Olympus mju II (Stylus Epic) lens flare

I bought a used Olympus mju II, and noticed that there is a whispy white pattern on one side of my slides

whenever I took pictures of the bright blue sky. It is some sort of flare.

 

I opened up the back, and saw a small piece of shinny metal near the lens mechanism. I'm not sure what it was

for, but I covered it with black paper. The flare was reduced in size, but it still can be seen in photos where

there is a clear blue sky.

 

Does anybody know how to eliminate this problem? It is ruining a few of my photos where I took pictures of

buildings up against a bright blue sky.

You have a defective Epic, buy a new one and the problem will go away.

I have photos of the flare. First two photos of buildings shows the flare along the edge of the photos. The next photo of flowers shows the flare in reduced size after I stuck a black paper onto a shinny metal object inside the film chamber. Does this flare looks familiar to you?<div></div>

Next two photos showed what I had done. First photo shows where I covered a shinny metal with a piece of matt black paper. That resulted in Photo 3.

 

Second photo shows where I had covered a shinny screw. Arrow point.s to the silver object. Since then I haven't tested whether the flare is still there.

 

Please let me know if you had done the same or have something better.<div></div>

Behind one of the black paper lies a long shiny screw (with arrow) which I believe may have cause the flare. However. since covering it with this black paper, I haven't tested the camera yet.<div></div>

I'm not sure what you call "shiny", but on my Stylus the areas you indicate have a slightly gloss black finish. Everything else is matte black. You have to look closely to see the difference, though. If these parts are actually "silver" in yours, there is something wrong with the camera. The Stylus is one of the most popular 35mm P&S ever made. It didn't get that reputation because people had to put black tape inside it.

Tim,

 

I agree that this Olympus model didn't get its reputation from black tape being stuck inside its film chamber. I precisely bought it for the reputation of its fine lens. However, the lens may be great but something else in the film chamber is causing all that "flare" (as you can see in my first 3 photos). By covering one part with matte paper, I've managed to reduce the size of the flare.

 

I have identified two parts that were shinny or glossy. One was a glossy black part, and the other was a glossy silver screw. You can see in the above photo that there is an out-of-focus long white object. That's actually a silver screw used to extend the lens out during picture-taking. I presume it's part of the focusing mechanism.

 

I believe it is causing the rest of the flare. However, this is unconfirmed as I haven't shot a roll since sticking matte black paper there.

 

What made me think that is the culprit was when I took a picture without film and pop the battery out before the lens could retract back. Then by sliding the flat glossy black part sideways, I could open the aperture wide. With the film back opened, I peeped through the front of the lens, and could clearly see the long silver screw. I also could see the flat glossy black part that was slid sideways.

 

So I presumed that when I took a picture of the bright sky, light entering the film chamber struck these two parts (glossy black part and silver screw), and caused some stray light to hit the film.

 

Perhaps you can help me by taking a photo of your film chamber so I can compare yours to mine. Preferably with the batteries pulled out as the lens popped out to snap a picture. I suspect that something in mine had broken off, exposing these two parts. Or the gloss black paint had worn off, exposing a more reflective surface.

 

Thanks in advance, and thanks for your comments.