  We study the capability of the UBVRI photometric system to quantify star
clusters in terms of age, metallicity, and color excess by their integrated
photometry. The well known age-metallicity-extinction degeneracy was analyzed
for various parameter combinations, assuming different levels of photometric
accuracy. We conclude that the UBVRI photometric system enables us to estimate
star cluster parameters over a wide range, if the overall photometric accuracy
is better than ~0.03 mag.
