Hi All,

time for a new gadget, and I am quite keen on the Olympus C 50. 5 Megapixel, very small and handy, cool looks,..etc..

I have been snooping around Ebay a little and it there seem to be some pretty good deals out there from very reputable sellers (1000's of positive feedbacks), yet I have the feeling some are selling refurbished models. Anyone have any experience with this ? Should I stay clear of Ebay in general for this or just stay clear of the "refurbished" ones ?

Thanks
J

Do you mean the Olympus C-5050?

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Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
www.biztrip.com

No, I mean the C 50....link below

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...=2&product=891

Try B and H in New York, they sometimes have some incredible deals on Olympus.

www.bhphotovideo.com

Other times their prices are not that good. You usually have to click on a link and give your e-mail address, and their system sends you the price in a few seconds.

JohnG, before purchasing off eBay you may wish to check a site like pricegrabber.com. It gives you a good guide for the lowest commerically-available price, and it also gives reseller ratings which help guide you to reputable, helpful retailers.

A quick pricegrabber search on the Olympus C-50 revealed a price of $444.98 at buydig.com, which seems an excellent price on a 5MP camera. I've used buydig in the past and have been extremely happy with them -- reasonable shipping charges, no hard-sell of add-ons, and a generous returns policy. Their cameras are not grey market and are genuinely in-stock if listed as such. Their reseller ratings confirm their standing.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new camera!

(PS - I love my Minolta 7i!)

Excellent links Matthew, those prices are better then anything I have found on Ebay...

Thank you !

By the way, anyone have any experience with the Olympus C50 ? Am I making the right choice ?

My main objectives are portability,decent functions and cool looks i.e. not big and chunky while still packing a lot in i.e. 4 or 5 Megapixels..

Thanks

J

Check out dpreview.com

Go into Forums, then Olympus, there are several threads about the camera there, or you can just ask and see what people say.

I steered away from the C-50 after seeing some sample shots -- purple fringing has always been a problem with Olympus cameras, and it's particularly a problem on this camera. It's not received great write-ups in the UK press.

That said, it's one of the smallest 5MP cameras, if that's important to you.

I opted for the Olympus Dimage 7i for it's high quality lense and manual controls, but it may be slightly large for you. The Nikon 5700 is a fine camera that is both compact and full of features, but will be substantially more expensive than the Olympus.

Check out the reviews on dpreview and also on Steve's digicams. Both sites offer good, in-depth reviews far more detailed than anything I've seen in print magazines.

Good luck with your selection. And remember -- who's behind the camera is even more important than which camera you select.

Even if I don't plan on buying from ebay, I will do research there, as I did when buying my latest digital camera - I ended up with an Olympus.

It seems the different auctioneers, if you will, compete with each other by downplaying each other's product. As such, I have found out about the problems and trials of the various cameras, or any product, by reading about each from a competing vendors point of view.

At the same time, I will be made aware of the best perks of each camera. And, the salesmen on ebay get right to it. Like, so you don't have to read very much to find out everything - research has never been so easy

Get a copy of Popular Photograph Magazine and check the ads in the back BUT be sure the price includes evertything (batteries, etc) The recommendation of B&H previously made is good. I have purchased from Smile Camera and had great service and fast delivery..Many of these places have "deals"
on things they push. Some are "hard sell"
but most are pretty decent and their prices probably will beat anything you find on e-bay. USA or International warentee means NOTHING. Olympus will stand behind any product that has their name on it as will any other major manufacturer. Some of these places have been around for 30-50 years and had to be doing something right.

[This message has been edited by billhar (edited 03-12-2003).]

High end electronics are probably the highest fraud area on ebay (perhaps along with signed collectibles). At the same time, there are enough bidders out there that while you may get a good deal, you won't save too much over other cheap but more reliable venues. Personally, I'd steer clear, but if you do proceed....

- Only deal with US based sellers. Be especially wary of eastern europe and southeast asia.
- After the auction, if the seller's location (from the auction and from his id card) don't match his payment info, run.
- Only pay with Paypal, and use Visa or MC for the entire amount. This should give you some charge-back rights in case the transaction goes bad. Discover and AmEx do not offer the same paypal protections.
- Before bidding, find out if the seller is an authorized retailer, and if not, find out how that affects your warranty.
- Read the auction description, title AND category carefully: make sure you are bidding on a camera and not an empty box or wholesale inforamtion.

Good luck.