Small, Lightweight, Spot meter, Waterproof, Sharp lense. Good for low-light photography.

Gave it to my wife for Christmas, 12/98. It rewound a roll in 6/2000 and then would not load a new roll. Not a battery problem. Disappointed it only lasted 1.5 years. Suggest getting an extended warranty if you purchase one. I will try another brand now.

My wife kept the camera in her purse so it was always available. We got some good grab shots and used it at concerts and plays where no-flash was allowed. The flash seems to wash subjects out when used at close distances (1-3 feet). I don't think the camera should have broken in 1.5 years so I question the quality. My ratings will be low because of the quality issue. If you buy, get an extended warranty.

Customer Service

Camera was out-of-warranty so I didn't call. It would have probably cost near the replacement cost to fix.

Similar Products Used:

Fuji DL Super Mini
Yashica T4

The pics I took came out very very sharp with good contrast and lively colours. The autofocus was spot on as I did not have any blur pics. Although 1/2 of my roll was done indoors, I did not encounter any serious red-eye as reported. The spot meter was really useful in difficult lighting situations.

I wish I could set spot-meter as the default. The red-eye correction effect is really odd and does distract the target.

I started looking for a good P&S camera to complement my Nikon gear as I have missed many opportunities to take great pictures of my kids. An SLR isn't the lightest equipment to carry around. My verdict - its an excellent camera. In my opinion the pics were as good and in some cases better than those taken with my Nikon lenses. But don't be mistaken, I still love my Nikon for its flexibility and control. But the Mju II is defintely a great complement to any SLR. For S$190, every photographer should have one in his pocket, ready to take the next great shot.

Customer Service

NA

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Nikon TW Zoom 105
Nikon F601

high quality results

None

Never forget to bring this one along! Works anywhere and performs, too. When I couldn't bring my SLR + zooms, this baby got all the shots, even some that my 3.5-4.5 zooms had problems with. The f2.8 and smart metering system outsmarted my SLR in some instances. Fill flash, normal flash, and supernight flash all work very well with as even coverage as expected. The lens is very high res and although my SLR lenses may have higher resolution, I can't tell by much- wait for enlargements(It's a different look, too-this can't be measured). The Epic is a good substitute for when you need high quality results, but can't bring your big guns. Details are very good in the shadows and the out of focus areas have a very, very smooth look to them- like a fine SLR lens. When the lens gets wide open, like for closeup portraits, the smoothness of the lens is incredible. Colour rendition is very good, with strong reds and blues. Lens contrast at middling aperatures is very high with no noticable fall off or any soft corners- sharp all over like an SLR lens. I seriously question the necessity of the luxo compacts- if they are more cumbersome than they are worth. I have used this pocket wonder for 100+ rolls in all kinds of conditions, mostly carried by that ingenious neck sling of a thing- try that with a chunky, heavy clunker. The champagne colour even looks good when all dressed up. For 1 bill, you absolutely cannot go wrong. Being non-zoom, you will concentrate much more on the 35mm perspective, which is very nice for general purpose shooting. All in all, it is my favorite camera of all time (ranking higher than even my black Rollei 35S or XA4).

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None

Tiny size and great lens. AF is pretty much right on if you know how to use proper targeting of AF target.

For the price, none at all. Zero!

This is an amazing little camera. Totally unobtrusive and very capable little package. For the price ( under $100 ) nothing touches it...I have tried them all, including the more expensive cameras at three times + the price!

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Have tried all serious equipment that has decent lens/exposure features.

Ultra compactness (as it claims), Hight speed lense

none

I bought this camera last month. Thanks to PhotographyREVIEW, it helped me deside what to buy. Tried variety of shots this this cute camera. Amazing output. Great camera, Great pictures, Great value for your money.
Go ahead and try. I assure you, there is lot to gain than loose.

Customer Service

not required

Similar Products Used:

Other P&S cameras

Small, well-built, great sharpness, excellent daylight pictures, 25mm close-up, capable of fine night-shots with tripod

red-eye reduction often fails, so does off-the centre spot-metering (maybe i'm just clumsy with it),
small size (hard to hold when taking vertical pictures)

The quality of the pictures is great. Although a P&S, Epic is capable of producing high-quality results. It is one of the best P&S no-zooms.

Customer Service

For everyone ho wants to take great pictures without bothering with the equipment. To have it with you just in case there could be something worth shooting.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Mini, couple of budget P&S'es

I just bought the Olympus Epic Stylus last night and already have shot one roll. I’m quite pleased with the results. The pictures aren’t as good as the ones I got with my SLR system (Canon AE-1 Program, Sunpak 266D flash, FD-mount Vivitar 28-80 mm zoom lens), but they’re not too far off. I think the pictures are probably about as good as you could possibly expect given the obvious limitations of this kind of camera (completely automatic, no manual adjustments, non-interchangeable lens, small package). I shot all of the pictures indoors at night so all of the light is either from regular light bulbs or the flash on the camera. I intentionally shot pictures that would test the camera systems (focus, flash, and automatic exposure) to the limit. I took one picture of my apartment kitchen with all of the lights turned off and amazingly I can’t tell which one it is. The flash completely filled in the complete darkness and gave me a correctly exposed picture. I took a bunch of close ups and none of them are washed out.

If the automatic exposure system on this camera errs at all, it seems to be towards underexposure (too dark). I prefer it that way. If a camera errs in the other direction (towards washed out pictures), you lose detail. I also tested the automatic focus in situations that I knew might give me badly focused shots and I did get some shots that weren’t focused the way that I wanted them to be. I think that by practicing and using the focus lock, I can probably avoid this problem.

This camera isn’t perfect, but it’s probably impossible to make a perfect camera in a package this small. I think the pictures are probably about as good as you could possibly expect given the obvious limitations of this kind of camera (completely automatic, no manual adjustments, non-interchangeable lens, small package). I’m happy with it and I’ll definitely keep it.

Customer Service

None yet.

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Konica Pop
Canon Sure Shot Owl
Canon AE-1 Program SLR

small, quick, cute
no falloff noticable
pictures are 'sharp' with good printing
resists a splashing- which does destroy cameras/film
works well on the slingthing
The Epic is king and makes other compacts look/feel crude

viewfinder sucked in water, not flat design
can fire when not focussed yet

This is definitely a refined camera. I have used this Epic and the original Stylus for almost everything and probably for more than 100 rolls. The F2.8 is a little finickier, but has noticeably better resolution and contrast. The trouble that most people seem to have is that at closer distances, <20 feet, the Epic needs to focus first, which means that you must hold the shutter release until the green light goes on, then press fully. I have taken a few misfocussed shots like this, especially when close up to a subject-when you want to be quick, but end up being too quick. This means that you can take a snapshot before the camera fully focusses and with the faster, shallower DOF f2.8, focussing errors are more noticable. After learning this little bit (the camera's characteristics), I have not misfocussed once. With flash(auto) on indoors and making sure I get the 'green' light, my pictures are sharp and evenly lit. My Nikon system with TTL flash in most instances is overkill for wider shots(and, hey, I still have to hit correct focus before I release the shutter). The program is a bit different than the Stylus f3.5 and leans toward wider aperatures=less DOF,which make for great 35mm 'portraits', but sometimes this artsy look does not go well with general picture taking or enviormental travel shots-try a 28-30mm compact(inexpensive Nikon Fun Touch 6 is quite good or find an XA4-very good). The Stylus has a better in this regard (more DOF). Spot metering on this camera is invaluable under difficult lighting and night pictures are very sharp. Or, just fine tuning the exposure under the midday sun. Night mode, which takes a double exposure, also works very well. No other compact camera is as quick, has as many useful features, is as durable, has enough sharpness/contrast, and is as small as my Epic.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

almost all small cameras

-small
-lightweight
-weatherproof
-capable of long exposures for night shooting
-zero parallax error
-close focus ability

-Autofocus is terrible
-fast (f2.8) lens is a curse, not a blessing
-viewfinder is tiny and distorted

I used this camera on a 6 month trip round Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. It was small enough to carry anywhere and at first I was very happy with it. It is fine for landscapes, but very poor for what most people use cameras of this type for - photos of people at parties etc. Because it has a fast lens (f2.8), the depth of field is limited. The autofocus always manages to focus on something, the only problem is it's never what you expect it to focus on and combined with the limited depth of field means you're probably better off with a disposable camera at parties. Even loading 400ASA film doesn't help improve the depth of field - the Olympus automatic exposure system seems biased towards fast shutter speeds rather than smaller apertures for greater depth of field.

The bottom line is with my old Konica Big Mini, which focuses on the centre of the frame, I could use the focus lock and never got a single out-of-focus picture. With the Olympus about 1 in 3 "party" shots were badly out of focus. Maybe my camera is faulty, it has suffered quite a lot of abuse - I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has had similar experiences.

Customer Service

Never tried it

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Contax T2
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Sharp, fast lens on a very small, pocketable body which includes spot metering.

Dreadful red-eye prevention. Don't bother with it, the subject will just look terrified.

It's no more than a nice little lens attached to a film. That's how big it is. I carry it everywhere. The point is, I CAN carry it everywhere. Then, when I think, "Oh, I wish I had a camera on me", I find I have!

If Olympus could just make a 55mm f3.5 fixed focal length version and sort out the red-eye, I'd want that too, for those indoor shots.

You'll never regret spending the tiny amount this little gem costs. And no zoom means a nice long battery life.

Customer Service

not used

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Pocketable cameras: Samsung Vega 70 (convenient but fuzzy), Olympus mu Zoom 115 (Epic 115 in USA) (also nice but starts