So -- I got lucky yesterday, when I came home from work both the camera and the (correct -- thanks again, all) battery -- yes, it takes the CR P2 6v lithiun, had arrived in the mail (much faster than expected -- three days, I think). The camera is in much better condition than the pics posted, which were from the online auction I bought the camera from. The scratching isn't nearly as evident. Apart from the wording etched into the top of the camera, I'd call it near-mint. Based on build quality, I'd say this was an upmarket point-n-shooter. It's well made and definitely has a bit of heft to it. I loaded it up with battery and some BW400CN and it snapped into action. Film loaded, LCD activated, ready to go without a hitch.
I'll post a full review here after I run a roll or two through it. However, here are some intitial impressions:
Good
- Weatherproof
- f2.8 Tessar (probably the 4/4 "Unar" varient, as the faster 2.8's often are in point-n-shooters. That's just a guess.) No "Zuiko" marking -- not sure if that means anything.
- Plastic, of course, but good build quality. Good "weight" not to light, not too heavy...
- Clamshell design, which does double duty as the on/off switch
- Continuous shoot mode (four frames) "I think". Pretty sure it has this feature, but I didn't try it as I didn't want to waste the frames.
- Full flash control -- auto, fill, off, and "macro"*
- Lens does not protrude outside the camera body. No whirring focus motor, the camera, therefore --
- is on and ready to go instantly.
- Olympus ESP Quick Flash system = fast 1 second recycle time.
- The flash is set off to the right of the lens so this "should" theoretically reduce the degree of "red eye" (this, I've read, is an issue with the Stylus Epic -- a concession to compactness. The flash is right above the lens -- too close, results in a lot of severe red eye shots when the flash is used...)
* I'm not sure, but doubt, that this camera has a true "macro mode", despit the universal "flower" emblem. My guess is that this just powers down the flash when close in.
- Very fast autofocus. Instantaneous. I can not speak to accuracy as I haven't had any rolls processed yet.
- DX range from 100-3200
The Bad
- VERY sensitive shutter release. Too sensitive. More so than other cameras I've owned. This will take some getting used to. You have to be careful when setting focus by 1/2-pressing the release. I took around 5 shots last night, two were by accident when I was just trying to 1/2-press the shutter.
- The camera doesn't seem to tell you when you're too close-in for focus. The "focus" light always seems to engage, unlike the Yashica T3 I have which flashes if you're out of the camera's focus range.
- Film advance motor as noisy as any other point-n-shoots. Noisier than the Yashica T3 I own.
- There is no "silent mode" like the Yashica T3, whereby you can delay the film advance motor by keeping the shutter release depressed. (The film advance motor engages upon release...)
- The camera doesn't remember your flash mode shot to shot, and resets itself to auto (like many others)
- This is a "neck dangler" not a pocket camera.
- No +/- exposure -- in backlighting you'll have to use the flash.
- No manual ISO setting
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Overall, this camera meets my requirements for a viable/usable point-n-shoot. which are:
1. An f2.8 lens. (Can't do f3.5 -- too slow. Sorry.)
2. Weatherproof
3. Ability to turn off the flash.
4. Inset fixed lens that doesn't protrude outside the camera body
5. "Instant on".
6. Strong preference for a "clamshell" design or similar where the "lens door" acts as an on/off switch.
I like point-n-shoot cameras but my criteria for owning/using them is pretty strict. Given its build quality and the other nice features it has, if the picture quality meets my expectations -- no reason to think that it won't, as Olympus, I'm sure, can bang out a decent, coated Tessar design. Preliminary, then, I'd say this camera is a "sleeper"/"score". Bottom line? $10 well spent. (Okay, around $30 with shipping and the battery...)
I won't like it as much as my Yashica T3, however. I regard that as a brilliant camera and the closest a camera company has ever come making the prefect stealth street shooter, at any price point, due to its NA (new angle) scope/waist-level finder, weatherproofing, clamshell(esque) on/off design, T* coated 2.8 Zeiss Tessar, and "stealth" film motor advance feature, and non-protruding/inset lens that focuses silently and instantly in any/all lighting conditions, including pitch black (IR focus). (I would literally sell an M3 if one was handed to me and buy several of these... Call me crazy, but that's what I'd do...)
