Olympus Mju II

Camera lens on my Olympus Mju II jammed after 3 years and lens rubbers perished after 4 years. Camera now scrap not worth repairing!

OK - with this Olympus Mju II 35mm compact camera we are talking lens. Lens, lens, lens. There is simply no comparison with other cameras in this price range. The quality of that 35mm 2.8 Olympus optic is fantastic (the <80mm zoom option is a little less impressive). I own a Nikon F3 with this camera as a backup, and it is almost impossible to tell which camera took which pictures. Seeing as it is made of plastic, it is also durable (I have dropped mine loads of times with no perceptible effect on image quality). "Low on features" is a negative score in the 'out of 10' section, but this simplicity is a major attraction, as you are far less likely to be faffing with controls while the picture of a lifetime slips away (and that is why I have given 'features' a 10/10 - as they are just perfect, few as they are). It is a little oddly shaped, admittedly; frankly, it strongly resembles a rather mis-shaped wedge of cheese. Further, I would prefer less lapse time between depressing the shutter and it taking the picture. However these are minor niggles. I recommend this camera wholeheartedly, and think bitter, bitter thoughts about the Olympus accountants who are discontinuing this gem in favour of a new generation of ghastly digital wrecks that are going to be obsolete in weeks and have all the soul and charm of a conservative MP. Buy this camera before it vanishes into the void.

After owning my Olympus Mju II 35mm compact camera for over 2 years I am still amazed by the image quality of this camera regarding the sharpness and the exposure. In response to some comments made that the camera has problem with auto-focus, I can share my experience that helps me to have excellent results consistently. Two things seem to be important. First is to gently press the shutter release button half-way until the green indicator light comes on and then again gently and steadily to press it all the way down to take the photo. Also to use the focus lock, if needed, as described in the instructions booklet. The second, tremendously important point is finding the good processing lab. It took me a lot of trial and error to find the lab which produces high quality prints every time.

Mju II can make excellent photos using the available city lights at night if it is placed on a tripod (even very small one) and if the self-timer is used for vibration-free shutter release.

It seems to work similarly well using both slow (ASA 100) and fast (ASA 800) films.

The camera is conveniently small and light for carrying it around most of the time.

The lens cover/main switch has a feel that it can last a long time.

I do recommend it to all my friends and I would certainly get another one again in the future if I needed to.

I have been surprised by the high quality of results from the Olympus Mju II. On a clear night, with ISO 400 film, it even seems to cope well with illuminated buildings; don't turn the flash off, but leave the camera to make its own guesses. Realistic-looking night time shots result. Watch out for the red-eye reduction mode - it stays switched on not just when you close the camera, but even when you change films.

The Olympus Mju II may not be a perfect 35mm compact camera but it's great for family pictures. There are some negative comments although majority are positive. This camera is very competitive to its level in terms of quality pictures and price. It's natural not to please everybody. What you see is what you get.

Overall, the Olympus Mju II camera is very good. It takes excellent photographs. Sharp from edge to edge. Lots of functions, which makes this camera very versatile. Small size makes it easy to carry inconspicuously. The fast lens means it can take photographs in a wide variety of lighting situations.

There are two drawbacks. The predictive autofocusing (where the camera is supposed to focus on non-centred subjects) doesn't work as intended. I've used it for group and self-timer shots and found it didn't focus on the group of people I wanted to photograph. Instead it focused on the wall behind them, or some other strong vertical element.

Another drawback (a very minor one) is the viewfinder window is very close to the top edge of the camera and not recessed. It's very easy to put fingerprints on it when handling the camera.

It is very compact which is the reason for the short delay between pressing the button and taking the photo - the lens has to be positioned some mm in front of the body. Its design makes it highly durable espescially when it's switched off - there are no parts outside the outer shape of the camera that could break. It even survived tumbling down my stairs. It is water resistant, an interesting feature for outdoor use. The myu II provides all the important features you expect from a ultra-compact camera - and you can reach them via 2 buttons. Its 1:2,8 / 28mm lens guarantees short shutter times and you can easily take long-time exposures because the myu II supports very long shutter times. But most important is that the results are excellent - even on color slides. The only annoying point is the a little bit too small viewfinder.. if you are not used to it, it may take more time finding the viewfinder than finding the view ;-).. But nevertheless in my opinion the myu II ist the best affordable compact 35mm camera.

Really small and weatherproof so great for beach. Takes decent photos for snapshot scenarios.

My only grumble is that you cant capture a moment very well because the photo is taken upto about 1 second after pressing the button.