megapixels

I've owned several Nikon film cameras over the years and a couple of years ago decided to try digital. My first digital camera was (and I still use and enjoy) a Olympus 2020. It is a true 'point and shoot' and takes fine pictures.

The 8080 I've been using for about three months. It takes excellent pictures and the 8mp resolution lets you crop and enlarge far beyond what my 2020 could. This is not, however, a 'point and shoot' camera for most pictures. If you enjoy the more technical approach to photography you might enjoy this camera.

It's good points have been well covered by other reviewers... read them as I agree with most of them. What I find less than ideal are the 'power zoom'... manual zoom would have been a much better choice for battery life (which I have found disappointing) as well as speed of zooming and tight control of zoom. Power zoom seems a great waste to me.

There is no reasonable warning of end of battery life. When the warning sounds you better be nearly finished for the day because you are going to need either an electrical outlet and several hours of charging or a very expensive back-up battery ($80). I like the 2020's four AA rechargables better.

The electronic viewfinder is over crowded with so much "information" that it detracts from composing your picture. . The brightness is adjustable but that's a pain and under many lighing conditions the electronic viewfinder is too dark and needs adjusting. My 2020 is better in this respect.

The lack of a seperate LCD to display much of the information that crowds the viewfinder is regretable. Of all my personal dislikes the view finder tops my list.

The lens hood fits poorly... it is so loose it flops around and seems about to fall off. I can't help but wonder how well the two converter lenses fit as I expect they use the same mounting.

The menu system is not easy to use in my opinion. It is very "powerful"... you can adjust just about anything you can imagine with the menus. But that takes lots of time and the learning curve is steep. The included printed manual is not a lot of use... the one on the CD is better but not very convient when you are out in the world without your PC.

To sum up... this IS an excellent camera and it does take bueatiful pictures. But it doesn't rate among the top because of the things mentioned above. I also think a digital SLR such as the Nikon D70 or Canon Rebel should be carefully considered before deciding on the 8080. Try out as many as you can before you invest your grand. My 8080 is currently back at the Olympus Service Center for a view finder problem not included in my above comments. I'll go back to my C 2020 and to be honest I'm not going to be too disappointed. That says a lot.

After some extensive research on 8-megapixel digital cameras, I decided on the Olympus C-8080 for several reasons. I'll highlight a few of them below.

* The magnesium cased Olympus C-8080 has a quality feel to it in my hands. It feels solid. This camera won't creak or flex when handled like some of the others I tried.

* The Olympus C-8080 power up time is extremely fast which is important for catching those special moments. It has one of the fastest power up times of any 8-megapixel camera.

* The C-8080 has one of the best lenses available in its class with just the right balance of range and speed... The lens is rather large for good light gathering ability. It's also very sharp. At 5x and 28mm - 140mm (35mm equivalent) range, some might lean more toward a camera with a broader optical range sacrificing speed and quality. For me, it's about quality not quantity! I find that I often use 28mm indoors where space is limited or for those wide outdoor scenic shots. And 140mm is usually sufficient for most of my 'telephoto' needs. You can also purchase optional adapters for wider angle or more zoom if you find it necessary.

* Battery life on this camera is top notch... it's one of the longest lasting and far superior to most other 8-megapixel cameras. Although I own 2 batteries for my Olympus C-8080, I have yet to need more than one for an entire day of shooting. My findings pretty much mirror what the professional reviewers have tested with regard to long battery life on the Olympus C-8080. I have yet to see my 'low battery' indicator come on!

I should also mention that I wear eye glasses which is a problem for me with some viewfinders. Not so with the Olympus C-8080. The ring surrounding the viewfinder is rubberized and when I place the lens from my eye glasses up against the view finder, I can see the entire frame clearly and comfortably. The viewfinder also has a diopter adjustment to compensate for less than perfect vision.

Some people have commented that the controls on the Olympus are a bit confusing. The camera is very versatile with many features and I've gotten used to the controls. Also, the power on/off button is located fairly close to the shutter release button but I got used to this within just a few minutes. It really isn't a problem. Unless you're seriously lacking in manual dexterity, you'll get used to it very quickly.

Also, don't skimp on the memory card. I have a 512MB xD card in the camera and keep a blank 256MB card in my pocket in case I fill up the first card before getting a chance to download all the images to my PC. I might just get a 512MB CompactFlash card as well since the camera has a slot for both xD and CF style memory cards.

To quote another reviewer, the Olympus C-8080 is the one to get!

This is my third digital camera. My first was a canon powershot g3-- A camera I would still be using if it hadn't developed a problem with storing images to CF cards and downloading them to the computer. My 2nd camera is a Canon s100 point and shoot. Just so that you can understand the view point of this review, I will let you know that I consider myself an amature with intentions of improvement. If you are a pro photographer or even an advance amature, this review won't offer you much.

That being said, if your aspirations are like mine, this camera is an excellent choice. I explored most of the major online sites prior to making my choice: Steve's Digicams, DPR, etc. All those sites gave the camera high marks.

What I liked most about this camera was the image quality. It had the least noise, and least chromatic abberation and distortion of any of the 8 megapixel cameras in nearly all the reviews. Since what I wanted most at the end of it all were excellent photos, this was enough for me to make my choice. And if you aren't happy with the shots straight from the camera, you can tweak every thing from sharpness to saturation to achieve the results you want.

Other features that I liked included the wide array of image size, and shooting options available. I felt that this camera could certainly grow with my skill level for years to come.

Many have complained about the placement of the power button. I haven't had any probs with it. I have not accidentally turned it off or on even once.

Now what I would change if I could:
Oh I wish the LCD were a swivel display. I have grown accustom to this with my canon.

The flash does not automatically pop up when you need it.

The EVF is taking some getting used to. I am still wary of weather or not what I am seeing actually represents actually color, lighting etc...

The menu system could use some revision. I am sure it will take me a while to learn to use the camera to its best capacity simply because the menu system is not intuitive. You actually need to read the manual and the one on the CD to work out the ends and outs of the camera.

The camera defaults to the xD card if you have a both and xD and a CF card in place. This has caused me some problems. You will be less frustrated if you only have one or the other installed.

I like this camera more and more every time I use it. I researched my choice exaustively and none of the other 8 megapixels currently available even tempt me when I look at the whole picture. I don't think this camera will dissappoint you .