P3D Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic (was Re: P3D Re: Don't Twin Elphs)

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Vincent Chan wrote:
> I'm still trying to find some appropriate P&S cameras to twin, hopefully a
> rig that will weight less than my realist.  (twin Canon Rebels would
> probably weight less, but pretty bulky)  Anyways, does anyone have any
> negative opinions about the Olympus Stylus Epic?  F2.8 lens, 35mm, as well,
> it has a two zone evaluative metering as well as spot metering.  Should be
> good enough for slide film,I think?
> 

My twin Lubitels are lighter than a Realist.  :)

I gave my wife an Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic DLQ for her birthday.
The camera has good points and bad points.  I'm not sure it would be
good for twinning.

The good points:
Very small
Light weight
Prime focal length lens (not zoom)
Tripod socket
Flash can be turned off
Very close near focus point

The bad points:
No cable release socket
Very curvey body (no real surfaces for aligning other than the tripod
                  socket)
No hot shoe or PC connector
"Spot" mode inconvenient
Can't change power on mode
No manual modes
Significant delay once shutter is pressed
Autofocus

Some of the bad points can be over come.

I've seen an elastic strap with cable release socket in a mail order
catalog (probably Porter's) that you can slip around the body of the
camera.  There is a selftimer, but in this case (i.e.,
stereophotography) I don't think that eliminates the need for a cable
release.  There is a wireless remote available, but I don't know if
one remote can trigger two cameras.

You could use a visible light slave trigger to set off more powerful
flash units.

The "spot" mode (which lets you lock down the focus point and exposure
settings before composing the picture by half pressing the shutter
release) is not the default mode, and the camera resets to default
mode when you turn it off.

You do not get any exposure information (other than low light and
flash indicators), and there is no manual control over any of the
exposure settings.  In a studio setup (I recently experimented with
the camera while reshooting some pictures on a webpage I maintain) the
camera tends to overexpose, especially if the background is a light
color.

I find the delay between pressing the shutter release and the camera
racking the lens and taking the picture very annoying.  I'm used to
completely manual cameras, and having to hold the camera steady for
that extra amount of time leads to more blurred photos.

Because of the cross hairs in the view finder (which indicate the spot
the camera is focusing on and using for exposure metering) I do think
the camera is good for single camera side stepping.  I shot a roll of
TMax-400 and the 4x6 prints worked nicely with a View Magic over and
under viewer.

Personally I would go with a pair of Pentax K-1000's or ME Super's and
mount 50mm lenses on them.  I have one of each that I plan on playing
with, but I have lent the K-1000 to a friend and need to get it back.
Another light small, weight alternative would be the Olympus OM
series.  The OM-1's are a bit pricey because the astrophotographers
like them but for twinning the later ones (OM-2, etc.) would be fine.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"


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