C-5050 Noise??

I upgraded from a Oly C-4040 to an Oly C-5050 and find that at ISO-100 which I used in the C-4040 the new camera produces noise. I will change to ISO-64 and give up a stop of light to see if that helps. Does anyone have suggestions on where to set the in camera sharpening? I can't do any sharpening in Photoshop now without increasing my grain and noise problem. Any suggestions anyone?

http://homepage.mac.com/dicklundholm

Am I the last 5050 user to move from ISO 100 to ISO 64?

I started with ISO 100 on my 5050 because that was as low as my 3040 went and from what I read the reduction in noise when going to ISO 64 was not that great.

But the other day I took some pictures of a bare wall and plain metal blinds to see if I could see the difference. The amount of noise difference surprised me.

So Sunday I shot everything at ISO 64, f4 instead of f5 and 1/100 second. I can't say I can see any difference but I think it has to be there.

The plusses and minuses as I see them for using ISO 64 are:

+ Less noise in areas like water backgrounds where it might be visible.

- Need more light, which in general means lower f stops or slower shutter speeds, neither of which is particularly good.

I plan to try ISO 64 on a few more dives to see if I can see the difference. If not, I'm going back to ISO 100.

Re sharpening, I tried none a while back but could not beat the default setting with the Unsharp mask so I'm back to using the default.

I've found the C-5050 to be the noisiest 5MP camera I've used. Tests from the major digicam news sites say the same.

I'm wondering now why I've been recommending the camera + housing so much. I suppose it is just because there is so much underwater support for the set up. I mean, I use one of them myself as a small camera (for wet boat use, and for sticking in the water from boats), but if I could go back I would buy something else -- perhaps a Canon S50 with housing, which from B&H is $440 and $170, I believe.

Here come the flames....

Peter, thank you for your help. Your experience seems to jive with the information I have picked up searching the Olympus forum at www.dpreview.com there is a lot of discussion of C-5050 noise and the vast majority favor ISO-64 with -2 or -3 sharpening setting. I am going to try ISO-64 first with "0" sharpening (the default) as you recommend. As a matter of fact 5 of us are doing the Kona night Manta Ray dive Wednesday night, I am anxious to see how these settings help, although I will have to keep the shutter speed up and add more light at f4 to freeze those big puppies. We have reports of a Monk Seal that has been showing up for the nite manta dive and playing in the lights so we are excited. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

The DC-300 which houses the S50 doesn't offer access to aperture setting when housed, I believe. This is significant enough to keep me from recomending this setup.

The G5 has no wide angle applications except with Epoque lenses. The CP5400 can't be housed with full zoom capabilities due to vignette at the wide end. The CP5k was one of the best, especially with the housed WAL, but is tough to find.

The C-5050 is still my choice for just the kind of applications Eric has mentioned, and is a very capable unit for all types of UW photo. Nothing in its price range can out perform it currently...