Anyone using Olympus mjuII?

Steve Roberts · Jul 14, 2008

Hi All,
I have one of these neat little cameras that I carry around as a "just in case" or as a back-up loaded with HP5. It's the fixed focal length 35mm weatherproof version and has always given me satisfactory results within its obvious limitations. However, some of the latest roll I exposed was taken unusually in bright sunlight conditions instead of the normal British Standard Overcast and I notice that some light has been leaking apparently through the neoprene seal where it sits under the eyepiece. For most of its length, the seal has the added assistance of a lip, but not around the short length under the viewfinder. The light hasn't gone quite far enough to impinge on the picture area, but I wonder if anyone else has had a problem with this and has perhaps had to replace the seal (or stick a piece of black tape in the appropriate place!)
Thanks in anticipation,
Steve

fschifano · Jul 14, 2008

I do have one of these and it's probably the best little auto everything point and shoot camera I've ever owned. No I have not experienced the problem you are having.

mabman · Jul 14, 2008

I've had a couple (a.k.a. "Stylus Epic" in North America). Apparently I have the worst luck in the world, as I'm the only one who keeps breaking these beyond functionality I haven't experienced a light leak as you describe, though.

Are you sure the leak originates under the eyepiece and not something wrong with the film-type-window (no idea what it's actually called)? Those things always make me nervous for leaks, and I have read a couple of reviews where other users had light-leak issues with it there.

Steve Roberts · Jul 14, 2008

mabman said:
Are you sure the leak originates under the eyepiece and not something wrong with the film-type-window (no idea what it's actually called)? Those things always make me nervous for leaks, and I have read a couple of reviews where other users had light-leak issues with it there.

It's definitely coming through the seal by the viewfinder as the film is fogged along the edge just where it lies next to the V/F. Strange, because the previous roll was fine. It could be that I was unlucky and had a speck of something that stopped the neprene from seating correctly. I know what you mean about the film-type window, especially on the Olympus where the sealing foam has a partially smooth surface. I'm almost tempted to tape over that window anyway as I only ever use HP5 in that camera.

Thanks for both the comments so far.

Steve

ajuk · Jul 14, 2008

So glad I found this thread, its my carry everywhere camera, what frustrates me is that Olympus have shown they can make such a great camera in such a small body, but havn't put any manual controls in it. is their even a camera that size that is both as modern and has manual controls?

Anyway I can say I have had that problem myself, the cameras are quite cheap to replace.

pentaxuser · Jul 14, 2008

Bought one in the latter part of the last century as a "do everything snapper" camera. Chronologically accurate but the sentence sounds like I was in correspondence with Fox Talbot! I was still at the stage of " you press the button, we do the rest" in photography terms. Haven't put too many rolls through it. Haven't experienced the problems you mention but not surprising given how little it has been used. Irrelevant to your thread but for a plastic kind of camera it is actually a very tough beast.

pentaxuser

fschifano · Jul 14, 2008

ajuk said:
So glad I found this thread, its my carry everywhere camera, what frustrates me is that Olympus have shown they can make such a great camera in such a small body, but havn't put any manual controls in it. is their even a camera that size that is both as modern and has manual controls?

Anyway I can say I have had that problem myself, the cameras are quite cheap to replace.

I'm afraid not. The closest cameras I can think of at the moment are the Rollie 35 and the Minox 35. The Rollie has a collapsible lens, and the Minox is a tiny folding camera. Most of the Rollie 35s have built in light meters; the Minox 35s have auto exposure. Neither has a rangefinder, so you must guesstimate the focus. Both are tiny and pocketable, and should not cost too much on the used market.

mabman · Jul 15, 2008

ajuk said:
...Is their even a camera that size that is both as modern and has manual controls?...

I also don't think you'll find anything with the same size, automation level, *and* manual controls.

However, Olympus made a couple of other rangefinder cameras that have (some) manual functions and are pretty compact - not quite as compact as the Stylus Epic, but you can't have everything.

These would be the Olympus 35* series (35RC, 35RD, and several others with slightly different features but each the same size). I have a 35RC and I love it - the rangefinder is easy to see in low light, it has full manual aperture and shutter speed controls, or a shutter-priority auto-exposure system that's quite accurate. You do need to use hearing-aid batteries in it, as they originally used mercury ones that are no longer made. The only other caveat is that lens caps and filters seem to be pretty rare, and it uses a bit of an uncommon filter size, so you'll likely need a step-up adapter to a more common size.

The other contender would be an Olympus XA, which is newer and quite compact, esp. without the screw-in flash. It is aperture-priority, but doesn't have a manual shutter speed mode. Also, due to the size the rangefinder spot isn't that easy to see indoors or in dim light. There was also the XA2-XA4, but those weren't rangefinders and used scale/guess focus.

cricketboy75 · Jul 15, 2008

used to have one and loved it, but my dogs chewed it up several years ago. now i use an olympus xa2. it takes really good pics too for a compact.

luvcameras · Jul 15, 2008

My Olympus Stylus Epica Article is here

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/epic.htm

Dan

ajuk · Jul 15, 2008

Oh so thats you, I read that a few years ago, didn't realize it was written by the apuger type!

I know about the XA, its ok but its a bit heavier and only ultra compact without the flash.

Simon E · Jul 16, 2008

Haven't had this problem but my Dad's OM-40 did. Black electrical tape was the answer.

IME the XA's optics aren't a match for the mju-II, vignetting can be quite bad. Despite that, the instant near-silent shutter and aperture priority swing it for some. My main worry with the XA would be that nowadays they are very old and not terribly robust.

I carry a Mju-II with HP5 most places I go. I enjoy the size and the fuss-free operation - just two presses to disengage the flash and it's all down to the operator. I used to put XP2 or T400CN in it but Kodak stopped production of b&w paper and my local lab's efforts on colour paper just aren't the same. It's not perfect but it's probably as close as I'll find. I have a second one as a family snapshot camera with colour neg film.

Most of these are quite old now, I have to admit I haven't scanned or printed any mju pics for ages:
http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=191078

Andrey · Jul 16, 2008

I have one and I love it.

I have to turn the flash off and turn on the spotmeter every time I use it, but in the three rolls of film I've ran through it all the pictures are in focus and the exposure is spot on. I've ordered them as "no correction" so they didn't adjust it.

thuggins · Jul 19, 2008

I have just checked the door seal on my Stylus Epic. The rubber gasket (it's not just a light seal, it's a real gasket) is about .06" deep. And there is no lip on the door just under the viewfinder; it is cut away there for the viewfinder to fit. So if the gasket is going to get damaged or twisted and cause a light leak, that's where it's likely to happen.

I recently had a chance to compare the Stylus Epic to my XA2. The shots from the Stylus are remarkably good. But compared shot for shot they are noticeably softer than the XA. The shots from the XA practically jump off the light table. This coincides with published charts on the Stylus' choice of shutter speed vs aperture. It uses extremely high shutter speeds given it's only a 35mm lens. With 100 speed film the Stylus almost always sets the aperture full open (It even wants to use the flash under pretty bright evening light). Olympus put a great f2.8 on the Stylus, but no lens is at its best at full aperture.

This was a real change from Olympus' earlier programmed exposure cameras. Olympus had always opted for smaller apertures and slower shutter speeds. It's likely that with the advent of auto-focus, they figured the depth of field was not as important.

nze · Jul 20, 2008

I always have mine in my pocket.

nze · Jul 20, 2008

XA lens are not as good as the MJU , but XA4 have a real great lens. But has already wrote they are not reliable, I already have 3 XA and they all have the same elctronic problem after some use.

pentaxuser · Jul 20, 2008

I have only ever used colour print film in the mjuII. As I see it the problem with B&W film is that it cannot accept filters so any shot with sky becomes largly a featureless white in the sky area. Or is there a solution to this problem with a mjuII?

pentaxuser

Peter Black · Jul 20, 2008

pentaxuser said:
I have only ever used colour print film in the mjuII. As I see it the problem with B&W film is that it cannot accept filters so any shot with sky becomes largly a featureless white in the sky area. Or is there a solution to this problem with a mjuII?

pentaxuser

Not really, although I've tried holding a filter in front of the lens. The problem is that the lens moves a surprising amount and it is quite easy to have the lens hit the filter and the motor that moves the lens doesn't like it and can jam. I tend to use XP2 in mine due to its wide exposure latitude, but skies can certainly be a problem.

Tim Gray · Jul 22, 2008

thuggins said:
This was a real change from Olympus' earlier programmed exposure cameras. Olympus had always opted for smaller apertures and slower shutter speeds. It's likely that with the advent of auto-focus, they figured the depth of field was not as important.

It'd be nice to have control over this. But... given that most consumers can't hold a camera still, this was probably a good design move.

Steve Roberts · Jul 23, 2008

pentaxuser said:
I have only ever used colour print film in the mjuII. As I see it the problem with B&W film is that it cannot accept filters so any shot with sky becomes largly a featureless white in the sky area. Or is there a solution to this problem with a mjuII?

pentaxuser

I've given this a bit of thought a few times. One hare-brained scheme was to attach a Y2 filter (or carefully cut piece of same) semi-permanently and then fudge the DX coding with a stick-on label to tell the camera that my 400asa film was only 200asa. I've never done it and really came around to the fact that if I was plotting such devious schemes I was probably getting away from the whole concept of a handy, take-anywhere P & S camera!

Steve

ajuk · Jul 29, 2008

Simon E said:
I carry a Mju-II with HP5 most places I go. I enjoy the size and the fuss-free operation - just two presses to disengage the flash and it's all down to the operator. I used to put XP2 or T400CN in it but Kodak stopped production of b&w paper

Couldn't they just use someone else's paper?

pentaxuser said:
I have only ever used colour print film in the mjuII. As I see it the problem with B&W film is that it cannot accept filters so any shot with sky becomes largly a featureless white in the sky area. Or is there a solution to this problem with a mjuII?

pentaxuser

A small red gel and a piece of blue tack.

Simon E · Aug 2, 2008

ajuk said:
Couldn't they just use someone else's paper?

There is no mono paper for C-41 colour machines now, Kodak was the only one :-( Colour paper printed 'neutral' just doesn't look right, though it is OK for people who aren't too picky.

azza · Aug 4, 2008

Ahh, the mighty mjuII. A tough litle camera that produces some impressive results. They're also quite cheap too. I've bought 2 now for less than $10 each, both with cases and batteries and one with the original box and instructions etc.
I've got some shots i've taken with mine here, and here

Has anyone used slide film in these cameras? I'm about to go overseas and have been thinking of carrying around my mjuII with a roll of Provia loaded in it, or is that a silly idea?
cheers

Markok765 · Aug 5, 2008

azza said:
Ahh, the mighty mjuII. A tough litle camera that produces some impressive results. They're also quite cheap too. I've bought 2 now for less than $10 each, both with cases and batteries and one with the original box and instructions etc.
I've got some shots i've taken with mine here, and here

Has anyone used slide film in these cameras? I'm about to go overseas and have been thinking of carrying around my mjuII with a roll of Provia loaded in it, or is that a silly idea?
cheers

I have used slide film in mine. Most photos came out well. Remember to use the spotmeter thing in the camera.

rmolson · Aug 5, 2008

Olympus

Stylus 80

I dont have that model of stylus but I did get a Stylus 80 a few years ago and it was a waste of money. One it consistently underexposed HP-5 and there is no way to compensate. Secondy if you didnt want a flash going off on every shot the tiny tiny buttons on the top had to be set and there was no lock on the setting either. So in I think 3 minutes if you had not shot something it shut itself off and the next time it was activated you had to go through the same drill .Action shots were a laugh, focus on a two year old and it would get around to firing by the time they were ready for college!!! It however was not a as bad as the Lecia Point and shoot! Which had the same faults and worse the shutter release was so small and so recessed you could not feel it but had to look were to place your finger! I retired that camera too .and dug out my little Yashica MC, manual preset focus and film speed apertures preferred and can count on it to give sharp, well exposed real time shots. Analog all the way!!!

Anyone using Olympus mjuII?

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