In praise of the Mju i (stylus infinity)

John Bragg · May 16, 2016

It happens in all walks of life that a new "improved" product loses some of the charm and functionality of the original and whilst we gain in some aspects we loose in others. The Mju ii is undoubtedly a great camera and is capable of great results, but I have come to realise that the original Mju i is a great camera in its own right. For starters the Mju ii has some flaws that its predecessor does not posess. Failure of the autofocus to lock on (usually on a critical shot), weird frame spacing usualy when some time has elapsed between shots, as if the film becomes slack on the takeup spool, and the reduction in size makes it fiddly to handle.
The original Mju i had some flaws too. Abysmal flash performance (except for fill in which it accomplishes with ease), prone to flare in some instances (but so is the Mju ii), a slower lens and less shutter speed range. Despite the faults, I find that for me the original is the best and my hit rate is greater. Frames are evenly spaced, less shots are out of focus, exposure is spot on most of the time and generally it is the camera I prefer to use. Many people would prefer the Mju ii for its faster lens and greater low light capability, but all of this is of no use if the results could be out of focus for no apparent reason or the frames are poorly spaced or overlapping. I own and use both, but if the results are critical, then it is the Mju i every time.

Daire Quinlan · May 16, 2016

Yes, agree totally. I shot with a couple of MJU Is for a while before excitedly getting my hands on a MJU II. Same experience as yourself, I found the AF to be spotty at best, I always had to put it into spot focus mode (or whatever it was called) to ensure I'd get what I wanted in focus. That was the primary downer for me. Got stuck in a drawer eventually and the MJU I won out for subsequent rolls.

TheToadMen · May 16, 2016

I bought me the Mju II new when it first came out and still use it. It's a wonderful camera: small, light, excellent light meter and lens. I especially like it for B&W point&shoot. I carry it almost daily.

I recently bought me its predecessor too, the MJU I on a boot sale for $5. I just shot my first roll with it so I can't wait to see the results.

John Bragg · May 16, 2016

TheToadMen said:
I bought me the Mju II new when it first came out and still use it. It's a wonderful camera: small, light, excellent light meter and lens. I especially like it for B&W point&shoot. I carry it almost daily.

I recently bought me its predecessor too, the MJU I on a boot sale for $5. I just shot my first roll with it so I can't wait to see the results.

I dont think you will be disappointed. Great camera, espescially for street candids. Still need to turn flash off each shot though, as the default is auto flash. Perfect size for the hand, as Mju ii is sometimes too tiny, buttons miniscule.

TheToadMen · May 16, 2016

Yeah, the automated flash is the only feature I don't like. It would be nice if the flash kept turned off every time you close&open the camera.
But since I use it as a daily travel camera in my pocket, I mostly shoot outside so I can live with that.

blockend · May 16, 2016

Nice cameras, but both Mju's are too damn clever for their own good. They're almost perfect, which makes them even more annoying!

TheToadMen · May 16, 2016

blockend said:
Nice cameras, but both Mju's are too damn clever for their own good. They're almost perfect, which makes them even more annoying!

Hence the automated flash feature

onre · May 16, 2016

I have AF-1, which is the predecessor of Mju I. It is absurdly sharp, and I like the sort of fatalistic photography it forces me to do - there are no adjustments at all, you can't even turn off the flash. All you can do is point and shoot.

On the full-size scan, even the street sign on the light-green building is easily readable.

Huss · May 17, 2016

My Stylus (Mju) and my 645. The Mju seems to be the size of the 645's lens hood..

John Bragg · May 17, 2016

An example of how the Mju i copes with street shooting. Taken in Blackpool on a bright sunny day.

Winter Gardens Blackpool. by John Bragg, on Flickr

trythis · May 17, 2016

I gave up on my mju ii. The frame spacing started to get consistently bad. The camera was making a frame and a half each time it advanced leaving a whole frame blank between each shot. Too wasteful! I think the ir sensor was going bad because that was the only thong that affected frame spacing when I ran a bad roll with the door open.

thuggins · May 18, 2016

The Stylus series is in the long Olympus tradition of making small, pocketable cameras with superb optics. It is a fine example of the epitome of 35mm film camera technology and it is fitting that this was one of the last P&S cameras produced, available new well into the d!%!+@l age. But it does suffer from the curse of its own technology. The flash issue mentioned here is one, but the selection of a large aperture to get a fast shutter speed is most annoying. But this was not just limited to Olympus. Apparently all manufacturers felt that with the onset of autofocus, people suddenly developed terrible shaking problems, requiring the need for the fastest possible shutter speed. This, along with the fact that 99.9% of my shots are taken with natural light, has always led me to prefer the XA's in their various forms.

BTW, I would hope that folks here know that the name of the non-US version was Mu, not Mju. That's µ, as in the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, the international symbol for 10^-6, typically read as "micro" (e.g. µg = microgram). Oly obviously intended the designation to allude to its small size. Mju is a Japanese "mistranslation" (the phonetic spelling, to be precise), similar to the instructions that came with a Honda, directing that the jack be placed "under the neath".

TheToadMen · May 18, 2016

thuggins said:
BTW, I would hope that folks here know that the name of the non-US version was Mu, not Mju. That's µ, as in the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, the international symbol for 10^-6, typically read as "micro" (e.g. µg = microgram). Oly obviously intended the designation to allude to its small size. Mju is a Japanese "mistranslation" (the phonetic spelling, to be precise), similar to the instructions that came with a Honda, directing that the jack be placed "under the neath".

you're probably right about the old Greek alphabet, but Olympus itself called the camera "Mju". It was even written phonetically on the camera:

In praise of the Mju i (stylus infinity)

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