Fuji s5000 Vs. Olympus C750/765

[Very Confused]

Hello, I recently bought a Fujifilm FInePix S5000 camera and have a 28 day evaluation period before I'm stuck with it!

I used to own a FinePix 2200 so am very used to using Fuji cameras which made me think the S5000 would be ok.

But after testing it out I'm a little dissapointed with the quality of the photos. The JPEG's seem over compressed and there's a lot of noise in them. As I don't print out my photos, just view them on my computer I shoot in 2megapixel (1600x1200)

I rang the shop where I got it from and asked them to reccommend some more cameras and they have come up with the Olympus C-750 or the soon to be released Olympus C-765.

I have read some online reviews for the C-750 which all say it is a very good camera, the C-765 reviews are a bit rare as the camera is new but the all seem positive too.

I guess i'm asking what should i do, here's my options and prices -

Fujifilm s5000 + 16mb xD Card -£217 ($385)
Olympus c-750 +128mb xD Card +Olympus Case -£315 ($558)
Olympus c-765 + 16mb xD Card - £280 ($500)

I'm going on holiday to Thailand at the end of May so want a camera that will capture my once in a lifetime dream holiday!!!
What do people think will be best?

Thanks for your time and help!

[ah207]

Hi,

I recently ventured into digital photography by purchasing the Olympus C-750. Like you, I also did a LOT of back ground reading and serious homework before parting with the cash. I have been an SLR film camera user for many years - so I certainly wasn't going to splash a small fortune on a compact digital! But over the years, I have come to trust Olympus - they have a no nonsense philisophy and have always made excellent optics on trend-setting camera bodies. That continues today with their digital range.

I am very pleased with the C-750. For a fuller critique, see my review of it on this site. I only have a 64MB card for it at the moment - which allows me 64 HQ photos - about two films' worth every day! Image quality is about as good as it can get, there's a huge range of image quality (file size) settings etc. The macro function is out of this world. The battery life is long and the 10 times optical zoom is quite awsome considering this is still a compact camera!!

Obviously you won't be carrying your battery re-charger all the time when you're on holiday - but fear not because the C-750 can just as happily take regular 4xAA alkaline batteries, which you can buy anywhere. The camera is a wee bit on the expensive side - but its tried and tested pedigree. So, go for it!

Hope that helped.

ah207

[Very Confused]

Hi,

I recently ventured into digital photography by purchasing the Olympus C-750. Like you, I also did a LOT of back ground reading and serious homework before parting with the cash. I have been an SLR film camera user for many years - so I certainly wasn't going to splash a small fortune on a compact digital! But over the years, I have come to trust Olympus - they have a no nonsense philisophy and have always made excellent optics on trend-setting camera bodies. That continues today with their digital range.

I am very pleased with the C-750. For a fuller critique, see my review of it on this site. I only have a 64MB card for it at the moment - which allows me 64 HQ photos - about two films' worth every day! Image quality is about as good as it can get, there's a huge range of image quality (file size) settings etc. The macro function is out of this world. The battery life is long and the 10 times optical zoom is quite awsome considering this is still a compact camera!!

Obviously you won't be carrying your battery re-charger all the time when you're on holiday - but fear not because the C-750 can just as happily take regular 4xAA alkaline batteries, which you can buy anywhere. The camera is a wee bit on the expensive side - but its tried and tested pedigree. So, go for it!

Hope that helped.

ah207

Hi and thankyou for your advice I recently returned the Fujifilm and bought the Olympus c-750. I am very very impressed with the image quality.

BUT! I cannot get the camera to focus 70% of the time. The autofocus tries to lock onto the object i'm wishing to focus on, it autofocuses and brings the image into focus then blurs it back out again. I am not using the zoom very much and standing a good 2m away from the objects which are big and easy to focus on.

Similarly when i zoom into an object after i release the zoom control the camera focuses perfectly, its only when i push the shutter button half way to focus in for the shot that it blurs the objects!

I think i may have a faulty unit!??

When it does work WOW its amazing and so much better quality than the Fuji but thats very rare!!

Does your olympus or anyone elses have focusing difficulties??

Please help i'm going mad!!!!!!!!

[ah207]

The focus failure problem could be due to three reasons:

1. Low light conditions: In low or fairly dim light - the auto focus is not that good - that's true for even traditional SLR cameras.

2. Objects with smooth or no clearly defined edges: The auto focus needs something varily 'solid' to lock on to. If the surface you are focussing on is very smooth, or shining brightly, or consists of a series of closely spaced parallel bars (such as railing), then the auto focus will struggle a little - but it will get there. You could just use the "A/S/M" manual mode and manually focus.

3. The auto focus lock is switched on. This feature, while convenient is better left switched off so that you can focus when you want to and on whatever you want to.

If the problem is not due to any of the above - go back to the shop with the receipt and exchange for anotehr unit.

My unit has behaved perfectly so far and can be pushed to limits most other compacts in the range would not be able to handle. Image quality is quite awsome.