I've narrowed my choice down to the Canon PowerShot 70 or the Olympus 2000. It's now a matter of deciding which of the compromises I'm willing to live with. From what I've seen the Canon seems to have the superior image, but the Olympus offers a far better selection of exposure and color balance controls. The Canon has better construction, especially compared to the tripod thread of the Olympus, but the Olympus comes with a built in PC connection (How do you connect a Powershot to studio strobes?) The Olympus image size is a better image ratio, the lens range is more useful, but the lack of lens threads is wierd. I love the LCD on the Canon for the kind of studio work I do (It would be great, no more hanging over a ladder to see though the viewfinder when shooting larger flat shots).

Don't have any idea which camera system is easier to get images into a Mac with, though if it became a deciding factor I could put them on a PC first then move them.

Anyone with sage advise? (Absolutely NO interest in the Nikon 950)

-- Clark Linehan (clinehan@shore.net), July 02, 1999

Answers

The Oly C-2000 DOES have lens threads. I just obtained the CLA-1 adapter, and am now using it with a Raynox wide angle lens attached.

The Oly downloads to Mac, via serial cable, at 230k per second. I have decided to live with that until the Microtech or Oly USB Smartmedia reader is released.

-- Sean Collins (sean@hogheaven.com), July 03, 1999.

No definitive answer for you, but we did like the Canon in the studio a lot - just seemed "comfortable" to use. OTOH, the Olympus exposure control (1/3 f-stop resolution on the aperture setting) is a big plus. I also liked Oly's IR remote *very* much! Finally, if you want, you can use the video out port to run the LCD signal to a TV monitor, providing you the ultimate "remote viewfinder." Sounds like I'm pushing for the Oly, but both are excellent. One deciding factor might be the tonal balance of the two: The Oly tends toward the contrasty side, the Canon is a little "flatter." Maybe a matter of personal preference, but that's an area where you'll see a difference. Hope t

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), July 04, 1999.

I recall reading one of your reviews, especially your mention of how much you liked the camera in the studio. My main reservation about the Olympus now is the purple flare problem I've heard mentioned that seems to be a problem with the new 2 mpix cameras. Among other things I shoot a fair amount of metal and this sounds like a problem that might rear its head in the specular highlights. I know the remote for the Olympus sounds like a very handy thing, but the Canon, with the included batteries and AC adapter sounds like it might be the better studio camera. I'm also concerned about the plastic tripod thread on the Olympus.

I also have to admit that to some degree this camera is being purchased just because I have a few clients with small image size requirements, be they for web, Powerpoint, or instruction manuals who just want to do it digitally - no other good reason. I've now lost a couple of jobs because if it. All other compromises having been "justified", the Canon just looks more impressive. I know a stupid reason, but the Olympus looks like a toy given its size and Nikon looks like a P&S.

-- Clark Linehan (clinehan@shore.net), July 06, 1999.

A couple of other questions come to mind...

How to do you attach the Canon to studio strobes? I'd heard the polarity of the hotshoe was reverse of normal, thus you can't use a normal hotshoe to pc adapter.

On the Olympus I've heard that it suffers from the same purple fringing of specular highlights that is evident in the Nikon 950 and there are now some who say that this is a flaw in the new ccd's they're both using. While I have heard this is a problem with the Nikon I'd never heard it directly attributed to the Olympus. Can anyone confirm this? I shoot a fair amount of metal and obviously this would be a concern. (For the same reason I wouldn't mind if the Canon image was slightly flatter than that of the Olympus.)

Clark

-- Clark Linehan (clinehan@shore.net), July 06, 1999.

Dunno about the flash attachment on the Pro70. - Olympus is easy as pie, the Nikon 950 has a special Nikon sync plug on it. As to the "purple haze" (with apologies to Jimi Hendrix), it's definitely there - it does seem to be a factor with the C-2000 and CP950. There may be ways to mitigate it, and it is somewhat determined by just how great a light overload you're hitting it with. The pot lid in the Davebox test target is meant to trigger that sort of problem, but those lights (pretty bright incandescents) didn't trigger it, whereas bright sky behind tree leaves, or strobes reflecting off metal does. Lowering the contrast of your lighting a bit, but then that might lose the effect you're trying to create...

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), July 08, 1999.

Dave,

The "purple haze" seems to be getting more attention with both the Olympus and Nikon from some of the other places I've been visiting. Metals are a big part of what I shoot and I may finally have found the deciding factor for my decision. Now, finally, I just have to find out how to hook the Speedo's to the Canon. If I can get a definative answer I'll post it.

Thanks,

Clark

-- Clark Linehan (clinehan@shore.net), July 08, 1999.