First Roll Of Film From My Olympus Mju II / Stylus Epic 35mm Film Camera
Sunday, October 31, 2010 at 2:18PM 
I love little film cameras, and I''ve just got developed (at Boots) a roll of Kodak Color Plus film that I ran through my Olympus Stylus Epic / Mju II camera.
The Mju II / Stylus Epic could be the perfect 35mm film compact for the photographer who wants an incredibly small camera that is all-weather and has a built in flash. (If you're not bothered about flash or all-weather, the older, no battery-required Olympus Trip 35 could be a better choice)
Sporting a 35mm f/2.8 lens, the Mju 2 / Stylus Epic is well known for its sharpness, and is highly regarded by many, just check out Jim Tardio's review and have a look at his example images.
Being fully automatic, you've got limited controls over the cameras functions. Focus is done automatically, you can select a spot-metering mode, and there's a few different flash modes.
One thing you've got to watch out for is camera shake if you turn the flash off, which I did on several occasions when taking photos in doors. The camera won't think twice about using a longer shutter-speed than can be safely hand-held, so don't forget your tripod.
I like Jims advice of shooting with 400 speed film to force the camera to use a tighter aperture, but I have to say that I really like the look of this Kodak Color Plus Film, and I think it was ISO 200. (This is cheap film, using more expensive film stock would render even better colours and contrast).
You can't ignore the fact that shooting film, and having it developed by a lab, is more expensive than digital. I think that ultimately in this digital age, that these high-quality 35mm film compacts still have their place, and deserve to be in your pocket.
For me I think the next step will be to invest in some home-developing gear, so that I can at least develop my own negs, and scan them myself, so I can avoid the expense of having them developed at a photo lab.
Oh, and yes, the Olympus Mju II / Stylus Epic is a classic - it takes beautiful photos and is worth every penny of the five pounds I spent on it at the car-boot, make sure you grab one if you see one!
Cheers, Rob.
What Do You Think?
What's your favourite compact, film or digital? What's so great about these small cameras, and what's your favourite film? Please add your comments below.
Reader Comments (7)
Nice looking images. I really liked the colors (or is it colours to you?). I have been playin with an idea of buying Leica D-Lux 5. It is basiclly Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, which is small high end point and shoot, but for me the Leica has better value for it comes with Photoshop Lightroom 3 which is on my must buy list. And it is a Leica :)
Hi Sami,
That Leica looks like a beauty, but then all Leicas are fabulous machines, real works of art.
I just picked up a £1 plastic Diana clone today, so I'll be trying that out next!
Thanks, Rob.
Let's not forget the Stylus Infinity / Mju. Even though it has only a f/3.5 lens and its slowest shutter speed is 1/30 (I think) it's still a nice camera and even cheaper than the Mju II. Some people even prefer it as it doesn't have shutter speeds that are impossible to use hand-held. And f/3.5 (let alone f/2.8) isn't really useful when you can't control the focusing anyway.
yeah, stylus infinity (mju in europe) is amazing camera, it´s even quieter than mju:II. lens is pretty sharp, it shows more vignetting than newer mju:II, but it´s contrasty and i love it with black and white film:)
btw nice pictures:) i especially like the second one wit the tree
Hi Rob,
Excellent photos from Olympus! I had one of these and has been using it for over 10years!
Cheers
Dav
Wow, Diana camera looks fantastic. Have you taped it up to block light leaks? Do you prosess films your self or is there some lab which develop and scan those? Can't wait to see those images.
Hi Rob, It's cool to see what you can do within the confines of these little cameras. Thanks for your note!