MARCH 2005 MA XIMUMPC
Viewfinder: Most point-and-shoot cameras with optical range-finders use a tiny
window offset from the lens to help you frame the subject. Unfortunately, these
little windows are only approximations of what the lens is seeing, so they’re directly
responsible for the beheading of thousands of people every year (in pictures, at
least). The Olympus C-8080 gives you the best of both worlds with its eye-level
electronic viewfinder. The image can’t get washed out in bright light, and what
you see is what you get.
The EVF in the C-8080 also has an advantage over the SLR: It presents
more data. Most SLR data is either at the bottom of the
viewfinder or on the right side. Because an EVF is a tiny
LCD screen, the camera can superimpose, HUD style,
such useful info as a real-time histogram or other
camera settings on the scene. Neato. Furthermore, all
point-and-shoots let you frame your image from the
preview LCD on the back. With the C-8080, you can
angle it out from the body, so you can frame a Hail
Mary shot or get a worm’s-eye view of your subject.
Still, we’ll take the power-conserving high resolution
of an SLR over the advantages of the point-and-
shoot. Winner: SLR
Formfactor: There’s really no
contest here. Even though there’s a macho
factor to lugging around a five-pound
camera and lens, we’d rather take the
point-and-shoot on a long hike any day of
the week. Winner: Point-and-shoot
Image quality: There’s a reason why the
Olympus C-8080 has such a great rep: It takes
such remarkably good pictures that you’d be hard
pressed to see a difference between its output and
that of any prosumer or consumer digital SLR. That’s
assuming, however, the C-8080 has a decent amount
of available light to shoot in. There’s a simple problem
that technology has yet to overcome: image noise—aka
grain—increases in proportion to the number of pixels in the image sensor. The
only way to reduce the grain is to spread the pixels over a larger area. The C-8080’s
58mm^2 image sensor simply can’t compete with the EOS 20D’s 337mm^2 sensor,
which spreads its pixels over an area that’s nearly six times larger. Winner: SLR
Most point and shoots
like the C-8080’s major
weakness is taking images
at high ISO ratings. At 400
ISO, the C-8080 grain is
very visible while the 20D’s
is still almost grainless.Whether moving up to a digital SLR is worth the extra cost
really depends on how serious you are about photography.
If you shoot nothing more than group photos or subjects that
don’t require the performance, speed, and lens options of
an SLR, it doesn’t make sense to deal with the extra weight,cost, and complexity of an SLR. On the other hand, if you plan
to get serious about photography, shoot in a lot of low-light
environments, and use subjects that don’t remain stationary,
there’s no point-and-shoot camera on the market that can beat
a digital SLR. nTHE UPSHOT
POINT AND SHOOT: OLYMPUS C-
Lens: The stock 18-55mm lens on the EOS 20D is roughly equivalent
to a 29-88mm lens on a 35mm film camera. The C-8080 comes with a
much wider 7-35mm (28-140mm, 35mm equivalent) lens. Unlike
the C-8080, however, the SLR can easily be refitted with
lenses both longer and wider than anything you can
get for an advanced point-and-shoot. Winner: SLRPerformance: The C-8080 can capture a continuous
burst of shots at 1.6fps. That’s pretty good for a
point-and-shoot. The Canon, on the other hand,
can shoot up to 23 frames at 5fps; and with a
fast ultrasonic-motor lens, it can out-track any
point-and-shoot on the planet. Besides the
interchangeable lenses, performance is the
number-one reason to forsake a point-and-shoot
for an SLR—even if it does carry a heftier price
tag. Winner: SLRMovie mode: If a picture is worth 1,000 words,
then a video with sound is worth 10,000. That
doesn’t mean you’ll ever trade your DV camcorder
for the 640x480 QuickTime movies the C-
produces, but at least it’s an option. And it’s an
option you will never have with an SLR. Winner:
Point-and-shootDust: Because a point-and-shoot is a sealed box, there’s
no easy way to introduce debris onto the image sensor. The
same can’t be said of a SLR, which requires you to clean it once
in a while, using swabs or blowers that can wreck the sensor if used
improperly. Once you’ve damaged the delicate sensor, you can kiss
your $1,500 goodbye. Winner: Point-and-shootCanon Olympuselectronic viewfinder. The image can’t get washed out in bright light, and what
The EVF in the C-8080 also has an advantage over the SLR: It presents
more data. Most SLR data is either at the bottom of the
viewfinder or on the right side. Because an EVF is a tiny
LCD screen, the camera can superimpose, HUD style,
such useful info as a real-time histogram or other
camera settings on the scene. Neato. Furthermore, all
point-and-shoots let you frame your image from the
preview LCD on the back. With the C-8080, you can
angle it out from the body, so you can frame a Hail
Mary shot or get a worm’s-eye view of your subject.
Still, we’ll take the power-conserving high resolution
of an SLR over the advantages of the point-and-
Olympus C-8080 has such a great rep: It takes
such remarkably good pictures that you’d be hard
pressed to see a difference between its output and
that of any prosumer or consumer digital SLR. That’s
assuming, however, the C-8080 has a decent amount
of available light to shoot in. There’s a simple problem
that technology has yet to overcome: image noise—aka
much wider 7-35mm (28-140mm, 35mm equivalent) lens. Unlike
the C-8080, however, the SLR can easily be refitted with
lenses both longer and wider than anything you can
get for an advanced point-and-shoot.Performance:number-one reason to forsake a point-and-shootMovie mode:doesn’t mean you’ll ever trade your DV camcorderoption you will never have with an SLR.Dust: Because a point-and-shoot is a sealed box, there’s
no easy way to introduce debris onto the image sensor. The
same can’t be said of a SLR, which requires you to clean it once
in a while, using swabs or blowers that can wreck the sensor if used
improperly. Once you’ve damaged the delicate sensor, you can kiss
your $1,500 goodbye.