Great pictures small price rugged

it is prone to flair can not attach filters

Absolutely amazing little camera. For less than the cost of a 35mm slr lens you get a great lens and body. Contrast, color and sharpness all first class.

Customer Service

Never used

Similar Products Used:

olympus 3000 (great, weather resistent)

1. very sharp, and well exposed prints 2. low, low price (best photo money I spent this year) 3. amazingly small size (deck of cards)

1. red eye is bad, (turn off flash whenever possible) 2. I would have preferred 45 or 50mm instead of 35mm.

I was expecting alot after reading all these glowing reviews, and have not been disappointed. This camera goes with me everywhere, I didn't realize how small it was until it came in the mail. There is no excuse anymore for missing any shots. The lens is very sharp, and because it's so fast you can turn the flash off and shoot with available light more than you would think with a point and shoot. I am seriously thinking about getting a second one. This will never replace my Nikon system but I really love having a quality, easy to use camera with me all the time. The results will amaze you.

Customer Service

None needed.

Similar Products Used:

I have used several other P & S cameras but I really put this one in a class by itself.

Sharp and contrasty lens. Negligible distortions. Acurate light meter. True spot meter that works perfectly! 35mm focal length -- ideal for travel. Small and light.

Small buttons somewhat difficult to operate. Does not keep settings (i.e. spot mode) when shut off. Lens vignettes significantly on wide open landscape shots and lots of sky with almost unusable results -- use 200-400ASA films to help avoid this.

Just as everyone else has said, the lens on this little package is remarkable. Very sharp and contrasty, and of course f/2.8 for under $100! Spot mode is very useful and works real magic in difficult light. Another great surprise of this lens is the negligible amount of distortion, which makes it great for cityscapes and architectural shots. The camera is nicely small and easy to bring just about everywhere. On the down side, the camera controls are small and a bit difficult to operate -- especially setting the spot mode which requires pushing both buttons on the back at the same time. I have not experienced any out-of-focus problems but I always take the time to make sure the green light is on, and in low contrast framings, I focus twice just for good measure. Seems durable and well protected from the elements when the front is closed. The biggest problem is the amount of vignetting of the lens on distant wide-open landscape pictures. I strongly recommend using 200-400ASA films to eliminate as much of this problem as possible. The camera has a tendency to use large aperture most of the time, which makes the problem worse -- thus the need for faster film.

Customer Service

Don't know.

Similar Products Used:

Large range of PRO and Semi-PRO CANON and PENTAX SLRs and lenses.

great little package "real" spot metering (vs. 7.5% on my EOS) multiple flash modes fast lens

might be fragile markings wore off Customer Service is the absolute worst.

THE GOOD: Same as everybody else has said - great images, fast lens, great features, great size. I often carry it in my shirt pocket, whip it out and shoot spy photos from the hip or from moving vehicles (lots of opportunities here in India). Excellent. Price is not exactly low for a small non-zoom P&S, but it's probably worth it. BUT..... THE BAD: First one immediately ceased to function upon dropping it from about 3-4ft. height (it was 2-3 months old). I missed shooting some sunset colors that evening that I've never seen anywhere in the world before or since. Surprised at the fragility as the case looks bulletproof. Also one of the buttons on back had started sticking prior to this incident, and would "skip" modes, etc. THE UGLY: Have never experienced more exasperating, confused, slow, ineffective customer service. 1. First, they lost my camera - it was received by them but vanished someplace in-house. They have some fancy-sounding procedure for looking for factory-lost items, which the customer service agent was immediately aware of - it makes me think this happens quite often. 2. This procedure takes two weeks (just to tell you whether they can find it or not). I told them that I was leaving on a long trip in one week and that this was hence unacceptable, and I asked if it could be sped up somehow. 3. He said it couldn't be done - "Well, this is the procedure" - So I asked for a replacement. He then got rude with me and told me he'd leave a message for his supervisor to call me (which could take 24 hours or more). 4. I immediately called the super (he'd mentioned his name), who was very understanding - and before I'd even suggested it, he said they'd send a new one that very day. 5. Three days later I still didn't have it (was in a neighboring state), I tried repeatedly to call but either couldn't get through or got "lost" on holds of over 40 minutes, finally called another Olympus division who gave me a direct name / number, went through several people (earlier supervisor was on vacation), and was finally told it had not been sent. I also found out that they'd intended to replace mine with a factory refurbished unit rather than a new one, despite the fact that my camera was only a couple months old and the refurb ones carry a warranty of only six months versus one year for new ones. 5. Spent maybe a couple hours on hold on two subseq

Customer Service

Did I mention that it really, really SUCKS!!!!??

very durable,& a camera one can 'keep-forever. others will be 1=silverish-+ black.

must get a 'tougher case'=holster.

EXCELLENT. ALWAYS WISHED HAD 'METAL' BODY! NOW--NEW CAMERAS COMING (Australia)early this year,or next? 1 METAL BODY=Mju V. OF 1/570 + f.2.8. (finalized in Germany) 25th.sept.2002. GOOD-NEWS. has=comp,e/vs'.etc. cost-I don't know as yet? another one coming=Mju 100.this one- not metal as above. all weatherproofed. said it was not easy to design the('v')& make weatherproof as well!

Customer Service

none as yet.

Similar Products Used:

have Minolta RIVA (125) excellent bodywork Titanium + steel etc.

Extremely sharp lens, especially in bright daylight & with flash (blurry photos usually mean operator error or bad printing). Very compact, same size as Minox GT-E. Exterior seems pretty sturdy. Very good value, well under $100.

Film advance/focusing a little bit noisy but not terrible. Interior 100% plastic, somewhat "toy-like," think N-gauge train set! Anti-red eye totally insane -- or perhaps the life of the party! Wish flash "off" were default setting. Seems to sometimes focus through glass, sometimes not -- perhaps depends on how dirty glass is.

Ok i purchased the camera a few weeks ago, but here are my impressions after several rolls of film: The pictures are very very sharp when they are in focus -- but to focus, you MUST target the subject, depress the shutter release half-way, then wait for the green light, then re-compose if desired. This is outlined in the instruction manual. If you just do a single-stroke shutter release without a pre-focus, the camera seems to not focus on anything and the resulting image is completely blurry. I must admit, a few semi-closeup shots were a bit blurry -- focus seems somewhat unpredictable at less than 4 feet -- but otherwise focus is great. I've been printing my own enlargements and shooting mostly Tri-X but have also tried Kodak T400CN C-41 process B&W film -- enlargements are generally very sharp, about as sharp as with my Nikon manual-focus lenses, and maybe more contrasty. Great detail on hair, fine textures, fabrics, etc. As far as washed-out overexposed flash, well, I can burn in highlights since I'm printing my own negs; but I do have the impression that if you use the "night scene" flash rather than the regular flash, that may tone it down a bit -- the night scene flash is supposed to be less intense. Also the T400CN film has great latitude, evens out some of the washed-out flash highlights. The anti-red eye flash creates quite a stir!

Customer Service

not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

similar? nikon f, f2, fm, fm3a; leica m3; olympus 70s rangefinder; minox 35's; konica hexar RF; kodak action touch etc etc.

Ergonomics, ease of use, lens quality

Our sample leaked light requiring return to manufacturer.

Excellent sharp lens with nice & wide maximum aperture.

Customer Service

Good

Similar Products Used:

Original stylus

Small, portable, almost weather proof, good lens aperature. One hand operation. You can probably see a few examples of photos with this camera on my website.

Shutter button is to sensitive when depressing halfway to use spot meter. I had to get use to this, and it requires paying attention to.

I intended to use it as a handy tool for grab shots, slice of life photos, and casual candids. I wanted to have a camera with me at all times, so I needed something small, but I wanted something good. I found a cell phone holster that would fit it, and I've worn it every place I go. Soon, I figured out how to use some of its other features that I did not think I would use, but now I find myself using them more and more. I use the camera for about one roll of 36exp per month. Usually slides at 100 ASA. It is a great camera for available light shooting -another reason I bought it. I like to turn off the flash to photograph a subject near a window with gentle daylight. If you use flash indoors, you should be careful of two things: 1. Because of the tendancy for the camera to go for a wide aperture, you should avoid film higher than 100 ASA; otherwise, you might burn out your subject. 2. If you photograph a subject at close range, turn off the flash or you will overpower it. Many amateurs make both of these mistakes, and you can see that some reviewers have also had this problem. Also, the focus and meter is at a very tight center, so be careful when shooting multiple subjects or off center subjects. The built in spot meter helps solve this problem. If you photograph two people up close and point the camera between them, the people will be out of focus -unless you use the spot meter. The camera will tend to focus on the wall behind them instead of on the subject, thus you may believe it is soft at the edges when your photo is really out of focus. Remember the camera doesn't take the pictures, the photographer does. Although it has no zoom lens, there are less moving parts to go wrong. Also, with a fixed lens, you learn quicker how to shoot from the hip, etc.

Customer Service

Haven't needed any yet.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta X-370, Graflex Crown Graphic, Graflex Super Speed Graphic, Graflex rail camera, Polaroid SX-70 refer to www.johngusty.com for examples.

sharp and fast lens small camera size weatherproof

autofocus sometimes fails awful flash

The main advantages of this camera are its size, a fast sharp lens and its weatherproof feature. Everything else does not make me too happy: autofocus sometimes unpredictably fails and blurs the entire image, flash is way too powerful and often causes overexposures, spot metering mode is hard to use. Altogether flaky autofocus and flash spoiled a significant fraction of my pictures. This never happened with my Freedom Zoom Explorer that I have used for almost 5 years. Nevertheless the camera is good in its own way. When used in simple predictable situations it does deliver very sharp, properly exposed pictures. Its size and construction allows to easily carry it in the pocket without fear that it will catch dust or water (I took it to water park once where it got really wet without any damage) I would recommend to explicitly cancel the flash when possible and be careful with selftimer and night shots modes - most of my bad pictures were spoiled in these 2 modes.

Customer Service

not used

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer Canon Owl

fast sharp lens, intelligent flash with red-eye reduction, fill modes, and color balancing.

I'd like it if there was a way to set a new default mode - I'd prefer to shoot with the flash off most of the time.

The Stylus Epic is a capable little automatic camera with a sharp, fast lens. The multi-beam/spot auto-focus system offers quite a bit of flexibility, but isn't as simple as other point-and-shoot auto-focus cameras - quite a few users unused to the camera end up with out of focus pictures. Once you learn the ins-and-outs of the camera's operation, it can be a capable tool. The key to the camera's flexibility to me is the spot mode - you can meter and focus on a specific portion of the viewfinder. By paying attention to focus distance and metering, you can tweak the camera's exposure system into giving back some element of control to an experienced user. It's weatherproof, it's small enough to carry with you everywhere, and the AF and flash system are flexible enough to allow you to take pictures in any setting.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 105, Olympus XA 2