Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-12-14)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 14 December 2019 59

TonyKemplenontheÉ

TonyKemplen’sloveof photographybeganasa teenagerandeversincehehasbeencollectingcameraswitha viewto testingasmanyashecan.
Youcanfollowhisprogressonhis 52 Camerasblogat52cameras.blogspot.co.uk. See more photos from the mju II:
http://www.fl ickr.com/tony_kemplen/sets/72157631731586990/

Olympus

mju II

Tech Talk

‘Igotmine,completewithitsoriginal

packaging,fortheprincelysumof£1’

T

heOlympusmjuII,
whichalsogoesunder
thenameof theStylus
Epic,is oneof those
camerasthathasacquired
somethingof a cultstatus,witha
priceto match.
There’snodoubtthatit’sa
verysleek,eminentlypocketable
andwellspecifiedlittlecamera,
butat theendof theday,it’sjust
oneof themanypoint-and-shoot
modelsthatarearound.
Olympushasa longtraditionof
makingcameraswhichare
somewhatsmallerandlighterthan
theircompetitors’similarly
specifiedofferings.TheirOM-1
SLRis anexampleof thistrend,
weighingsignificantlylessthansay
thePentaxSpotmaticwhich
wouldhavebeenaimed at a
comparable market.

Apopularchoice
WithitsXArangeof compacts,
Olympuswasalreadya popular
choicefortheamateur
photographerlookingfora
good-qualitycompactthatcould
becarriedaroundanywhere.
Themostpopularof theXAs,
theXA2,hasa 35mmf/3.5lens,
withmanualzonefocusinganda
fullyautomaticexposuresystem.A
bespokeelectronicflashguncan
beattachedtothesideof the
camera, adding around 50% to its

size.ThemjuII retainsthesliding

frontcoverintroducedbytheXA,

butmanagestopushtheaperture

uptof/2.8whileaddingautofocus

anda built-inflashgun,andat the

sametimereducingtheoverall

size.AswiththeXAs,whenthe

frontcoveris closedallthe

vulnerablepartsareprotected,

meaningthatthere’snotreallyany

needfora case:youcansimplyslip

thecameraintoa pocketorbag.

A fewyearsagothesewere

changinghandsoneBayforover

£200, butpricescanfluctuate

wildlywithcameras

thathave

developeda

following,andI

wouldn’thave

beensurprised

toseethat

priceshad

dropped.Outof

curiosity,while

writingthis

column,I flicked

over to eBay and

founda liveauctionfora mjuII in

theUK.Therewere 19 bidsandit

soldfor£186,whichmakesme

almostashamedtoadmitI got

mine,completewithoriginalcase

andpackaging,at a localcarboot

salefortheprincelysumof £1.

ThemjuII is fullyautomaticfrom

starttofinish.Onceyouplacethe

cassettein thebodyandclosethe

back,it automaticallythreadsthe

filmandwindsit onreadyforthe

firstframe.Whenthelastframeis

shot,it rewindsit backintothe

cassetteforyou.ISOis setbythe

DXcodeonthefilm,soyoudon’t

evenhavetodothat.Myonly

gripeaboutallthisautomationis

thatthebuilt-inflashis onby

default,whichmeansyouhaveto

manuallyturnit offusinga fiddly

littlebuttonif youdon’twantit.

I findthisdiminutivecamerawell

suitedtograbbingshotsonthefly;

I spottedthisstackof toiletsbeing

delivered(above),andwithin 30

secondsthecamerawasbackin

my pocket and I was on my way.

Thispoint-and-shootcultclassicisgreat for

capturing unexpected moments

No time to ‘loos’, Tony was on his way 30 seconds after taking this shot

© TONY KEMPLEN

The Olympus mju II is fully automatic from start to finish

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