Film p&s for a beginner

[gho]

I have the old stylus and an XA2. Both are good choices in my opinion. I prefer the XA2 with flash. It's faster (no autofocus). Maybe you should introduce your wife with all the options and let her make the choice.

 

[anerjee]

I'll look for an XA2. We'd need to load it with ISO 800 film to keep it usable at night, since the max aperture is 3.5. But then at night I think the digital p&s is a better option.

 

[Steve M.]

I'm not sure you'd want to spend this much, or risk the chance of an expensive error message possibility, but a Leica Minilux w/ 40mm Summarit has top notch image quality. If you're concerned about the possibility of the error message, and I would be, there's the Leica CM w/ Summarit, but it's bigger and more expensive.

There's always the Contax G1 and Hexar AF cameras as well. I've owned them both and the Hexar is easier to use, but I prefer the image quality of the Zeiss glass on the Contax cameras.

 

[David Hughes]

Here's a list of those small AF cameras I've owned and used. I like all of them but for different reasons.

Prime only I'd recommend these; Konica A4, Leica mini and Minolta Riva Mini. Many people think the Leica and Minolta are identical but the Minolta has a wider range of flash settings (by symbols and the text "AUTO") and the Leica has just "AUTO", "ON" and "OFF" by text plus an infinity symbol.

For the small compact zooms I'd go after these: Canon Z90W, Konica Z-up 110 Zoom, Leica C3, Minolta Riva Zoom 90, Nikon One Touch Zoom 90s, Olympus µ[mju]-III Zoom 80, Olympus µ[mju]-II 80, Pentax ESPIO 928M and Rollei X70 Zoom.

Of these the Canon and Leica are rather larger than the others. And all of them will humiliate enthusiasts using an expensive SLR at times. The Leica C3 has an excellent lens but you've no say in what happens; it's purely a P&S. If I could afford it I'd like to add the "posh" Leica minilux versions to the list but times are hard...

There's two Olympus ....80's listed. The "III Zoom 80" has 11 point AF, spot metering and an infinity lock and the other has a +1½ EV setting and an infinity lock. From memory the others rely on electronics for the AE.

Not asked for; but these are nice in APS: Canon IXUS M-1, Contax Tix and Kodak Advantix T550 (all prime lens only). And these have zooms: Konica Revio Z2, Konica Revio Z3 and Pentax efina T. Apart from the Contax (superb) you can pick them up for pennies, if you keep your eyes open.

I've given the British names for these cameras, btw. And you have to remember that they are all getting old in the tooth by now. I think the Olympus "III Zoom 80" was made from 2004 onwards and the Nikon from 2002; so both are fairly new-ish.

Regards, David

 

[MikeAUS]

Maybe you have a dud?

Maybe you have a dud?

I absolutely dont recommend the Olympus Mju:2. Its really slow and almost never nails the focus. The lens is NOT sharp, almost all images gets a soft unfocused look to them, even those with flash - which should get sharper because of smaller aperture, but they dont get sharper.

I would recommend the Olympus Xa2 instead. Quite cheap, and with zone focus its only your own fault if the images is not in focus, not the cameras.

I've never seen anything bad written about the mju:2. Maybe your copy is defective? It would be the first P&S I recommend to anyone, it's fast and sharp in my experience ...

 

[pixelatedscraps]

Me too: I've had two Stylus / Mju and never had issues with focusing or sharpness from the lens. I've also had two XA2 and can say they both suffer from vignetting. Either way, there will be some compromises. The XA2 is a great manual focus p&s and the Mju is a great auto focus p&s?

 

[Ranchu]

I wasn't satisfied with the Stylus Epic either, Olympus set the exposure program to keep the lens wide open as long as it could before closing down. No lens is particularly sharp wide open compared to closed down, Epic's is no exception. I'm not a big narrow depth of field user, so my preferences are likely part of it. I also thought it was too small, just wasn't what I was looking for.

 

[Lobo]

i have till now mixed results. some good some bad

 

[NeeZee]

I wasn't satisfied with the Stylus Epic either, Olympus set the exposure program to keep the lens wide open as long as it could before closing down. No lens is particularly sharp wide open compared to closed down, Epic's is no exception. I'm not a big narrow depth of field user, so my preferences are likely part of it. I also thought it was too small, just wasn't what I was looking for.

Same experience here. I guess that's the main reason the camera is pretty overhyped right now - the perfect tool for the 'bokeh-crowd' as the exposure program just refuses to stop down.

My fav at the moment is the Konica Big Mini. Got it for 1 € on the flea market. Great lens, reliable focus and way better programmed exposure than the stylus epic. bigger finder too.

In general I'd just get any 35mm f3.5 or f2.8 fixed lens AF p&s you can find for next to no money at a garage sale, flea market etc. Most of them will be pretty similar in performance and good enough if not defective...

 

[BardParker]

I absolutely dont recommend the Olympus Mju:2. Its really slow and almost never nails the focus. The lens is NOT sharp, almost all images gets a soft unfocused look to them, even those with flash - which should get sharper because of smaller aperture, but they dont get sharper.

I would recommend the Olympus Xa2 instead. Quite cheap, and with zone focus its only your own fault if the images is not in focus, not the cameras.

I have found this to be true only when using slow film (ISO 100 or lower) as the stylus epic defaults to large aperture settings. With ISO 400 or higher, the focus seems to work great for me.

However, if your wife likes your XA, then get her an XA-2. The perfect walkabout camera. You can use it if it does not suit her. If she needs flash a lot, then I'd recommend the stylus epic (mju 2). I have all 3 cameras plus the original stylus (Mju 1).

Can't go wrong with any of these, really.

Regards, Kent