Back to Basics

<p>We've had two of these cameras in the family, and loved them practically to death. It's the Olympus Mju II.</p><div></div>

<p>Those of you in the US will know this little beauty better as the Olympus Stylus Epic. Released in 1997, it scooped a host of awards for design and value, going on to sell over 3.8 million units and becoming one of the few cameras of this class and era to justify the title of "Modern Classic". We bought our first copy a couple of months after it's introduction, and a second one a year or so later; despite suffering untold family use and abuse, they're both still going strong, though definitely showing signs of wear. The example I show here was a gift from an old friend, who discovered it while tidying up an elderly relative's estate; it appears to have been hardly used, so I decided to treat it as a new camera in an effort to "rediscover" the Mju II.<br /><br />I'm sure most of you are familiar with the camera, but here are a few details. It's a 35mm camera, almost totally automated, with active multi-beam autofocus linked to an AE exposure system. Spot-metering is available, and focus/exposure can be locked. The camera will focus from .35M / 1.1 ft. to infinity, with fixed parallax compensation frames visible in the viewfinder. It offers a quite sophisticated range of 6 flash modes, namely auto, red-eye reduction, suppressed, fill and a slow synch of up to 4 seconds for night scenes.The flash recycles in about 3.5 seconds. Film wind and rewind is automated, with DX coding setting the film speed. A small LCD screen on the rear of the camera displays modes and film counting, and the system is powered by a 3v. Lithium cell.</p>

<p>Operation is simplicity itself, and it's probably one of the smartest cameras I've used, with an exceptionally high percentage of perfect exposures from every film I've put through. And that's quite a few films, over the years; with a weight of about 180 grams including film and battery, and dimensions of 35x59x108mm, it's been a "go everywhere" camera for both children and adults. The film in the photograph below gives some idea of the camera's truly diminutive proportions. Designed to be "splashproof", our copies have survived some really heavy splashes, not to mention the various knocks and falls. Despite it's smooth good looks, the Mju II has proved to be one tough little camera.</p><div></div>

<p>The lens deserves a mention. 4 elements in 4 groups, the 35mm f/2.8 construction is exceptionally sharp and free from the vignetting which plagues many cameras of this class. To my eye, it performs pretty much on a par with the Olympus XA rangefinder, but any comparison must end there. The two cameras are totally different design concepts.<br /><br />I loaded a Fuji Superia 200 and had fun, setting up a couple of situations to test the autofocus and flash, and generally pottering around, and the "new" Mju turned in a typically thoughtful and consistent performance. I'll have to say that I still have a much more battered copy in the glove compartment of my work vehicle. It just wouldn't feel the same without one...Here are a few samples, scans from the Fuji frontier.</p><div></div>

<p>No.2</p><div></div>

<p>No.3</p><div></div>

<p>No.4</p><div></div>

<p>No.5</p><div></div>

<p>No.6</p><div></div>

<p>No.7</p><div></div>

<p>No.8</p><div></div>

<p>Great work Rick! I'm a big fan of the MjuII, it and the XA are my travel companions of choice.</p><div></div>

<p>Rick, that shot of the beer is amazingly good considering the limitations with this type of camera. I was given one a few months ago but I haven't used it yet! The XA (I used to have one) was better for control but this one seems to have a better lens.</p>

<p> Rick, thank You for an interesting post and great pictures. Size of that Kebab is crazy!<br>

Little Olympus Stylus Epic is a great P&S. Some of You mentioned Olympus XA but it's a completely different camera, only the size is similar...<br>

XA is a marvel but vignetting like crazy. Stylus Epic got much better lens. Long time ago I posted two shots taken with both cameras, it's by the end of this post:<br>

<a href="../olympus-camera-forum/00SHJT?start=10">http://www.photo.net/olympus-camera-forum/00SHJT?start=10</a><br>

Thanks, All the Best,<br>

M.S.</p>

<p>Nice work as always Rick but did you have to post a beer shot first thing on a Monday? Now I want one...grumble</p>

<p>Never heard of Coopers before. Any good?</p>

<p>Rick,</p>

<p>It is amazing what little points and shoots can do. I have the hard to find Fuji Klasse W. What a camera! Simply amazing camera. I am on the look out for a Fuji Tiara with a 28mm f3.5 lens. It is total P&S camera. Even less control than the Ricoh GR10 camera I posted about the other day.</p>

<p>BTW as Kayam how good is Cooper`s beer?</p>

<p>Great Camera! I own two. I use tinfoil and electrical tape to modify the DX ISO code on BW and let the camera see it as ISO 3200. THen I push it in developing and the exposure is fantastic!</p>

<p>If it's active rather than passive AF, does that mean it gets thrown off if you shoot through a window? I suppose it depends on what wavelength it uses.</p>

<p>For the Cooper's Ale shot, how do you control which bottle it focuses on? Is it strictly center-point AF, or does "multi-beam" mean multiple points?</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>"For the Cooper's Ale shot, how do you control which bottle it focuses on? Is it strictly center-point AF, or does "multi-beam" mean multiple points?"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Perhaps Rick has another answer but since the shot was taken in portrait orientation, the AF points (if there is more than one, it's probably just three, oriented horizontally) would be along the vertical center line.</p>

<p>This camera looks to be a lot like the Pentax Espio Mini (aka UC-1) I've been shooting recently though if it's weather resistant, it's probably tougher, even if slightly larger, and the Pentax has a 32/3.5 lens instead. How is the viewfinder...the one on the Pentax is <em>really tiny</em>. One of my little gripes with the Pentax is that the flash mode always resets back to 'auto/on' every time the camera is turned off (by closing the sliding lens cover). Does this Olympus do the same thing?</p>

<p>I've found shooting with it a bit liberating...essentially no controls to speak of other than flash mode.</p>

<p>Fun little guy with top notch results! </p>

<p>Andrew,<br /> Both the Pentax Espio Mini and Olympus Mju II are very similar in size, yes unfortunately both annoyingly reset the flash to 'on' when you open the cover and yes both have small viewfinders, the Mju's being slightly larger and brighter.<br /> I would say the Espio Mini is better built and has the advantage of having the once fashionable panorama switch (crop's the image top and bottom).<br /> The Mju II has 'spot mode' for spot focus/metering which is very useful and was built in very large numbers and it carried on the tradition of Olympus making great small cameras like the legendary XA and Trip 35.<br /> Both are great pocketable cameras, you pay your money and make your choice.</p><div></div>

<p>Great responses; many thanks. <strong>Amir</strong>, you've kindly answered several queries regarding a couple of the technical points. I find the spot metering/exposure with the focus lock facility invaluable on the Mju II, and it was used on the pic of the beer, and in conjunction with fill flash on pic 5, the steel sculpture against the sky. <em>That</em> image impressed me; the Mju II produced a faultlessly balanced exposure, pin-sharp... I couldn't have done better with the big guns in my kit! I prefer the overall design of the Mju II over the Espio Mini, especially in regard to the flash, which tucks away behind the cover when the Mju is closed but remains exposed on the Pentax. Get out and use your copy <strong>Karim</strong>, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do</p>

<p>Thanks <strong>Robert</strong> and <strong>Maciek</strong>, for the technical observations; half the fun in using cameras of this class lies in pushing the envelope. <strong>Andrew</strong> and <strong>Craig</strong>, between the two of you and along with Amir, you seem to have answered the technical queries. I've never tried shooting through glass, Andrew, and Craig's observation about "liberation" is acute. Thanks, <strong>Louis</strong>, as usual.</p>

<p>As for <strong>Kayam</strong> and the beer-lovers, I've only recently discovered Coopers Ale. It's brewed by our Australian neighbours, and I'll grudgingly admit that it' as good as anything we produce in New Zealand; bottle-fermented, cloudy and damn' tasty. <strong>Michael</strong>, as usual we seem to be on similar tracks; here's a pic to get your tastebuds in shape after the beer. Just beautiful...But more of that, later.</p><div></div>

<p>Beautiful presentation as always, <strong>Rick.</strong> This is a wonderful camera, isn't it? It's definitely the spiritual successor of the XA, but even nicer. I love all of the pictures; no particular favorites because they <strong><em>all</em></strong> look good! Thanks for another great post, especially one about this camera.</p>

<p><strong>Amir</strong>, I happen to have the Stylus Epic Deluxe, or Mju II Deluxe, and it's the version that actually does have the panorama feature via a small switch on the back along with the date back as well. I've not used the panorama feature as I'm not a fan of it at all.</p>

<p>It's clear that the impressive quality of the older RF cameras is still on-going, especially, or at least, in the right hands.</p>

<p>Love the phonetic spelling of μ!</p>

<p>A couple of interesting features of the Mju II (Stylus Epic): Top shutter in bright light can reach 1/1000 second IIRC. Also, to avoid green cast under fluorescents (which with an f2.8 lens would normally be sufficient light) it employs an IR sensor which when it fails to detect sufficient IR rays under fluorescent lamps, it fires the flash automatically.<br>

Great shots, BTW. Thanks for sharing.</p>

<p>I found an MJU II at the local Goodwill the other day for $6.99. Of course I bought it. It had no strap and a roll of film already installed. I shot the rest of the roll and had it developed at Costco. The results came out a little green, as if the film was old or had been exposed to heat. No idea who the people in the photos are, and why this little camera in seemingly perfect condition was at Goodwill with a half spent roll of film in it in the first place. Well I have a second roll in the camera and will take it to be developed at Costco tomorrow and see what is up. The only thing that this little Olympus doesn't seem to be able to do, is to be able to manually set infinity focus, as my old Yashica T4 could. Otherwise a very nice camera for the price! It will most likely replace the Olympus Stylus Infinity I bought at Goodwill a few years ago for $2.99 and has been in my glove box ever since.<br>

That and the $34 Nikon FE2 from the KEH bargain bin, I've had quite a week of camera shopping so far!!</p>