Opinions on long term C-5050 or similar?

<p>I still pull out my 5050 from time to time. No problems whatever, except it does use a fair amount of battery power. The macro capability is real, and the f1.8 lens is very useful. I actually made a not-too-terrible 20x30 from a 5050 file for a store promo. Pretty amazing, really.</p>

<p>Yup, the macro capability is really good. I often prefer it over my Nikon and Micro-Nikkors for some stuff such as detailed closeups for demonstrations. Even at f/8-f/10 the diffraction isn't too bad, and it's easier to get more in sharp focus with the tiny sensor.</p>

<p>No battery problems with the C-3040Z, mostly using NiMH AA's. I'm going on four months with the current set of NiMH AA's, which haven't been recharged since March or April this year. I usually leave the camera turned out when I'm out with it, but the power-down mode seems to conserve batteries pretty effectively. From reading the C-5050 specs online it looks like Olympus redesigned the innards, used a different sensor, so it might be more power hungry. As long as the batteries will last the day when out shooting that's good enough for my purposes.</p>

<p>I got my C-5050 several years ago, and I still love it. It's macro capability, combined with the fast lens, make it one of my favorite cameras to carry around. Mine did experience the CCD problem, but one call to Olympous and 1 1/2 weeks later, it was fixed, good as new. </p>

<p>While Olympus has fixed the CCD problem in the past, I believe the C-5050Z is now old enough that Olympus no longer stocks spare parts for it, and will not accept it for repairs. So hopefully your camera will last without needing repairs. As an owner of the C-2100UZ (which Olympus put out the word 2-3 years ago it would no longer fix), I can share your pain....</p>

<p>My wife has an almost unused Camedia C 4000 sitting in her room. Again, the lack of any Smart Media media makes it a dead end camera. It had a plug to attach an off camera flash and i still have the proprietary cable. (Olympus loves proprietary connectors, as we know) Olympus has a way of tying itself to storage devices that become less available all the time, e.g the xD card. (SM of small quantity can be bought at crazy prices but who cares to do so.( The C 5050 took all three cards,ergo no sweat. A safe bet if you can get a steal price which seems to be tough. By george, it may even be called a classic,that one..I like the two in one feature that I have used for some stereo slide bar shots on the C 5050. A well designed item that camera, brick solid, and one of our former PN members from Oaklad used to call it his" digital Leica," hyperbolic sure, but at the time he felt that way.</p>

<p>FYI, the Samsung EX1/TL500 was reviewed by dpreview.com recently:</p>

<p>http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/samsungtl500/</p>

 

<p>Yup, I glanced at the review for that Samsung just last night, mostly at the conclusions. Looks very good. I'm still leaning toward a model with a built-in optical finder, but might consider a generic accessory shoe finder cobbled from a Cosina Voigtlander or other camera just for quick framing.</p>

<p>Lex, consider the following:<br>

Panasonic FZ-1, FZ-20<br>

Kodak Z730, Z760<br>

Minolta Dimage 7, 7i, 7Hi<br>

Olympus C5000, E-10, E-20 (these are mirrorless DSLR which also has live view)<br>

Nikon Coolpix 5000</p>

<p>having had the 5050 3 of them thats a good option. the mode dial problem is or can be a problem on that model 2. the problem is overblown anyway just het a bottle of contact cleaner and spray into the dial. anyway id get a 5060 just shop around good ones can be had. it has a better lcd and a li battery high capacity. unless you like aa or crv3 batteries. i bought my 5060 off of ebay for 150 dollars and it works great. btw, the 5060 can take the optional vertical grip and the 5050 does not. it takes great pics and it is my facorite camera. ll</p>

<p>oh my first 5050 had the sensor defect. ll</p>

<p>ive had the old coolpix 5000 which is a great camera also. ive had 3 of those and it tales a grip 2. but the 5060 is better ubless you kike small. rhe 5400 is good 2 and so is the g5 but the 5000 and the 5060 are the only ones that take hrips i believe. the 8400 nikon might be anothe option. if you get one of these models get a well built one. fortunately most of the ones i mentioned are all well built except maybe the canon g5 not as good. ll</p>

<p>keh has an explus c5050 for 139 i believe. check ir out unless you live halfway round the world. ll</p>

<p>I recently got a 5050 with underwater housing and had great fun using it above water too, so much so in fact i used it before my dslr and canon compact - dropped it unfortunately though and broke the battery door. thinking of getting a replacement though:)</p>

<p>Hiya, Edmund: Take a look at my makeshift solution for broken doors in <a href="00Wttt">this thread</a>.</p>

<p>I can't resist adding a response here. Last weekend I left behind my pentax DSLRs and took my olympus 5050 with me for a short hike here. I was considering selling it as I have not been using it lately at all. When I got back I was floored by the quality of the images. This camera has very good dynamic range and it reads light extremely well. It is extremely sharp. The zoom range covers what you need. When you have a bright day there is nothing better. Shutter lag is an opportunity for reflection on the image framing. Some images are here:<br>

<a href="http://www.ergodic.org.uk/BigPuma/photos/">ergodic.org.uk/BigPuma/photos/</a></p>