An excellent camera

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great camera to learn more about photography.

Cons: My #1 con is the viewfinder parallax when zooming.

The Bottom Line: 
Buy this camera. Excellent photos. Excellent camera.

Author's Review
I purchased a Canon s50 5 megapixel camera and was not pleased with it. I took it back the next day and proceeded to do more research and make another decision.

I purchased this Olympus camera because 1) it received a PCworld 2003 world class camera recognition, 2) it was one of 4 cameras that Photography magazine featured as great buys in its class, 3) because I wanted a camera that I could grow into and learn more about amateur photography. On #3, the Canon s50 fell short as you can't add additional lens to it. And finally 4) people that I talked to that knew about cameras and digital cameras kept bringing up the name "Olympus."

The specifications of this camera are available here at epinions details and at Olympus.com, so my review will assume you can research that on your own. I purchased this camera on July 17th and have made notes of what I like and don't like about the camera.

Well, there is a LOT that I like about this camera. The use of AA niMh batteries (nonpropriety - if your at DisneyWorld and don't have charged battery, you can just buy some alkaline double A's to get you through!). The cameras compatibility with multiple memory cards is a big plus. The weight and feel of the camera in your hand makes you think you're not playing with a toy camera - it feels good and is well balanced (nice grip too). The magnesium metal of this camera is durable as compared to the high impact plastics of other cameras in its class. There are so many features I like about this camera that I should jump straight to the cons of the camera so you'll know it isn't absolutely perfect.

The cons.

The viewfinder parallax can be a problem if you want to rely on the viewfinder for zoom photography. This is a well documented quirk with this camera on message boards and even the Olympus manual explains the viewfinder parallax offset of this camera and explains how you should compensate if you are only going to rely on the viewfinder. But with further research, I've learned that most cameras in this price range have a parallax problem. To avoid this problem you'd probably have to buy an expensive SLR camera. If you rely on the viewfinder and zoom in on someone's face with the 5050, you'll most likely cut off some % of the top of their head. Solution? Use the LCD screen for perfect pics. And the LCD screen is very good in daylight situations and quite accurate.

Next con. Some modes on this camera will reset back to factory default when turned on and off. This is routine for cameras, but I found it quite annoying that I couldn't set my movie mode to a lower resolution and then revert back to that lower resolution the next time I used it. Keep in mind though, MANY modes of this camera are programmable and you can even set up to 8 "mymodes" where you're settings are always saved.

Next con. The lens cap dangles and baounces against my viewfinder from time to time when I used the string. This could scratch your LCD. The only way to solve this problem is not to use the string to attach the lens cap to the camera.

Next con. Well, I'm kinda neutral on this one, but the "real" manual for this camera comes on the cd in the form of a pdf file. So, I "out housed" this. In other words, my friend had it printed at her work and even put it in a big black binder for me. In the end, I think it's actually better to have the manual in a big binder where I can see the words and illustrations better. It is an excellent manual, well thought out and easy to follow. The camera does come with a smaller manual in the box, which is great for the basic user. But if you want to dealve into amateur photography, then print out the manual and put it in a binder - you won't regret it.

Next con. I question the sturdiness/durability of the battery door on the camera. The test of time will decide if its durable, but I find that I have to force the battery door closed with what feels like to me to be an excessive amount of force. I've complained about this in Olympus forums and others experience the same resistance. I feel like the battery door hinges will just snap off one day because of the pressure that I have to place on it when closing it. But while other users in Olympus forums agree with me, none have yet to report that their battery doors hinges have broken.

Next con. When I first started using this camera I thought the focussing mechanisms in the camera sounded like things were breaking inside. But as time went by, I became very use to the sounds of the camera and as I write this I can honestly say that I've completely forgotten about the sounds it makes since I wrote it down as a (-) so many weeks ago.

Next con. The filename had to be set to "auto" so it wouldn't keep naming photos the same name on various cards. This should have been a factory default. I simply don't like the camera reverting back to using the same file names, because when I transer the files to my computer I don't want files overwriting files.

Last con. I think, in movie mode, the Quicktime movies are grainy, have some seldom blips in them, and the sound delay is very noticeable. But this camera really isn't meant to be a movie camera. Even with these movie mode faults, my wife hasn't complained about the quicktime movies I take of our infant daughter and email to her work. The movie mode is good for taking short movies like this and emailing them. But don't buy this camera for its Quicktime movie feature - it's not meant to be anything but a great still pic camera.


Like I said, this is a great camera. I still give it 5 stars with all the cons I've mentioned. I could write a book on all the features of this camera I love.