Olympus C50 digital camera

[Toaster]

So my son has been wanting a new digital camera.... We went out on the look for a 2.0 megapixel camera for around $100. After several stops, the pick in that price range seemed to be the Fuji A205. Its a nice looking 2.0mpixel camera? Most places were sold out of it, since it goes for around $99 - $115 locally.


We walked in to a shop, and the guy was out of it, and he proceeded to show me a display unit Olympus C50 5.0 megapixel digital camera. Was $449 (locally remember), and he said he could sell me one for $199.00 and was a way better camera than the Fuji?

Not knowing much about Digital camera's myself- We began to bargain, and finally agreed on the price of $149+ tax for the display unit, 32mb xD card, with all the original box, packaging, etc... Was that a good price? Seemed to be, from Pricewatch and Ebay.

Next question, xD cards... They are generic right? Any xD card should work in any digital camera? Because on Ebay I keep seeing "FUJI FILM" and "SANDISK" or "OLYMPUS"... And some will say "OLYMPUS- WORKS IN FUJI" etc... So when I buy the bigger xD card, do I need to get an OLYMPUS "tagged" one? or does it matter?


Last, any opinions on this camera?


Thanks
Toaster

 

[dixieland_conjunction]

I have an Olympus 3040 and am planning on getting a 5060 or 8080 sometime this year (probably an Xmas gift to myself). I love mine :thumbs: I'm thinking of converting it to an infrared-only camera once I get a new one (take out the hot filter). I shoot primarily IR anyway.

Anyway, the only reason I know of (based on my research from buying my camera 3 years ago) to buy matching storage media and cameras is the Olympus SmartMedia cards that have panoramic feature enabled. I've never used it. I've been out of the market too long...I'm not at all familiar with xD cards.


How that was even slightly helpful.

PS, You should always buy Lexar media becasue I own a bunch of their stock @ $2.54 :sign:

 

[gkpk]

I've got a c5050z.
I love this camera, takes awesome pictures.
It has alot of different little toys i have to get used to but so far i'm really happy with it.
You could get either xd card, Fuji or Olympus both work fine, mine has three different slots, one for xd cards one for smartmedia cards and one for compact flash and microdrive cards.
Olympus makes great cameras just depends on how much you want to do with it.

 

[gregor22]

Good camera. xD cards are interchangeable. About the Lexar cards, I bought one for my Sony and it didn't work. 2 mega pizel is good for 4"x6" max, the 5 megapixel is good for up to 10"x13" or larger. Gregor

 

[clown]

That sounds like a great deal, does he have another display model he wants to sell? I've been thinking about the A205, $80 at a local shop here. But I wanted at least 3 megapixel.

 

[Toaster]

$80 for the A205 has got to be a good price... Cheaper than I've seen anywhere.

as for the C50, I got the last camera from that location (PM SENT- BTW), but I saw TONS of these on Ebay FROM OLYMPUS. They are Refurbs for around $200, and some even come in kits with a 256mb xD card... That's the next purchase- a bigger card.

GOOD LUCK.

 

[clown]

Looks like they're getting around $225 for these, so it looks like you got a great deal.

 

[Toaster]

This deal may have just gotten better for me!

Today I get in the mail, several coupons... $10 off any purchase of $40 or more, and one for $25 off any purchase of $150 or more... so I called them today and asked if I could use these on my purchase from a few days ago... the girl on the phone got the manager for me, and he said to bring in the camera and receipt, and I'd have to return it, and re-buy it on the spot but he would let me use the coupon!!!!!!!!!! :thumbs:

Not sure which one, since technically I paid $149.99 for the camera... but we'll wait and see! I'm hoping for the $25 off!

WISH ME LUCK!

 

[moki]

Tell me what kinds of things you'll be using your camera for, and I can tell you which one to get.

Currently, my all time favorite for your average person who just wants to do reasonable snapshots now and again is the Sony DSC T1:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/t1.html

Why? Because first and foremost, it is a small camera. You will take it with you more often because it is not cumbersome to carry (it weighs only 6.3oz and is 0.8" thick). Unlike most other cameras its size, it has a zoom lens, and one that is built into the internals of the camera, so you don't have a large protruding lens when you zoom.

It's also a 5 megapixel camera, which essentially just means that the images you take with it have more samples, and thus look better than lower megapixel cameras. Its large viewfinder is awesome as well.

Zeiss is also very famous for making some of the best lenses in the business. All in all, an excellent package.

If you have more specific needs, let me know, and I'll see if I can find something for you -- but as a general purpose point and shoot, I'd go for the Sony DSC T1.

(believe it or not, these pictures are actual size)

 

[moki]

We walked in to a shop, and the guy was out of it, and he proceeded to show me a display unit Olympus C50 5.0 megapixel digital camera. Was $449 (locally remember), and he said he could sell me one for $199.00 and was a way better camera than the Fuji?

Yes, you got a good deal on that camera. He likely sold it so cheap because it's an older model, and once newer models come out, camera shops are stuck with older camera like lodestones. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the camera, it's just an older, more bulky model.

You did exactly the smart thing: you picked up last year's model -- and a GOOD last year's model -- and got a very nice package for a good deal. It's like buying a 2002 car when the dealer has 2003 cars on the lot.... smart.

That camera originally sold for $500+ in 2002.

 

[clown]

moki, I like the look on the Sony, think I can get it for $150 like toaster got his oly? Steve's didicam says they are listing for around $500.

I've been using an Argus 1.3 and it is time to upgrade, I'm thinking of going to 3.2 I usually do blow up pics very large but I do crop them pretty severely sometimes.

 

[moki]

moki, I like the look on the Sony, think I can get it for $150 like toaster got his oly? Steve's didicam says they are listing for around $500.

In 2-3 years, yes, you'll be able to get that Sony for $150 or so.

 

[clown]

I'm willing to wait ,... but maybe not that long.

I've been rading reviews on Canon, some think they are better than Sony, any thoughts.

 

[moki]

I'm willing to wait ,... but maybe not that long.

I've been rading reviews on Canon, some think they are better than Sony, any thoughts.

I personally own one of the little Cannon PowerShot SD10 Digital Elphs. It's a great little camera... tiny, good battery life, and the 4 megapixel resolution is fine for what I do with it.

Downsides are no zoom, the LCD isn't that large... but that's about it.

 

[Toaster]

Honestly- I'm not too into Digital photography ???

My 11 year old son wanted the camera... We bought him a $29 VGA (640x480) digital camera about a year ago or so, so he could play with it, and he loved it. Took pictures all the time, but obviously he couldn't print them. When my wife takes pictures (which she's the one who usually does) she uses our Canon Elph Avantix 35mm film camera, which we bought one year just before a trip to Vegas (a few years ago).

SO- When my 11 year old wanted a better digital camera, we basically allowed him $100 to spend, and wanted to get the best one we could for that amount- But when the guy offered me a 2.0 megapixel Fuji for $116 or the Olympus C50 Zoom for $149, well the choice was obvious to me.

Now, the color printers in the house are a HP DeskJet 832C, which my 16 year old has, and is a pretty decent printer for the light stuff we do... And I bought a Canon S200 for $20 from Fry's about 6 months ago, that has been sitting in the box in the office gathering dust.... Fry's Electronics runs these weekend specials pretty regularly, and one of the specials is 20 sheets of 8.5x11 glossy photo paper for $0.99 a pack, but we never had a decent digital camera to print images from (see where I'm going with this?)... NOW: So after buying a couple packs of the glossy photo paper, I took a a few sample pics with the Olympus, and printed it out on the HP 832C in High quality mode, with Glossy photo paper selected, and the result was pretty impressive. You can still see some "pixels" (ink dots I guess is more accurate) on the printed photo, but still not bad. I tried the Canon S200 the other day, and its a slow ass piece of crap. The HP is a MUCH better printer.... When I bought the camera, it came with a $50 rebate offer if I buy any qualifying photo HP printer, and Office Max has a HP 7660 for $149 - $50 rebate, then minus my $50 digicam rebate so nets the printer for $49. I'm thinking of buying that to go along with the new DigiCam. (I think my digicam $50 rebate is good until Sept 04)

And I guess to answer the originally asked question from Moki, we take pictures of each other... I have 3 kids (16, 11 and 9) and my brother has 3 kids (6, 3 and 1) so we take alot of birthday pics, general kid pics... etc.... Its pretty awesome to take a picture and print out a 8x10 five minutes later. My mother loves that! You know how Grandma's are.

None of us are "photographers", we just want the memories- ya know?

That sony camera looks sweet, but way out of my price range.... We're pretty satisfied with this camera so far, the next purchase needs to be a new xD card, since this one only came with a 32mb card... I've been looking on Ebay, and found some 128mb cards for around $25-30 and 256mb cards for $60-$80 ...

 

[moki]

That sony camera looks sweet, but way out of my price range.... We're pretty satisfied with this camera so far, the next purchase needs to be a new xD card, since this one only came with a 32mb card... I've been looking on Ebay, and found some 128mb cards for around $25-30 and 256mb cards for $60-$80 ...

Yep, you got a great camera, and an amazing deal on it -- it sounds like it is absolutely perfect for what you want to do.

Now you can take all the pictures of you in dresses you want. Just please... no "before" and "after" surgery pictures...

 

[Toaster]

I swear, I'm gonna make your dress picture my signature tag picture!

Everyone hear that!? Moki is MY BITCH!!!!

 

[moki]

I swear, I'm gonna make your dress picture my signature tag picture!

Everyone hear that!? Moki is MY BITCH!!!!

Whatever turns you on, big guy

 

[Toaster]

Well, just because I think a couple of people actually read this, I'll finish it.

I went back to office depot where I bought the camera... They sent me a $15 off any purchase of $75 or more coupon... They returned the camera and re-sold it to me for the new discounted price ($135). And told me they honor competitor coupons too... Well, I happen to have a Office Max $10 off any $40+ purchase... and Office Depot was selling a HP PhotoSmart 7660 printer for $148, with $50 rebate, plus the $50 rebate for buying the camera, plus a $20 gift card they let me use on the purchase of the printer, plus my $10 off from Office Max.

What does all that boil down to?

Olympus C50 Zoom $135 + Tax ($144 approx)
HP Photosmart 7660 $27 ($148 - $20 - $10 - $50 - $50 + tax = $27 approx)

I've printed a few borderless 8.5 x 11's, taken in full SHQ 5.0 megapixel mode, and the result is pretty darn impressive.... I would have thought they came from a photo lab


The rebate and $20 gift card on the printer ends on the 30'th (sorry), but you might be able to hurry and make it.

:thumbs: Toaster