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Re: [OM] Tiny Olys

Subject: Re: [OM] Tiny Olys
From: epozar@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 22:33:12 +0200
Brian Windrim wrote:
> 
> Does anyone have comparisons or experiences of these three Olympuses:
> XA, XA4 Macro and Mju-II (Stylus Epic).
> 
> I'm particularly concerned with :
> 
> - Lens quality
> - Exposure accuracy
> - Focussing accuracy
> - Reliability and build quality
> 
> The context is that I have been using an XA for about 12 years and
> during that time have taken rather more slides with it than with my
> OM4 (for whatever reason), mostly with good results.
> 
> Having recently discovered the convenience of having separate bodies
> for different film types I am thinking of allocating the XA to permanent
> use with ISO400 B&W film, where it can be used more often at optimum
> apertures and where vignetting is less of a problem.
> 
> I therefore need a second ultra-compact for use with medium speed
> (ISO100) slide film. I'd like it to have a better lens than the XA, if
> possible, and the XA4 and the Mju-II both seem to have this reputation.
> They also have the virtue of focussing down to about a foot.
> 
> I am presently evaluating an XA4 but haven't seen the results yet and
> I'm interested in other people's opinions anyway. Its 28mm lens is one
> of my favourite focal lengths but the build quality doesn't seem quite
> the same as my XA and I can't help wondering whether the zone
> focussing is adequate.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any comments.



Hi Brian,

My modest experiences with compacts follows:

I have had XA, Minox GT and mju-II cameras  acting as "a tiny camera for
ISO 100 slide film that can equal my SLR system in picture quality").


- XA is sold for it's lens quality - strong vignetting, soft and low
contrast in corners.

- Minox has very good lens but fails in exposure (CdS, gross variations
with various colors). However, it has an aperture automation WITH a
viewfinder readout plus a fixed 1/125 speed - good if I have my
hand_held meter in hand. It's shutter release is very soft and quiet.

- mju-II also has very good lens (comparable to Minox) and excellent
exposure (both ambient AND flash!), including a true spot. However, it's
AF made some unpleasant surprises to me - IMO it has problems with
shooting shiny objects - that all go to infinity(!?).

I currently have both Minox and mju-II. None is perfect and I am still
uncertain which one to pick as my standard compact.

Mju-II is ok for mid-day scenics, being very fast in operation (after
you set it to spot and "no_flash", that reset after closing the lens).
For early/late/night scenics the Minox is better because I can control
the aperture and exposures itself can be longer (about 30 sec?) - good
for a small tripod. It accepts a cable release - not possible on mju-II.
However, determining exposure is much trickier and setting a distance is
by guesswork - scale on the lens. It's build quality (GT in my case) is
much better (semi-metal construction). It is also more expensive.

Incidentally, I regard XA rangefinder style focusing by far the best for
compacts. If only it's lens is better..


-- 
Regards,

Emil Pozar
epozar@xxxxxxxxx
http://mypage.at/emilpozar


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