 |
Nice P+S film camera, very compact and light, amazingly sharp lens for the price, but could use a few more manual over-rides for my taste. SPOT METERING with exposure and focus LOCK do help in this regard though. All the same, the camera is heavily shutter speed biased, and the spot meter (or fast film) is really the only way to get around that fact. But the compactness, weather-resistance, light weight, and lens quality make up for the lack of manual control. Oh, yes,it's a fixed focal length too, so there's no flexibility there either, but that does make it lighter, smaller, cheaper, and sharper! Other advantages/disadvantages: built-in flash can be very convenient, especially for fill or forced flash, but you may have to remember to turn the flash OFF when you don't want it, because otherwise it's reset to ON every time the lens cover is closed then re-opened again, there's no way for it to "remember" a "flash-off" setting over an off/on again sequence. and again, this camera is MUCH cheaper than a Yashica T4, which has very similar features, and I'd bet the Olympus lens is about as sharp as the Zeiss (I own a Yashica T3 with a Zeiss Tessar T* lens too). True, the Yashica has some exposure compensation, a waist-level finder )which is fun), and a Zeiss lens, but the Olympus is about 1/2 to 1/4 the price!Read full review
I recently purchases an Olympus Stylus Epic 115 QD film camera. This camera features a weather proof housing making it a good camera for shots around water,fishing and the like activities where it may get some spray. Note of caution; I had a similar camera that "took the plunge" with the fisherman and revealed it isn't "waterproof"! I shoot slides and think they rival the digital photos. This camera has a zoom lense making it handy for all shooting distances without changing lenses. The size of this camera also is an advantage and no other equipment is needed except for possibly a tripod. The only disavantage of a film camera is the question of how long film will be made readily available. I would recommend this camera to anyone not yet comfortable with digital or on a tight photography budget.Read full review
The Olympus Stylus Epic is a fixed-lens, point and shoot 35mm film camera. It was one of the last of its kind as it came out around the dawn of the digital age. What makes the Stylus Epic (a.k.a. Mju II) special is its 35mm f/2.8 lens. It is fast and sharp, unlike many of its "trendy" super-zoom contemporaries. It works well in low light, especially with faster film. While the quality won't make anyone throw their Zeiss or Leica lenses in the garbage, it's quite decent given the difference in price between the Stylus Epic and higher-end point and shoots like the Contax T2. The 35mm focal length is very handy and is a good compromise between a wide angle lens and a standard lens. Zoom with your feet. The shutter has a maximum speed of 1/1000 which is better than a lot of older cameras that max out at 1/500. The faster shutter speed means you don't have to worry as much about what speed of film to keep in the camera. ISO200 or 400 works well for general purpose use. If you're so inclined, you can go up to ISO3200 by messing around with the DX coding on the film cannister. The autofocus can be hit and miss, sometimes focusing on the background instead of the subject, but it is swift and works in almost all light conditions including darkness, unlike the contrast autofocus of many modern DSLRs which throws their hands in the air and gives up in very low light. The flash has plenty of oomph and can fill a dark room well. The downside is that since it is mounted so close to the camera lens, red eye is a bit of a problem and can be glaringly obvious even with black and white film. One other downside is that when you set the camera to not use flash or to use the spot meter instead of averaging meter or whatever, the camera will not remember the setting and will default to auto flash so you have to remember to set the flash to whatever you want every time you turn it on if you want anything other than auto. An unfortunate side-effect of the camera being a film camera is that it isn't a very quiet camera. Taking a photo involves a lot of whirring and cliking as the camera works the lens and advances the film and god help you if you're at a piano recital when you hit the last frame in the roll. Prepare for embarrassment as the camera buzzes away loudly while it rewinds for a couple of minutes and everyone glares at you. Careful film management and keeping an eye on the frame counter will help you avoid this. Either that or start going to more noisy events. The camera is very small and light and gives many digital point and shoots a run for the money in that department. The sliding cover is a great feature and makes stowing the camera in a pocket easy and quick. The camera is fast to start up and is good to go as soon as you can slide the cover back. The only thing that will slow you down is the tiny viewfinder that makes framing a tad slower than it could be, but if you're shooting from the hip, it's a swift camera, just hit the button. Overall, if you shoot film and can find a Stylus Epic for a good price, definitely grab one and use it as your "carry around" camera for when you can't or don't want to carry your SLR. It's hardly the perfect camera, but it has the potential to be regarded as a classic much like the Stylus Epic's ancestor, the Olympus XA.Read full review
The Stylus Epic is a little gem of a camera. Picture quality is excellent and it's tiny, as small or smaller than APS cameras. It has no zoom, which means it's not good for shooting close-up portraits (distortion), but look at the upside! The lens is fast (2.8) and almost distortion-free. No zoom also means less power consumption, less weight, and fewer things to go wrong. And it's much cheaper than similar products such as Yashica T4.
For a GREAT 35MM camera that is easy to use while providing exceptional image quality you would be hard pressed to find a better camera than the Olympus Stylus Series of cameras. This camera is very stylish, comfortable the handle, and extremely easy to get professional looking photos from. I am replacing my original two with two that I am buying on eBay. One of my original two was broken when the powder, from my cars airbags, got into the lens. The other was damaged when it was dropped. We loved the ease of use so much that I am replacing them. Highly recommend.
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Film Cameras
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Film Cameras
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
