olympus 5060 vs. 8080

[Island Hoppa]

hey everyone
just curious. what would you all rather shoot with. 8080 or 5060. the package would include an external strobe. probably ike ds 125. and money is no concern as i know the 8080 is a bit pricier. interested in what people think and how they react to these 2 different models. thanks everyone.

 

[calypsonick]

IH,

I just upgraded from the 5050 to the 8080 and although the 8080 is bulkier, I am enjoying the extra pixels. I can crop certain subjects much tighter with the 8080 than I could with the 5050.

Also, the internal strobe on the 8080 is top center where on the 5050 it was on the side. I get even lighting with the 8080.

I say go with the 8080.

 

[meca]

Looking at Olympus websight it looks like the C5060 has been discontinued. Look at the specs on the 8080 and see if the white balance can be manual adjusted? This is very important taking pictures in tropical water with all the blue water.

 

[Wolverine]

Well, the 5060 has been upgraded to the 7070. Smaller than the 8080, and less pixels, but should fit most of the 5060 housings. Mine is still dry, but surface photos and pool shots look good.

 

[f3nikon]

hey everyone
just curious. what would you all rather shoot with. 8080 or 5060. the package would include an external strobe. probably ike ds 125. and money is no concern as i know the 8080 is a bit pricier. interested in what people think and how they react to these 2 different models. thanks everyone.

I cannot tell anyone which camera to buy, but the 5060 and the 8080 are not in the same class. Both cameras are being discontinued, I believe.

The 8080 is in the 2/3 CCD 8mp club of Nikon, Canon, Minolta and Sony. The CCD sensor in the 8080 is larger than the 5060 and 7070 (see picture) both the 5060 and 7070 have the same size CCD sensor at 1/1.8. Sony (the maker of the CCD sensors) just added more pixels on a 5060 sensor to make a 7070, maybe the reason why the 7070 max out at 7mp, which also has a smaller lens ( I am now hearing about fousing problems).

In my opinion the 8080 is the best camera (even the lower end DSLRs) overall for UW use because... A wide, bright lens to let more light in, for better focusing and exposure, Sony has a stronger zoom, but zooming is limited UW anyway. The 8080 is in the 8mp club and has every manual control possible.

So why discontinue the 8080? My guess is that it cost Olympus more money to make an 8080 than a 7070 or 5060. The 8080 CCD is larger so Sony will most likely charge more, the 8080 lens is of a higher quality, larger lens, servo motor system than the 5060 and 7070.

The 5060 is going away to keep up with the mega pixel race, the 7070 is a low cost fill in before the next new design, the 8080 is possibly a marketing mistake at the $1000 target price range and its larger size. The great thing for me anyway, is that the 8080 price is about the same as the 7070 at the high $500 range and size is not an issue for me since the camera will mostly be for UW use, heck I still use a fully loaded Nikon F3 in a large alumimum housing. I hope to get another 8080 soon.

Dive Safe

 

[friscuba]

So why discontinue the 8080? My guess is that it cost Olympus more money to make an 8080 than a 7070 or 5060. The 8080 CCD is larger so Sony will most likely charge more, the 8080 lens is of a higher quality, larger lens, servo motor system than the 5060 and 7070.

The 5060 is going away to keep up with the mega pixel race, the 7070 is a low cost fill in before the next new design, the 8080 is possibly a marketing mistake at the $1000 target price range and its larger size. The great thing for me anyway, is that the 8080 price is about the same as the 7070 at the high $500 range and size is not an issue for me since the camera will mostly be for UW use, heck I still use a fully loaded Nikon F3 in a large alumimum housing. I hope to get another 8080 soon.

Dive Safe

It'd be fun to be a fly on the wall at Olympus. My bet is that they thought it would be competition to the evolt system.... It's got the LCD screen the point and shooters love, many DSLR capabilities, and an all in one lens that compares favorably with groups of lenses that would cost nearly a grand separately.

I've yet to use mine underwater, but I'm glad I picked it up. Now I've got to get an Ikelite housing and enjoy it for a few years.

Later,

 

[f3nikon]

Good point, because the Evolt is also at 8mp, but remember that with the Evolt you cannot see the picture via the LCD display, before you take the shot, you must use the small viewfinder with some type of magnification add-on. The Evolt's CCD is from Kodak, a larger CCD than the 8080, but at ISO 100 and the 8080 at ISO 50. Both cameras come out even in the end with the Evolt at a slight advantage on shutter lag dept. Which as you pointed out, is meaningless if there is enough light (strobes etc.).

The 8080 has a Hi Res. "ED" lens with a 58mm spin on thread for filters like the SLR cameras.

Oh and that Raccoon butterfly picture, signature big island of Hawaii? I have seen that type of butterfly in the Indo-Pacific but never in that big a school.

Dive Safe

 

[friscuba]

Good point, because the Evolt is also at 8mp, but remember that with the Evolt you cannot see the picture via the LCD display, before you take the shot, you must use the small viewfinder with some type of magnification add-on. The Evolt's CCD is from Kodak, a larger CCD than the 8080, but at ISO 100 and the 8080 at ISO 50. Both cameras come out even in the end with the Evolt at a slight advantage on shutter lag dept. Which as you pointed out, is meaningless if there is enough light (strobes etc.).

The 8080 has a Hi Res. "ED" lens with a 58mm spin on thread for filters like the SLR cameras.

Oh and that Raccoon butterfly picture, signature big island of Hawaii? I have seen that type of butterfly in the Indo-Pacific but never in that big a school.

Dive Safe

We have a couple spots where the raccoon butterflys congregate near sergeant major damsel spawning areas. In this particular spot, the raccoons have realized that humans spook the male damsels. The raccoons will actually swim up to you by the dozens (it seems to be seasonal, but this day there were probalby 120+) and shadow you within inches in hopes that you'll run off a damsel so they can eat the eggs.

I've been wanting to take my video camera down one day when the raccoons are around and just swim on my back with 60-100 raccoons within inches of the camera.

Later,