Lens performance Oly XA v Oly MJUII (epic)

howpow

howpow

Established
Local time
4:45 AM
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Messages
82
I was wondering what members opinions are of the relative merits of the above cameras in term of picture quality. I suspect that the MJUII (epic) with it's aspheric element is probably superior but I would be curious to hear from those who have used both. :(
 
Last edited:
I have done alot of research on both cameras, as I spent some weeks wanting one.

The Mju II is known for having a spectacular lens, but so is the XA. The XA is not AF, it is scale focus from what I have heard. That makes the Mju II perhaps more capable in some situtions, though I have seen some amazing images come out of the XA. The XA gives you a little more control, though. The MJU II is 100% automatic, and controlling the flash is hard. You can't control DOF easily.

If I were to buy either, I'd go for the Mju II only because its fully automatic operation is more useful to me since I already own a fully manual camera. Having something small and quick with amazing glass would be nice.

Of course, what i really want is the Hexar AF . . .

Please go here to see a nice review of the Mju II:
http://www.photo.net/equipment/olympus/mjuII
or
http://www.jimtardio.com/olympus-epic.html
and especially : http://medfmt.8k.com/usaf/

the lens on the Mju II is quite spectacularly sharp.
 
IME the mjuii has the sharper lens but the XA allows you RF focussing and aperture priority control. I kept the XA as I hated the shutter lag and lack of control. I often use the XA in its "snapshot" mode.

Mark
 
I have both and can't really see any difference lens performance wise.
I find myself using the XA much more because you can control the camera better (it's not fully auto like the Stylus) and there is not this really annoying flash that always fire when you don't need it to.
 
rool said:
I have both and can't really see any difference lens performance wise.
I find myself using the XA much more because you can control the camera better (it's not fully auto like the Stylus) and there is not this really annoying flash that always fire when you don't need it to.
Click to expand...

same here, the flash and lag spoil the mju
both have good glass, can't tell them apart
 
shutterflower said:
<snip>
The XA is not AF, it is scale focus from what I have heard.
Click to expand...

The XA has a rangefinder, though it's a short baseline and not overly bright/contrasty. The XA-2 and other XA models (including the wonderful XA-4) are scale focus.

Manual control and RF focusing mean a lot to me. And the wonderful shutter release on the XA is worth the price of admission to me.

Earl
 
Thanks to all for the informatioin and links. I have an XA but the shutter button works erratically. I might have to get it repaired as it is good in all other respects. It appears that the lens performance of the two is very close for all practical purposes, and I do like the rangefinder on the XA (mine is actually quite bright).
Thanks again
Howard
 
I have both but seldom use the stylus, the xa is more of what I want in a camera. The sutter sounds like mine was, it was the cover not being open fully so the camera thought it was still closed.
Bill
 
I've had both but I had to sell my XA. I love the lens on both of them. But I needed the quality of the XA with the convenience of AF. I ride my bike with my Stylus. I tried to shoot with the XA off the hip but hard to do. I can do that with they Stylus. So really depends on your style of shooting.
 
BILLC said:
I have both but seldom use the stylus, the xa is more of what I want in a camera. The sutter sounds like mine was, it was the cover not being open fully so the camera thought it was still closed.
Bill
Click to expand...
Hi Bill, actually my problem relates to where you press on the pad. If I press with my fingernail on the right front corner of the pad it usually works fine. If I press the middle of the pad with my fingertip then it may or may not work. It makes it very hard to take the shot at the correct moment :bang:
 
Howard: A CLA is in order. The shutter release button should not opearate that way.

BTW, I didn't mean the XA viewfinder wasn't bright; it's just not as bright and contrasty as many other RFs. I have no problems with the windows on my XAs, other than they both need service and cleaning.
 
I've owned both and find the Epic lens a tad sharper. But as has been said, the XA allows more control over apertures and focus. The Epic is easier to slip in a pocket and carry around, IMO. And it's little built-in flash does a good job of fill-in outdoors.

They're both nice cams.

Gene
 
I recently aquired a mju II and find that it misfocuses about 15% of the time. I always have to remember to shut off the flash before I shoot in addition to which it tends to underexpose in anything less than bright sunlight. Nevertheless it does produce some very sharp pictures. The above is equally true for my mju I.
Kurt M.
 
Like Eric, I use my Stylus Epic while riding my bike. It's the only camera I own that I can comfortably shoot while still riding (road bike or mountain bike in moderate terrain)

Yes, it occasionally misfocuses. And the exposure is good enough for negative film. But for those "camera in one hand, other on the handlebars" shots while riding in a group, it can't be beat.

And if you crash on a mountain bike with it in your jersey pocket and land on a rock, you're only out a max $80. That's worth it when everyone else's photos were made standing around the car before you left on the ride.
 
About needing one hand to shoot while biking, etc.--isn't the XA2 or 3 an option? Is the Stylus Epic still better, even with the scale focus of the former?
 
completely one handed Stylus Epic

completely one handed Stylus Epic

Kat said:
About needing one hand to shoot while biking, etc.--isn't the XA2 or 3 an option? Is the Stylus Epic still better, even with the scale focus of the former?
Click to expand...

This is the mode of using entirely one hand from the time you pull out the camera, to sliding open the clamshell, point it, take the photo and put it back into your pocket. The way I use it, I never look at the camera, much less through the viewfinder. I just have learned to really point and shoot.

I guess you could do that with a XA2 or 3, it's just that the clamshell opens so easy one handed with the Stylus Epic.
 
Kat said:
About needing one hand to shoot while biking, etc.--isn't the XA2 or 3 an option? Is the Stylus Epic still better, even with the scale focus of the former?
Click to expand...
Philippines? Cool. I'll be there next month with the wife and kids (Quezon City, GSIS Village). The Epic is completely 1 handed operation. I just used it on a 100 mile ride this past Saturday. I'll try to post a few shots this week but increadibly busy for me right now.
 
Bob Michaels said:
way I use it, I never look at the camera, much less through the viewfinder. I just have learned to really point and shoot.
Click to expand...

Exactly! I also learned, that after I open it, 3 pushes on the left button, and I'll be in fill-flash mode. No need to look.
 
The XA has a unique pressure sensitive conductive element rather than a usual mechanical type shutter release, if it is acting erratically it may just need a good cleaning as it is more like an electrical switch. The only real fault of the Epic is, if you check the program chart, it keeps the aperture @ f2.8 until about 1/200 of a second. Then the Epic starts to stop down the lens, while adding shutter speed to about f11 @1/1000. So while I think the lens on the Epic may be marginally superior to the XA's the XA offers more freedom as far as using depth of field. I feel this is why some of the shots taken in low light can be hit or miss with the Epic as unless your in fairly bright light (or have fast film) the depth of field can be quite small as you are shooting "wide open" most of the time, although it is easy to chalk up to mis-operation of the AF system. I love the XA because it is just an incredible piece of photographic engineering, and offers much creative control over the image using what appear on the surface to be a simple set of controls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom