worse in
that, to my knowledge, they don't even acknowledge any of this
firmware stuff, and just say what you have is what you get, end of
story. i don't see anyone even in the fuji forum making that big a
deal out of it. if oly took the same attitude and did not perhaps
address soem problems and just took the fuji line would this all
die down? would we all be happier? unfortunately i seem to think
that we would be...

and as for the many firmware, i highly doubt that in the very few
months, oly would be as careless to have had so very many firmware
"upgrades" to what is essentially a closed system. has this been
the norm or experienced with any other of their other models? not
to my knowledge. sure it can happen with the 5050 but i doubt it.
to me the different parts correlating with different firmware
versions really do seem more and more plausible, as you may be
aware that much of your camera will be made in china, and SARS has
really hit the whole of east asia, and particularly china hard.
this would've affected suppliers and the supply of parts, and
probably led to the delay in the 750, and also seems to be a
possible reason for the firmware upgrade.

anyway sorry for a long winded post, but just because the firmware
is now v83 or whatever, i sure am not gonna get caught up in the
upgrade frenzy and demonize olympus, or clamor for the "latest
version" when what i have is working perfectly fine as is.

best regards,
somy

 

[Jola]

That reply for was for Inigo's post which was right after mine,
right above this one. (have to delete from below now due to
limits).

Perhaps Fuji and Nikon cam's don't have the problems the C5050
does. Think about that. You go to any C5050 forum though, and
it's FULL of firmware messages such as this thread. This should
tell you something.

If you have no complaints as you admitted, then you cannot see this
issue objectively the way users that ARE having some issues can.
If your v77 is perfect, that's GREAT. But how are you going to
feel when a new firmware upgrade gives you something like more
useful & better features, support for new CF media, etc., and
you're going to have be without your camera for weeks, and even PAY
to ship it, and pay for the dam' firmware? THIS is the point we
are trying to make. Then, you're going to be the same boat us
others are thinking it's a rip to not be able to get the firmware
from the OM website.

v83 of firmware is now out according to some other forums. This
makes 77, 78, 79...(and I guess 80, 81 & 82?) in addition to v83
just out, all in a matter of months. An analogy somewhat to
Windows XP; and MS releasing it WAAAAAAAAAAY to early requiring it
to hold the 'current record' for the most updates and patches
needed for any OS 'out the box'. They, and OM, should not be
releasing things that are not FULLY READY for release.
-Clint

 

[Clint D]

Yes, I (and Sony users I'm sure) think they ARE getting cheated out of 9 months more warranty.

I don't make it a point to search the archives for your posts, nor anyone elses, I'm much too busy for that.....and this thread for that matter.

Yes, I understand that about what you're saying. No one IS saying firmware WAS presented as being available to consumers. That is NOT our point. The point is: with a cam like the 5050 with so many problems, OM IS doing a DISSERVICE to their customers by NOT providing downloadable FW updates.

Why should I search for FW updates for you or anyone else???? If you would have read correctly, you'll see no mention anywhere of Sony having d'loadable FW updates.

You must work for Olympus. No, that's just your opinion that it's
"utter nonsense". And, you're comparing apples to oranges......or
possibly not even fruit. Digicam's are not automobiles. You
statement would be analogous to getting a free camera loaner when
OM is upgrading your camera which is not the point here.

Clint, thank you for proving my point, and no, I don't work for
Olympus, and if you've followed some of my older posts you'd know
that I personally would PREFER that Olympus offered free,
user-installable firmware updates. My point here which you and
others can't seem to understand is that while it's something I'd
like to have, it was never presented/promised/advertised as
something I was entitled to with my purchase. As such, it is
utter nonsense to claim to have been cheated.

The "free loaner" comparison was not meant to compare to firmware,
it was a service that one dealer advertised and offered that
another didn't. It was meant to illustrate how not getting
something that wasn't promised to you is not being cheated.

I was not aware that OM did not offer firmware upgrades. If I
would have known that, I would gotten a G3 or waited on the G5...of
which the G3 is same price if not less than the C5050, and G5 is
even less at some places.

Ok, so you didn't do your homework on this issue and now somehow
that's Olympus' fault?

I have ALL basis for this position (as do 99% of all the other 5050
owners according to all polls) when (ok, not all, but) ALL BUT ONE
digicam maker has the firmware updates available to all from their
website.

Interesting point. Please post the URL on Sony's web site where
their customers can download firmware updates for their cameras.
While you're at it, show me the link for the Canon 10D updates.
I'm waiting.

Since I mentioned Sony.... I'm pretty sure that Sony only offers a
90 day warranty on their digicams vs a full year from Olympus and
most other manufacturers. Are they cheating their customers out of
9 months of warranty coverage?

 

[Clint D]

Getting a FW update is not "Full support" that one should have to pay more for! That is what we are saying. You mention yourself at the bottom of your post all the other digicam makers that do offer it, so why not OM??? Especially with a 'cam like the 5050. The G5 and 5700 is less than the 5050 in some places. Then you have all the ~$300 and less digicams that DO have the d'loadable FW updates.

No one is denying I, or millions of others should have "checked this out first", that is not what this thread was about, nor what any of the other 5050 FW posts are about. They are about......well, I'm tired of repeating myself. I have work to do.
-Clint

You must work for Olympus. No, that's just your opinion that it's
"utter nonsense". And, you're comparing apples to oranges......or
possibly not even fruit. Digicam's are not automobiles. You
statement would be analogous to getting a free camera loaner when
OM is upgrading your camera which is not the point here.

Inigo's example is a bit roundabout. He is just trying to say that
if you want full support you have to pay more. For example, Nikon
and Canon P&S cameras like the G5 and 5700 cost more than the 5050.

I was not aware that OM did not offer firmware upgrades. If I
would have known that, I would gotten a G3 or waited on the G5...of
which the G3 is same price if not less than the C5050, and G5 is
even less at some places.

That is what Inigo is saying - you should have checked this out
first. The other side to this argument is that you then expect
perfect firmware first time out, not beta stuff like the v77.
Olympus themselves have stated that the camera control portions of
v77 is beta.

I have ALL basis for this position (as do 99% of all the other 5050
owners according to all polls) when (ok, not all, but) ALL BUT ONE
digicam maker has the firmware updates available to all from their
website.

Sony also don't provide firmware, but Nikon, Canon, Minolta,Pentax,
Fuji, Sigma, Kodak, Ricoh, etc, etc, do.

I would have though it logical to expect firmware support, just
about all makers of electronic devices do (except trivial stuff
like your microwave - the I/O for a USD50 microwave just costs too
much!).

 

[Steve Price]

Hi Jola

You wrote,

BTW, I have always qualified my statements, and have never said
everyone else. I usually just list the eight or so major
manufacturers by name. Go and check.

How about this one, a few message up in this thread, that you posted yesterday?
"The Antagonist wrote:

Every other digicam maker? I must have missed something. If you exclude Sony then that statement is true."

That seems clear enough to me. Every other digicam maker (not just the major 8). You say there's one exception - Sony. I've seen posts within the past 24 hours saying that Fuji doesn't do it either. That makes three of the major 8 (including Olympus, of course). Nikon doesn't do it for their dSLR (which, whether you like it or not, is a digital camera), and someone recently posted that Canon doesn't do it for some of their cameras. Assuming that all of this is correct (and I haven't checked the Fuji or Canon sites), it is completely acccurate to say that only 3 of the major 8 manufacturers of digital cameras offer user-installable firmware changes for all of their digital cameras. Kind of sounds different when you say it that way, don't you think?

You are the one who makes sweeping statements, amongst others by
continually implicitly stating that the Olympus technical guys are
incompetent.

I'm actually getting tired of correcting your claim that I call the Olympus technical guys incompetent. I know, I know, that's what you imply from my listing that as a conceivable explanation for their behavior with regard to the firmware issue. But your implication is incorrect, and I've pointed this out to you repeatedly. Please don't put words into my mouth.

Regards,

Steve Price

 

[Jola]

Don't worry Clint, I'm on your side, I was just trying to explain their arguments. Those guys are incorrigible, but they don't really matter.

The polls on the other forums where 98% of voters are asking for firmware updates is what matters. If you only represent 2% of the voters then clearly your views have no credibilty.

Maybe one should just leave it there ...

Getting a FW update is not "Full support" that one should have to
pay more for! That is what we are saying. You mention yourself at
the bottom of your post all the other digicam makers that do offer
it, so why not OM??? Especially with a 'cam like the 5050. The G5
and 5700 is less than the 5050 in some places. Then you have all
the ~$300 and less digicams that DO have the d'loadable FW updates.

No one is denying I, or millions of others should have "checked
this out first", that is not what this thread was about, nor what
any of the other 5050 FW posts are about. They are
about......well, I'm tired of repeating myself. I have work to do.

-Clint

 

[somynex]

That reply for was for Inigo's post which was right after mine,
right above this one.

i surmised as much =) i guess i just thought that it really was more an example in jest that had some similarities to lighten up the situation yet make a point, rather than trying to actually compare "apples to apples."

Perhaps Fuji and Nikon cam's don't have the problems the C5050
does. Think about that. You go to any C5050 forum though, and
it's FULL of firmware messages such as this thread. This should
tell you something.

not at all. there have been numerous complaints in fuji, but they have more or less given up, and have now directed their attentions to working around these limitations. that was what i was getting at, in two senses.

first, if olympus took that rather "hard" line, i bet that all of this would die down, as there wouldn't be a hope in hell of getting anything out of olympus, and i bet we'd all be as deleriously happy with our 5050s as fujiers are of their 602s (i am one of them as well, by the way.. hell i'm deliriously happy with both my 5050 and 602).

second, i view the strength of these forums as places where we can discuss the limitations (yes i see them as limitations not problems.. i know i'm strange) of our various cameras, share experience and work around these limitations. certainly problems and gripes have their place, but i feel as if a very vocal few are starting to override the forum as a whole, and to make things worse, there are some others who are now jumping on the bandwagon, and really putting some very unfair criticism to what is really a very nice camera. if it works, why should i slate olympus for not offering "upgrades" to phantom problems that i have not experienced?

this is even more so poignant when olympus has already stated that their firmware upgrades (actually they should more correctly be termed changes or different version instead of upgrades), unlike others, does not offer any added use or benefits. unlike other manufacturers. in this sense, oly is less of a beta issuer than those who do offer these "upgrades"

If you have no complaints as you admitted, then you cannot see this
issue objectively the way users that ARE having some issues can.
If your v77 is perfect, that's GREAT.

perhaps. but i also see others who also have no problems who are acting like they've been mortally wounded or insulted or cheated or whatever. i have only chosen to enter this because of that, because that's just not fair at all to the 5050, which, again, is a great camera. i'm not concerned about "upgrades" or being "left out" as oly has already stated its official policy. there will be no added functionality or other such "features" added on. unlike some other manufacturers, where i can see this being a concern with them. in the "rare event that" such a firmware upgrade happen, oly has also already stated their policy there. end of story really.

v83 of firmware is now out according to some other forums. This

makes ... in addition to v83 all in a matter of months. An analogy somewhat to Windows XP; and MS releasing it WAAAAAAAAAAY to early requiring it
to hold the 'current record' for the most updates and patches
needed for any OS 'out the box'. They, and OM, should not be
releasing things that are not FULLY READY for release.

this i dont' agree to, and can not really be verified 100% either way. i'm living proof that all of the arguments of the "beta theory" are not true. but then those who have problems are also living proof that perhaps not everything is right. but whether this is due to firmware or to other factors, we do not and can not be 100% certain either way with the information we have.

my point was that it is highly unliekly that olympus would be so careless as to have to "upgrade" their firmware so many times in a matter of months, or even to make it public. all this just leads me to believe that these firmware changes are just that. changes and not upgrades as some have seemed to have duped themselves into believing. they may indeed fix problems that have been experienced by some (yet not others with the same), but they alone don't seem to offer any added functionality yadda yadda.

i point to sars. as a company, delays look bad. SARS has severely disrupted a lot of things, especially in china, singapore (among others). both major hubs for manufacturing and mangement in east asia. how to solve this? place a short notice order with another manufacturer. can they meet the exact same specifications? maybe maybe not. if not, different firmware version. it's really quite a plausible and simple explanation, and certainly one that doesn't require me to think up all sorts of conspiracy theories of olympus' marketing division or whatever trying to put me off buying any more of their products... i know. my mind works in strange and mysterious ways to not think that. go figure.

ah well. anyway another long winded post.

basically i'm just getting tired of some things taking perhaps more prominence than they should be. i was having some regret at getting so drawn into these posts and seeing so few of the posts i'd like to see, and now it seems i'm also embroiled in it. strange how my mind works... =)

anyway,

best regards =)
Somy

 

[Steve Price]

You go to any C5050 forum though, and
it's FULL of firmware messages such as this thread. This should
tell you something.

Hi Clint

The number of firmware-related posts about the C-5050 certainly large. Should it tell us something? If so, what?

The history is that Jola bought a C-5050. She lives in South Africa, where warranty support for Olympus is essentially nonexistent, so she had nothing to lose by using a North American vendor, and saved some dough by doing that. Life was sweet with her camera for awhile, but a 512 MB Transcend 30x card didn't work in it. She posted saying that the C-5050 doesn't work with cards over 256 MB. Some folks, including me, reported using 512 MB cards with no problems, so she decided that it must be high capacity, high speed cards that don't work. Someone posted that a high capacity, high speed card worked OK, and at this point (if my memory is correct) the firmware issue raised its ugly head. Jola announced that v 77 doesn't work with such cards, v 78 does, and that Olympus is a bunch of baddies because they don't allow user-changeable firmware.

It really took off from there. In fact, there are very few problems that seem demonstrated to be firmware related. Jola's is probably a CF card problem, not a camera problem - we ought to know with more certainty when Transcend sends her back a card with (are you ready for this?) upgraded firmware!

I think if there is a message in the number of posts about c-5050 firmware, that message is that it really is easy to get a lot of people agitated by hitting them with unsupported claims, especially if the Bad Guys are some corporation. We all know how evil THEY are.

Regards,

Steve Price