Olympus C5000

[ReyeR]

This is a very interesting point about the C5050 cameras. I've oftern wondered if the (idiotic) 'not much warning' indicator is because of the nature of the NiMH/NiCD batteries. It must have a threshold voltage that drops very rapidly.
Has anyone ever tried using it with the supplied CRV3 non-rechargeable batteries? I would be interested in seeing how the battery warning behaves with it - ie does it give you a half-way mark indication and also take longer to 'die' when the battery low indicator starts flashing?
I was saving them for emergencies but I might just stick them in and get fresh ones.

 

[Finesse]

I'm curious if in all the firmware updates they changed it (low battery warning) to give you some more advanced notice like ssra gets .... not allowing the battery to die so quickly as it seemingly does......

ReyeR I think we purchased our cameras around the same time frame ...well mine is approaching a year... I think ssra's is relatively new???

Sure would be nice to get a tad bit more advance notice !!!!

 

[Finesse]

Oh ..... I'm curious about the batteries also..... i.e. differences in mAh and the battery you speak of ...... I recall using that lithium battery in the 3040 .... worked long and hard but don’t recall how it acted toward the end of its life..... I do remember its to expensive

 

[Dee]

I've noticed the same thing. I'm using either 2000 or 2200 batteries and I'm getting some really long run times. I put part of it off to not using an external strobe nor using the internal flash very much. But my monitor stays on and I'm getting 3 full 60 -80 minutes dives from a single charge. I've also sat for several hours turning it off an on often as I worked through the manual trying different things, and it lasts longer than the 4040 did.

After I get the flashing low battery icon, I have power left to view the pics at the site then download via USB to the PC when I get home. I can't say that I've ever totally drained a set of batteries yet. Beast reported that his 3040 was lasting longer with the 2200 but nothing else, but then he doesn't pay attention to stuff like we do.

My camera is only a couple months old if that matters.

 

[ssra30]

Yeah, my camera is quite new. I bought it roughly about the same time that Dee did. The firmware on my camera is v558-78 .
I did not try the CRV3 batteries yet. From what I remembered, I used it once with my old 4040C and was not very impressed. It lasted longer than alkali batteries but I don't think it lasted longer than NiMH batteries. Another thing that helped a little was I used slow charge rather than fast charge on my charger so I supposed to get about extra 5% power, I think.

I will have to check with another friend who bought the camera at about the same time as mine. A couple of weeks ago, he was using the Olympus 1700 mAh batteries, left the LCD on the whole time and the batteries ran out at the end of the second dive, right before he saw a whale shark ;-0 Not sure how long did he have the low battery warning sign before the camera shut down.

 

[Dee]

The firmware on my camera is also v558-78. Maybe they're twins!

It does seem like the time from warning to end is longer than with the 4040.

 

[Finesse]

v558-77 ... wonder if this is just a coincidence or if the 78 version addresses this .....I would be inclined to think not but who knows .....

Wonder what the 78 version has that the 77 doesn't ....or should I say what it corrected.....

ReyeR what version do you have??

 

[Dee]

How does one go about getting a firmware upgrade? Or is it possible? Is it really that big a deal?

 

[ssra30]

I am not sure about the Olympus, especially since the -78 firmware is the most updated one. I think on a lot of computer component and some gadgets, you can just hook them to the computer and run an update firmware from the computer and that's just about it. However, some electronics cannot have their firmware update, just depends on the design and manufacturers, I suppsosed.
Sometimes update the firmware is important because they will fix some bugs or issue such as compatibility etc (in case of my DVD writer) while for some, it is not really a big issue.
I thought I read somewhere that the main differences for the firmware for the Oly 5050 has to do with parts that they are used since each lot used parts that could be a little different so they need slightly different firmware to accomodate for the slight changes in parts.

 

[Finesse]

As for the update I would think the camera would need to go back to Olympus ..... "is it a big a deal" ... depends on what the update was for .... like ssra says

I posted the question over on DD ..... If I recall I think a few have had an update ..... I think I recall reading that cameras were sent in for other repair reasons....and while Olympus had the camera they updated the version.....

Its late for me ...so maybe I'm dreaming :bonk: :nuts: :snore: