Is this the successor to the Olympus E-10/E-20?
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here for the offiicial Olympus press release and specifications table.
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Along with Konica Minolta (Dimage A2) and Canon Power Shot Pro 1), Olympus launched an 8 megapixel camera, the Camedia 8080 Wide Zoom, during last week's PMA show. The C-8080WZ is part of an exclusive club of five 8 megapixel models, if you include the Nikon CoolPix 8700 launched before PMA, plus the Sony DSC-F828, launched last year.
I spent some time with Olympus staff examining some examples of the new C-8080WZ while I was at PMA last week. The 8080 is not as compact or as lightweight as its 8MP peers, with the exception of the Sony DSC F-828. Instead, Olympus has gone for a solid and radical design based on a magnesium alloy chassis. The 8080 certainly fits the hand well and feels like a substantial piece of kit without being overly heavy.
If you look hard, you can see a family resemblance to the outgoing E-10/20 series
Although it does not look instantly like a relative of the out-going E-10 and E-20, the C-8080WZ shares many similarities. The old E-10/20 had a 4x (35-140mm equivalent) zoom and the 8080 has extended this further down the wide end to an equivalent 28-140, though this is to the cost of maximum aperture, which drops from f/2.0-2.4 throughout the zoom range to f/2.4-3.5. The 8080 is portrayed as an SLR-style camera and its body layout and design aren't too dissimilar to the old E-10/20, though gone is the optical through the lens finder in favour of a 240,000 pixel electronic finder.
The viewscreen works well as a waist level finder
A flip up and down LCD viewscreen is featured, a development of the layout pioneered in the E-10/20, though closer to that in the C-5050Z. The pull-up and twist design of the C-5060 was not possible with the 8080 because of the location of the viewfinder eye-piece and I'm led to understand Olympus can't use the more versatile flip out and tilt screen Canon has been using for some years because of licensing issues.
But you can't tilt the screen sideways
The Olympus 8080 screen works well as a waist level finder and for tilting the camera over the heads of people in front, but it doesn't turn sideways at all for some candid shots. At 1.8 inches, it's not generously large for its ilk, but it is a transflective type that should work well even in bright sunlight.
Here you can see how far the tilting screen levers out of the camera body
As with several of the latest electronic viewfinders I have tried recently, the 8080's is not bad, with 240,000 pixels at your service. The eyepiece is positioned well to the left so one's nose doesn't get in the way when viewing through the right eye. The 8080 has no top-plate LCD status display, so you depend more on the viewscreen or through the lens status display using the electronic finder.
The 8080's lens has the smallest zoom range of its competitors but looks the largest
Compared to the Canon Power Shot Pro 1 and the Konica Minolta Dimage A2, the large physical size of the 8080's lens is a surprise, especially as it has a shorter zooming range (28-140 or 5x) compared to the others (28-200 or 7.14x for the Pro 1 and 28-198 or 7x for the A2) and while it is faster than the A2, it has the same lens aperture rating as the Canon Pro 1.
This top view suggests there is a zoom or focus ring on the lens barrel, but there isn't
E-10/20 owners will probably be disappointed to find that, despite the sign of a wide rubber-gripped ring around the lens barrel, it's not a manual zoom ring and zooming is operated electronically via a lever above the shutter release button. Manual focus is only possible using the four-way navigation buttons and a magnified electronic view.
Promising AF system
The good news is that the 8080's autofocus system is very quiet and in the limited time I had to play with it, seemed quite fast for a camera of this type – certainly an improvement on the E-10/20, for example. Variable focus points and a combination of contrast and phase detection is used.
Here is a pair of 8080s, one with the TCON 14D tele adapter lens and one without
Bayonet-fit add-on lenses
The substantial lens surround utilises a bayonet fit arrangement for add-on lenses, welcome news if you are used to the old and cumbersome screw-fit arrangement. A CLA-8 conversion lens adapter mounts onto the lens and it's suggested that this can be left on permanently, rather like a lens hood, though I didn't check for wide angle cut-off.
The TCON 14D provides something to hold on but it's extraordinarily large compared to some of the 8080s rivals
When mounted, the 1.4x TCON 14D looks impressive, but this only brings the telephoto end of the zoom barely up to the 200mm equivalent focal length of the C-8080's rivals and will cost you around $239 (£133) extra, not including the CLA-8 adapter ($45 or £25). The WCON 08D ($219 or £122) takes the wide end of the zoom to an equivalent of a 22.4mm lens.
The 8080's 5x zoom extends externally from one end of the range...
...to the other end of the zoom range
Additional portrait mode battery grip available
You can't accuse Olympus of lacking in originality with the 8080's look – it almost looks armour-plated. The side-plate on the same side as the lens is angled unusually and is home to several function buttons.
Notice the angled side housing a number of function buttons
Underneath you will find the battery housing and this takes the same high capacity BLM-1 Lithium Ion unit as the Olympus E-1 DSLR. A B-HLD30 Power Battery Holder, which can take accommodate a pair of BLM-1 batteries, attaches to the base of the camera and includes a portrait mode release and zoom lever.
Here you can see the pop-up flash deployed. Note the unusual hollowed out area on the side under the viewfinder housing
Early conclusions
Personally, I liked the feel of the 8080 – its generous size melds well with the hand and feels secure, without being too heavy. I'm not a great fan of electronic viewfinders, but they are getting better and the 8080's is as good as any I have tried so far. Disappointments in the specification include the ISO range being limited to a maximum of ISO 400 and no manual zoom ring or manual focus ring on the lens barrel. The lack of a top-plate LCD is a bit of a compromise. The question is bound to be asked – if others can produce a 28-200 zoom, why did Olympus settle for a 28-140? But I like the fact that a portrait mode battery grip is being provided.
Few could call the 8080 pretty, but it certainly looks like it means business
As with all these new 8MP cameras, the big unknown is image quality. By packing so many pixels into a 2/3rd inch chip, the risk is higher than wanted noise. It will be the first thing I check when I get my hands on a production model to test. According to US press information, the 8080 should start selling in the US this month, but the UK information indicates stockists this side of the Atlantic won't have their allocation until April.
Click here for the offiicial Olympus press release and specifications table
Other PMA stories, click here