It Could Have Been Another Keeper

Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80, Fuji Superia Xtra 400

Picture Location: Crystal Springs from the Sawyer Camp Trail.

A friend recently gave me this P&S, an Olympus Stylus (more good camera karma!). I thought it was going to be great, my first zoom P&S film camera. The zoom on this camera is a modest range, only 38mm to 80mm. The Olympus Stylus series has a great reputation, especially the fixed lens (non-zoom) versions of the Stylus. I've always stayed away from zoom P&S cameras because I believed that the compact and slow zoom lenses did not have the performance that I required. That's why I chose the Yashica T4 as my primary P&S for all these years. Since this one was free, I was eager to give it a try and perhaps make it a part of my collection of nice, old cameras.

Very unfortunately, this camera has a light leak. Some research on the Internet revealed that this was a common problem with this series of cameras. One of the great features of this camera, the weather sealing, is this camera's downfall. The seal around the lens has a tendency to break, causing this light leak. On the 24 exposure test roll that I shot, 10 frames had this light leak that ruined the pictures. I was able to crop out the bad parts on several of the pictures, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to recycle this camera.

The camera is very compact, about the same size as the fixed lens Yashica T4, and it handles exposure and focus very well (as you'll see). I will post some pictures from the test roll. Since none of you want my extra T4, I'm sure nobody here is interested in a light-leaking Stylus, right?

--Warren