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[OM] C-5060 -- Impressions

Subject: [OM] C-5060 -- Impressions
From: "Wilcox, Joel F" <joel-wilcox@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 11:06:41 -0500
I should have written "first impressions," though they are something
more than that.

This camera is very well-made, quite the little brick of molded
whatsits.  AGs, it's a silvernose! :)  

Now then.  I don't know what I was expecting, but the viewfinder is
useless for anything but landscapey snapshots.  Within the 1:10 range,
the focus brackets aren't even close to where you think they should be
for focusing. You simply have to check the monitor.  DOH! It ain't an
SLR!  Dislike your electronic viewfinder?  Get over it.  The manual says
you need to use the monitor in macro mode, but you really need to use it
anywhere you expect WYSIWYG.  I suppose this is made worse by the fact
that the lens goes so wide.

So other than the fact that I hate looking through the viewfinder and I
hate using the monitor, this is going very well.

It powers up pretty quickly.  Interestingly, on power-up the lens pokes
out and then drops back to about "normal" or what would be 50mm in 35mm
terms.  I haven't yet figured out what goes on when you zoom one way or
the other.  The lens pulsates backwards and forewards.  For supermacro
focusing it locks into place and you just get physically closer to the
subject.  Works for me.  Manual focusing of course is completely
dependent upon what you can make of the image on the monitor.  I must be
doing OK, because I felt I had to try some focus brackets to make sure I
was getting the focus right.  But it's not easy or pleasant work.  You
don't do manual focusing unless there is no other way.  The focus
brackets can be moved easily from the middle to other parts of the
screen, which is cool, works well, and extends the usefulness of the AF
modes.

I don't have a big enough CF card yet to have experimented much with RAW
mode, but I tried a couple shots and it takes about 5-7 seconds to write
to my 32MB dX card.  This would not deter me from shooting in RAW mode
one bit.  What does deter me is that I have to crank these files through
the Camedia software to get them saved in a format that PS 5.5 can
understand.  I'm not interested in upgrading to PS CS at the moment, so
I will stick to HQ/enlarged jpgs for now. I've been working with WB in
auto.  Almost everything seems better with exposure compensation at -.3
stop, sometimes -.7. If you want to carry a white card around, you can
do a custom WB setup, which is very cool.  I made a corrected setup for
dim tungsten lighting that looked quite good.

The lens seems to be fine, nice and sharp with good colors.

I've worked exclusively with aperture priority mode, although program
mode seems easy to control to get the same effect of shifting shutter
speed and aperture to whatever you want with the dial.  I used ESP AF
uhtil I discovered how easy it is to move the focus brackets around,
which makes spot AF more useful.

I'm glad I'm a slide shooter.  As has been mentioned, you have to think
like one, and keep focused on the highlights at all times.  I had a very
difficult time with a large white flower in my backyard.  I had
difficulty getting the camera to focus correctly on it or to get the
right exposure. 

Having spent quite a lot of time recently trying to extract the last
measure of functionality out of the Stylus cameras I have, it's a
pleasure to have a similarly convenient camera with so much control. The
controls have a good logical layout.  It's sort of as though there is
only one way it can fit in the hand, but it's a good way.  I love the
way the right thumb fits in its own indent and it can easily slide over
to the right just a bit to engage the AE lock button.  This is analogous
in my mind to programming the exposure into memory on an OM-4.  Very
important for spot or CW metering options I prefer.

I haven't tried an external flash yet but the camera's flash is
terrific.  I use almost exclusively fill flash with these cameras.  I
don't understand why Olympus doesn't make fill flash the default mode,
not just for this but for any of its cameras with build-in flash.

My first prints through the Epson 1160 were dandy. With WB on auto I
didn't experience too much oddness of color balance.  I had to do some
standard correction in PS, almost exclusively curves, and once in while
a little color balance tweaking. My subjects were mostly flowers in the
back yard.  A very deeply yellow (verging on orange) lily in direct sun
was a problem for the camera, but I also have problems recording this
type of flower/color decently on film.  I think it's a universally
difficult situation for any medium.  The only thing that seems to work
is a bit of unexposure and slight desaturation of the yellow in
post-processing.  

This will nicely take the place of c-prints, if I can get out of the
habit of reaching for an OM body.  It's new to me, I'm enjoying the
experience, although it doesn't quite feel like photography yet.  More
like an X-box equivalent of photography.  And don't take any of this at
all seriously, as I am an infant in this medium.

While it has been a good couple of days with the 5060, I now wish I had
had the resources to get an E-1 and the 14-55 lens. But I needed this
experience to get there.  Also, I think the C5060 is going to go more
places than an E-1 would.  It's strange to have a camera that is so
powerful and offers so many options but makes you feel so blind.
Everything about an OM by comparison seems easy and like an extension of
your body.  But my son thinks it's a very cool camera, and it's because
of the monitor.  He's half cyborg anyway after all his gaming, but this
thing is clearly more akin to his world than mine.

But not for long. ;-)  

Joel W.

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