Suggestions for new P&S

viridari said:

I just picked up an Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 DLX on fleabay tonight. I'll be sure to report back to this thread after I've had some time to play with it. It claims to support film from ASA 50 to ASA 3200 so I'm thinking this might be just the one to sneak into music performances where people with SLR's are evil and verboten.

Total cost, shipped to my door, was $13.

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I have run a couple rolls of film through the Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 and I'm a bit mixed on it.

Ergonomically, it can be a little awkward sometimes. The flash is enabled by default when you turn it on, and if you disable the flash or change the flash setting, your preference is forgotten the next time you turn the camera on.

The panorama crop switch gets bumped by accident sometimes.

The viewfinder is really tiny and awkward to look into. This is the worst part of the camera, IMO, and I'm still trying to get used to it.

The camera itself is small and light. I carry it everywhere now.

It takes an oddball battery (123). Be aware.

It honors the DX coding from a really wide variety of ASA's. You cannot override the exposure in any way so you either have to shoot at box speed or fool it with aftermarket DX stickers.

Here are some sample images from my test rolls (Ilford HP+, Rodinal 1:50 per Massive Dev Chart):

Maybe its just me, but I really cant stand the grain pattern in HP5+Rodinal.. have you tried delta or pyro ?

I think Minox makes a couple of nice P&S

Great suggestions, especially the Stylus Epic. I have a beautiful black one in "like-new condition" (it's frightening how much we all use 'ebay-speak' as our normal language) and it often accompanies me on my travels. Another cool AF compact is the Minolta AF-C, sort of an AF version of the XA concept, similar to the Canon MC. It has a beautiful, sharp 35/2.8 lens and it's quite compact. If you can tolerate a much older camera, the Olympus 35RC is superb. It's very compact but offers full manual or an Auto setting, and it has a beautiful 5-element 2.8 lens.

I have a drawer-full of 35mm P&S gear, all new or like-new. The like-new stuff was barely used. I have several splendid Konica A4 models or the Big Mini, with 35mm f3.5 lenses. Razor sharp. I have some with zoom lenses too. l have several Olympus P&S with zooms. Also a couple of the neat Nikon 28mm f3.5 Lite-Touch, and a couple of a similar Lite-Touch with 35-70 zoom. A new Minox CD 70 still in a box. The lenses on the Pentaxes are second to none. A couple of Samsungs are also surprising in quality.
I think maybe it's time to unload some of these. This may not be the place, but the readers and writers of this thread may be interested. I'll mention it here first, then go through my collection to set prices and post a for-sale notice. I may be able to answer questions about some of these pocketable gems, too.
By the way, one of the replies says that the 123 battery is an oddball. Not so. Every one of these cameras mentioned above uses that battery.
I also have a couple of the remarkable Ricoh FF90 P&S cameras that use AA cells. And I have been fairly pleased with the Olympus Stylus Zoom 80. And the results from the Pentax UC-1 with its 32mm lens are amazing,
I find myself carrying an Olympus XA without flash in a pocket these days when I have one of my usual 35mm rigs with motor with me.
Email me with any questions.

Rosey, if you have something with a fairly fast 28-35mm lens (say, f/2.8 or faster,) I'd be interested. I just got back a roll from a disposable I tried; very small, very light, very cheap camera but the lens is rather slow, the blasted flash wants to fire on every shot (probably because the lens is slow and I'm using it more indoors than out,) I have no control over the image and, well, the photographs weren't all that great. Sharpness leaves a little something to be desired. So I'm back to looking for a pocketable P&S with a fabulous lens. Shirt-pocketable would be ideal but at least for the spring, jacket pocketable will do. Thanks!

Mike

Just picked up another black olympus stylus with 35mm f3.5 lens. 2nd one this month.
These 2 were the black model, the fierst one unfortunately did not work =] but the one i bought today works fine. Must be a slightly later model because this has the date imprint and the other one didnt.

Anyway, I personally like the older black model a little better because the buttons are on top and easier to press.

sounds liek rosey has a good selection for you.

Another vote for the Yashica T4...except that it's ridiculously priced used now. It costs more than it did new in 1999!:rolleyes:

Just something to consider if you're considering olympus Stylus Epic VS XA, the stylus epic has spot metering, and most importantly, exposure lock, which i sometimes miss using the XA. However, the XA is way quieter, has a better VF, and is manual focus.

I vote for the Yashica T4. That was the one I was using before I upgraded to the fabolous Nikon 35TI. I had the Epic but I gave up using it because it lacked the infinity focus lock, thus making impossible to shoot trough a window.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Never sold it. Make an offer.

I have an Olympus 35RC which is a nice, compact little camera. Has a sharp 35mm 3.5 lens, a built-in meter which I never use, I like it for P&S and have had good luck with the sunny 16 shooting. I keep it in my car for handy quick shooting when I don't have another camera available.

Another vote for an XA or a Rollei 35.

If those are too manual and slow, I have got excellent results with my Canon Sureshot 76 zoom. This is an automatic fixed-focus zoom point and shoot from the mid-late '90s, and it also has "flash off" and "flash on" settings, as well as a self timer. I think the lens is 38mm through 76mm. I never found it very useful for anything beyond the middle or so, as focus and shutter speed become a bigger issue there. It has no exposure controls, and it is battery dependent for everything. These are $1 to $5 cameras, but finding them is the issue. They tend to come up all the time, but probably would not do so if you were actually on the hunt for one! You get the best results in good light with a fast film, of course, because the camera gives you fast shutter speeds and deep depth of field this way. Or maybe the shutter speed is fixed after all. Who knows. I do know that it takes nice pix for a point and shoot, though. I have never tried it on a tripod, where the long focal lengths might improve in quality. I would just use a "good" camera if I was going to lug a tripod anyhow. Any point and shoot is limiting, but any camera is better than no camera, and I have definitely made some good-enough prints from this camera that I would not have got if I had not brought it along. I am sure all the big camera companies had similar models of point and shoot cameras, and, like Canon, endless variations thereupon.

One has nailed it again. For under 15 bucks (including shipping) on the EBay you can get one of many Cannon Sureshot cameras. We just finished a "We all shoot one Camera" with a Sureshot.

Not my cup of tea but it will work for you.

tim in san jose

I have a great little canon sure shot 76 zoom too. Nice little camera.

Got the first roll back from my new-to-me Konica Big Mini and I have to say... the quality of Walgreen's photo finishing has really fallen off a cliff since the last time I put a roll of color film through! The first half of the roll is light-struck, the second half has roller marks from dirty rollers over all the frames. Other than that, it looks good: sharp, contrasty, good saturation. It's best suited for a large pocket; I'll have to see where I can put it this summer when the jacket comes off. Pretty camera, too: this one looks pristine, doesn't look like a roll of film was ever put through it. I think this one will work for my project. Thanks everyone, especially 'rosey' for the very nice Big Mini! I'll post a shot or two when I can.

Mike

mjs said:

Thanks everyone, especially 'rosey' for the very nice Big Mini! I'll post a shot or two when I can.

Mike

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Mike,
Glad you like the Big Mini. I've had good luck with mine, but you'll also need some luck finding a decent place to get the film processed and prints made. I've been pleased with my local Ritz.

A reminder to followers of this thread. I have two dozen similar P&S cameras to unload at bargain prices, a fraction of what they cost new. That includes Pentax, Konica, Nikon, Minox, Samsung, Olympus and Ricoh. Some of them have zooms. All are new or like new with cases. I am not exaggerating the condition of these gems.

Sure, I can put 'em all up on eBay, but film shooters here can have first crack at them.

KEN (ROSEY)