small
sharp lens
fast
strong

no aperature control
that's it
ok, it's a bit loud and
meter gets fooled when shooting theater (bright center, dark outer)- use
spot meter in this case.

This thing is tough, I have fallen on it while skiing. I have sweated all over it while biking and I have thrown it around while frolicking on the beach. All this and it has taken some of my sharpest pictures on 35mm film. I don't understand how this camera does it. When you turn off the flash and steady the camera, you can take almost anything. Indoor flash almost rivals my built in slr flashes, even though they have TTL. Some Pop Photo test claims that resolution is greater than 90 lines/mm, which is greater than a Nikon 35 Ti. AND, resolution was even highter at smaller aperatures. This baby can perform. The only time the meter was completely fooled was when shooting at the theater- bright center, darker outer- using the spot meter does the job.


Great for parties. Head to thigh flash shots are very sharp and evenly lit at 5-10 feet. Silk dresses come out superb- with rich detail. At close distances (

Because this camera is so portable, and the quality is so high, this is almost the perfect camera. It even has spot metering for tricky exposures. The down sides have been mentioned, except for one more- focus locking is tricky because the camera is so small- it is easy to let go and then mistakenly focus at the wrong point. Be sure the green light stays on. I love the high sharpness and very high contrast (a tight contast as opposed to a blurry heavy contrast) of this lens. I do think that this lens is one of the best lenses out of any camera of the 1990s- and especially for such a widely available camera. (Ok, some Rollei HFT lenses are good, too and some Zeiss ones, but are they as free from fall off and as well matched in electronics to realize their potential- no.) In comparison, my Hexar seems not as sharp as some of the sharpest shots from the Epic (may be because I use my Hexar without a flash towards f2.0 most of the time), but they are a little bit more smooth and the ability to control aperature (Hexar) is invaluable. Noise is a factor with the Epic as it is still hard to be stealthy in quiet environments (where the Hexar is superb). Also, everyone loves the camera- very approachable. The Epic is an excellent, excellent camera.

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fast good quality lens, compact, light, inexpensive

It delivers what it promises. No weaknesses.

I took this camera to France rather than carry all my pro equipment. I shot inside cathedrals, I shot night shots, I shot artsy pix and photojournalism style pix - and they all worked. Buy a small Lowe Pro belt pouche, the kind with both a draw string and a velcro fastened flap and a small, wire-legged tripod and you are set to travel. The fast, slightly-wide lens makes this a versatile camera.

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None

Tiny - Fits in Pocket
Sharp, Fast, Accurate.
Tough, Water Resistant, Looks Great. FANTASTIC!

RARELY - the electronics can go haywire - requires a battery removal for 3 to 5 days & then its ok again.

Missing Infite Focus option (for shooting thru windows).

Sometimes miss focuses - rare tho.

A number of people have thought it was a Mobile phone - not major problem :)

This is a GREAT main camera for amateur or secondry camera for a more experienced user. It's light, compact body makes it IDEAL for travel IMHO. Basically the pictures it produced made me look like a good photographer (which I am not).

I bought this when it FIRST came outin the UK. It's called the Mui II here. I got it because the Mui one (8 yrs its predecessor, came HIGHLY recommended) - I have Never regreted my purchase.

Taken this thing around the world backpacking for 3 yrs -its has been in EVERY condition imaginable from sub zero mountains to arid desert & tropical humid rainforest. It has even been underwater in a rafting accident - survived that, once it had dried out.

The actually photos are almost always excellent, despite the photographer being far from it. It's compactness allows it to go where other cameras cant & get photos that would simply be impossible to its larger competiton.

Now, after 3 yrs it is starting to show a little wear, the viewfinder has a serious amount if dirt in (but it is independant of lens - so photos still crystal clear) the casing is starting to fail - but as you can see it has really been treated badly.

Its two failings are:
Rarely, the electronics would go a little whacky - requiring the battery to be removed for a few days & then replaced - after this it would happily carry on &
It's lack of a Infinite Focal setting - to enable shots thru glass/windows.


The ultimate complement, I am replacing my Mui II with another Mui II - yes, its that good.

Customer Service

none

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not really played the field.

1) Very good image quality
2) Small
3) Spot meter
4) Little shutter lag
5) 2.8 Aperature allows good low light pictures
6) In low light situations the program chooses the 2.8 aperature which produces nice out of focus effect on background

1) Red eye
2) Fill flash is too strong outside
3) Sometimes difficult to focus on people next to wall, even in spot mode.

This is a great small camera. The pictures it takes are very good to outstanding. Use the spotmeter to control the focus and exposure. Unfortunately, it is a little bit difficult to get to spotmeter mode.

One problem that people have with this camera is that it has a tendency to use the 2.8 aperature and the highest speed possible. This results in paper thin depth of field/shallow range of sharp focus and people have the tendency to misfocus the camera. Sometimes I have trouble if people are close to a back wall, the camera's infared focusing systems seems to read the wall, not the people which results in the wall being perfectly focused and the people slightly out of focus. However, for the same reason, it takes very nice pictures of people in low level diffuse light (like near a window).

If you tend to have a lot of blue-eyed people in your pictures and you like to take flash pictures, you might want to buy a different camera (i.e. one that has a flash far away from the lens!). The fill flash is too strong, the fill flash on my Yashica T-4 is much better. I like the images from my T-4 better (much better fill flash, slightly better image, bad shutter lag, better exposure reading), but I often bring the Stylus because it is a better fit in my pocket as it is much smaller than the T-4. Sometimes I will load 400 speed color film in the Stylus (Fuji Superia) and black and white film (Kodak CN-400, normal one-hour processing!)in the Yashica and have both cameras with me.

Bottom line, learn how to properly focus the Stylus (use the focus guides, wait for the green light), turn off the flash for most pictures, use good fast film and you will be taking better pictures than your zoom toting friends with big SLR cameras (their zoom lens will not be as clear as the Stylus lens unless they are fairly expensive (over $200 for sure for just the lens). Buy this camera!

4 Stars for relative to all 35mm cameras, 5 stars for a point and shoot. 6 stars for quality/value and size!

Customer Service

None needed

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Yashica T-4
Canon Z135
Canon Elph
Nikon N70
Nikon FG
Contax G2
Olympus Pen EE-3

Fast (f/2.8), lightweight, reasonable price and beautiful casing (I wear it around my neck when I have a nite out and it looks like a fashionable accessory)

Occasionally focus on the wrong subjects (out of focus), small DOF, some pictures not exposed properly (sometimes over & under) and trouble with focusing in low light conditions

I bought this camera because I needed a good quality camera I could easily carry wherever I go. The review in PhotographyREVIEW was instrumental in picking the camera. No doubt, the price, its sexy look, fast lens are great and being weather resistant was an added bonus since it's really humid where I live. I am trying to understand this camera as the results from every roll shot are 50-50.

The camera doesn't always focus on my subjects which results in half of the shots ending up blurred. The fast lens could also contribute to the small depth of field is a problem when taking at pictures at night or a subject with a beautiful landscape in the background. Night flash and using ASA 400 doesn't help the problem either. Flash photography usually result in overexposure, unless the subject is quite far away (10 ft). I also notise that the color is dull compared to the Minolta I used before. When taking the camera from an area with a different temperature (no matter how slight), it has to be given at least 5 mins to adjust otherwise the exposure will be off (a problem when traveling and trying to shot a scene in a short time)

I hope that Olympus can provide solutions to the above problems. I will try to shoot an entire roll using the Spot function and hope the problems will be solved

Customer Service

Not available where I live

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Minolta Riva

Very good fast lens
SMALL (smaller than many APS)
Rugged

Forgets flash and spot meter mode.
Died after 1.5 years.
Red eye and overexposes with flash.

This is a great camera. If you learn the tips in the manual, 99% percent of pictures will come out. I even took pictures through the bus window (shaded glass) while the bus was moving and shots came out (thanks to f/2.8 and 400film). The manual is worth reviewing once in a while to brush up.

It is very rugged and weatherproof. I took pictures in rain, snow, sub 0 deg F and >90deg F. I dropped it, stepped on it, had it in my backpack for more than 3 month in a row jumbled with my books.

Bad things: It forgets flash settings and spot meter mode. The way it died is also very strange. I was changing film, and everything worked on a previous roll. When the new film started to load, the camera started making clicking noises and lens would no longer move and film would not continue to load. Since I had nothing to loose, I opened it, but there was nothing obvious (all gears moved). So this camera, at least for me, had ~40roll lifetime. (this is still good, considering that I spent $400 dollars on film and developing, and the previous point and shoot would have probably lost $200 worth of it).
Don't use this camera in a flash mode. It overexposes (faces look washed out, as if during nuclear explosion) and red eye is intollerable. It is not a problem for me since I use only available light photography (f/2.8 lens is great).
I bought Nikon F70/N70 as a replacement (50 f/1.4 lens), but now I will buy Olympus again as a backup.

Bottom line: Great camera for the price.

Customer Service

NA

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Pentax, Kiev and Kodak disposables

excellent lens
compact design
almost no delay to shoot after button is pressed: compare to the Yashica T5 (T4super) which is very slow!
SPOT METERING !!!!!

doesn't remember settings
chooses faster shutter speed over smaller aperture
sometimes misses intended focus

An excellent little camera, but watch out for the exposure software. I prefer increased depth of field and given the camera's (or is it mine) tendency to occasionally misfocus, this is a problem. I've overcome it by using only 400ISO film so that even in moderate light it is still stopped down a bit. Not having an infinity lock is also not a big problem if you use a finger to block the AF sensor! Using the spot meter takes some practice but has let me get the exposures I want (ok, with the forgiving print film). All in all, an excellent camera which gives at least as much pleasure as with my SLR. People also tend to react better as well. Sort of a 'oh, it's so small and cute, I can relax since it's not a serious picture'. I find the SLR makes people want to be all formal etc.

Customer Service

none so far...

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Yashica T5/T4super

Small, light weight, slips in front pants pocket, clamshell cover protects lens. Exceptionally sharp photos in most situations. Good exposure meter. The spot meter is a nice addition, and is critical if you want to use slide film. I haven't had any red eye problems with this camera.
The camera is weather proof, so you can get it splashed, rained on, whatever, and it is no big deal.

You can't save "custom" settings. Once you slide the clamshell cover closed, the camera goes back to its default settings. Flash is a little "hot" for close up photos of people with slide film. No problems with negative film though.
The red eye reduction takes some getting used to. I hardly use it because it is so annoying to most people.

Where this camera excells:
1) Image clarity and sharpness
2) Small size and convenience
3) Unobtrusiveness.
4) Exposure meter is very good. Good enough for slide film.
5) The 2.8 lens allows low light shots, and the use of slow film without any blur from camera movement.
Where this camera does not excell:
1) Head and shoulder portraits.
2) Shots that require a large flash range. (Flash is ineffective past 10-15 feet, even with 400 speed film.
Verdict:
1) excellent, affordable camera. Very sharp, very colorful photos from a $90 camera.
2) If you don't need a zoom lens, just buy this camera and slip it into your pocket. It is a perfect camera for spur of the moment grab shots. It will not replace an SLR but it is an excellent compliment to one. I carry my Epic with me everywhere, and usually have it loaded with Elite Chrome 100 which it exposes properly 95% of the time. A good, solid, dependable camera that takes sharp, well exposed pictures. What more could you ask for $90?

Customer Service

not used

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No p&s cameras. I have an SLR system though.

Size, weight, all-weather, flashfunctions, quality of lens, etc.

None (however, I can't use it that often because my daughter always want to use it)

I bought this camera several years ago after a thourough search for P&S cameras. It meets exactly my wishes for a second and always-at-hand camera. Easy to use with one hand. It's "condensed quality"!

Customer Service

No experience.

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Several P&S cameras (mostly Konica).

LENS!
SIZE!
SPOTMETER!
PRIZE!
DESIGN!

/////////////////////

the best p&s!!! serious photography! lens is 10+!!! I always carry it around (it's like cell phone). go get one now, I have two already! ;0) thanks mr. Olympus...

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vivitar, fuji, yashica e.t.c.