The king is dead, long live the king. An eulogy for an Olymus Mju-II..

[Ronald_H]

Way back in 2000 I was just about getting rid of my photographic training wheels. To complement my growing SLR kit I wanted a carry everywhere P&S of excellent quality. So I bought a Yashica T5. 'Great', you probably think. Sure, the lens was ok, but it really said 'auto focus' on the box. It didn't. My colleague and mentor bought it from me, thinking it was my fault. It wasn't.

After a bit of on-line research I ended up with an Olympus Mju-II, also known as the Stylus Epic. Small, sturdy, fast and sharp lens. It said 'auto focus' on the box. It did. Over the years I dragged it all the way to India on several occasions and it has been with me on virtual every social outing, including zillions of festivals. Super sophisticated AF that is not only lightning fast, but almost impossible to fool. Multi segment lightmeter, accurate enough for slides. Inteliigent fill in flash for backlight situations and under fluorescent lighting. Sharp pictures. Tripod socket. Instantaneous response. Weather proof. A bleeding spot meter!

It's not perfect of course. There are no manual overrides and I am well aware of its tendency to go to f2.8 a bit too eagerly where the corners get soft and vignetting is evident. Nevertheless, this little, unassuming, analog camera has been with me for 11 years and allowed me to record some of my dearest memories. It is literally irreplacable, because no other camera I have ever used can do what it can do. And now it is dying. Light leaks from the shutter assembly are creeping in.

But fortunately I had bought a spare one on a flea market some months ago. Near mint, in its original box with the original warranty card. Cost? 2 euros.

So I dragged my new Mju-II to my favorite place in the world, the Lowlands festival in the Netherlands. Three days of blistering heat, dust and people with water guns. Needless to say, the new Mju-II captured all the precious moments I wanted it to capture, flawless as ever.

The king is dead, long live the king.


Lowlands 2012 - Sunday, roll 1 by Ronald_H, on Flickr

 

[btgc]

Nice camera, and I still have my first compact - mju][, purchased about 10 years ago. But I have learned there are too many quality compact cameras with better feature set. Well, for eur2 one can't go wrong - if it has fresh battery 🙂 Well, I'm not hater - just wouldn't pay full price again.

 

[VinceC]

Carried one in my pocket for years. Fabulous compact. If I remember correctly, it didn't remember settings, so you had to reset the overrides each time you turned it on. But otherwise it was THE portable camera for when I didn't want to carry bulk. Other compacts had better features but inevitably were larger, fussier, or less well protected when throwing into a pocket or backpack. I think mine had a 3.5 lens.

 

[wblynch]

Sounds like your first Epic earned his retirement!

 

[bhop73]

I've broken two of them.. I want another.. 🙁

 

[pdexposures]

I found my first one about 2 years ago at a thrift store for $3. Knowing what it was I snapped it up and we had many fine moments together. About a year later I found a second at a thrift store for another $3. This time it was a DLX. When the lady and I went to Seattle for a long weekend, it was what I gave her to shoot so she could have some fun with slides. They were both wonderful cameras. Unfortunately when we competed in a scavenger hunt all over Portland the first one I had bought some years back slipped out of my pocket at some point never to be seen again. I still had the 2nd one I purchased. However it was champagne instead of black and didn't have the same feel when I pulled it to my eye.

As luck would have it, about a week ago I went to a Goodwill and found another black one. I happily paid the $5 asking price and placed it next to the gold DLX in my closet. These are my go-to cameras for carrying around and I will always buy another if I see it.

 

[steveniphoto]

i have the original infinity stylus (mju). i have used my friends stylus epic though and they are both great cameras. i currently have the infinity stylus on a shelf though cus my beat up yashica t4 is occupying my bag.