Dpreview.com reviews the Oly 8080, Canon Pro1, Coolpix 8700

The review says fast shutter lag; but how fast is it compared to a dSLR? After my D100 I would find anything slower unusable. Can anyone who has both a dSLR and a digital point and shoot say that in UW conditions the point and shoot has a shutter lag close to that of the dSLR??

Hi Dave !

in german PC-Magazine c't is a comparison chart of 8M Cameras and a Canon EOS 300D.

300D power-on 2,7s, shutter lag 0,32s

Oly 8080 1,0s, 0,75s

Canon Pro1 1,9s, 1,06s

Dimage A2 2,0s, 0,40s

Coolpix 8700 2,8s, 0,64s

DSC-F828 1,2s, 0,17s

The new C8080 is a little bit slower than the C5060 which has a shutter lag of 0,4s.

Udo

Is the sony really that fast? .17 second :shock: my 707 was sooo slow.

Interesting about the 828's shutter lag. Gives you hope that future point and shoots may deal with the shuttler lag problem giving a good pocket digital camera.

Read a review in popular science that compared the 8 mp cameras to the 300D and the D70. It rated the "responsiveness of the rebel and the D70 as excellent, the 828 as good and the others as average. Only the Oly got a perfect for sharpness. They liked the 828 and the D70 as the best cameras.

Could you give me the link to the site with the shutter lag tests?

As the popular science tests indicate there is probably more to get a picture of moving/difficult subject and the dSLRS can do a better job for now. Maybe the next generation.

I'm thinking fast low light autofocus. Mechanical zoom and maybe manual focus. a GOOD (optical) viewfinder.

Will know next week............

Ike, any word on this yet? Is it possible to attach a wide angle lens to the outside of the port? This would be the best case for me because it would allow me to switch between macro and WA on the same dive. Is it even opticly (sp) possible to do?

Port diameter is too large to attach external lenses, but the excitement is probabilty of using their wide angle conversion lens like we did for the D-5060. Read about the 5060 dome port on following URL, clicking on Dave Knight test describing coverage like a Nikonos 15mm.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/5060domelens.html

So will the port be available about the same time as the camera? When the dive shop (Scuba Center of Spokane) ordered the 8080 housing for me they were not able to order the dome port but I payed them for it anyway hoping it would test out ok. If it is a go we want to add it to my order. Should I have the shop call or should we wait. The person taking the orders seems to quote from the book and if it doesn't show available they won't add it. I leave today for 2 weeks in Coz so I'll ask the shop to keep up on this until the order can be changed. That is unless you want to have it shipped to Coz to meet me. That would be a great way to celebrate my wedding and honeymoon... :wink: :wink:

Hold your horses there Mark. I advise you not to overwhelm yourself with gadgets which you have never used before and then try to get it all working on your honeymoon. You will be asking for trouble, frustration, and a po'd wife...:-)

Putting a system together and learning how to use it takes time. You will get everything, then start putting it together, then realize you forgot to order X or Y or Z. Then you will/should take it in the pool and figure out the right balance, arm configuration, camera settings, strobe settings, etc.

I DEFINITELY advise against pinning your hopes on the whole thing arriving the week before a big trip, then expecting to get it to work like you want it to. Unfortunately, I speak from experience here. This isn't a reflection on Ikelite, as they HAVE in fact shipped me things the week, or even days before a trip when I needed them. I'm talking more about the learning curve for a complicated system like this.

Just one person who's been there's advice.

Cheers

James

I second James' warning. I've been there myself, and it never works out the way you want it to.

Tom

I second James' warning.  I've been there myself, and it never works out the way you want it to.

 

Tom

Yes. But did the camera work?

We will have trouble meeting the 5/30 expected availability for the 8080 housings. Dome port for Olympus wide angle lens will be at least thirty days after housing availability. Number has not been entered into the system, waiting until development and testing is complete. We have seen some spectacular underwater results from this camera with its standard port and lens.

Believe we will be delivering housings before Olympus PT-023 availability which is interesting.

Yes. But did the camera work?

Weeeelllllllllllll, yes, technically, but not the part I added at the last minute.I ordered a S&S dome and a Sigma 14mm lens based on a port list and ended up with a newer version of the lens, so the port really needed an extension ring. Ended up in Truk with nothing but a 28-80mm lens and a 14mm lens in a flat port, not good. :roll:

Tom

I knew I wouldn't be getting the housing in time for the trip which is OK. So instead of learning my new setup I trying to figure out my buddys camera he loaned me. I did recieve a housing and ds125 from Ikelite for my F707 right before a trip in the past and found the days of repedative diving was the perfect place to come up the learning curve fast and enhance my vacation so I have to disagree with you on that.

I'm not saying that you won't learn fast on your vacation, I actually think that you will. What I'm referring to is the initail "How the @#$* does this thing go together?" stage where you're trying to understand the mechanics of the system. As for learning what settings work, composition, etc, that's best learned in a repetitive fashion (IMHO).

I'm kind of curious...why would people wanna get a 8080 (other then the fact that it's a 8mp camera) when the price of a 300D is very much close to it?

Well, 8080 is smaller than DSLR with comparable lenses. Changing lenses is extra hassle for some of us. It has movie mode (or is this also available in DSLRs nowadays?) - important if you want to use it for that for some purpose every now and then. Housings for 8080 are less expensive than housings for DSLRs (with ports and all).

That said, I intend to use my 8080 for two years and so, and then finally make my choice of what kind of glass I want to start "investing" in. 300D and D70 were tempting, but not for me quite yet.

It was cost for me, mostly the housings. When you start looking at buying lens and the cost of the housing your talking about another $500-$1,000. In the long run it might make sense to get the DSLR if you want a lot of expensive lens's that you can use with your next upgraded camera, but I just want to take pictures for fun. I don't always make the best buying decisions though...