Olympus Stylus Epic (mju) I & II
The Olympus Stylus or Olympus µ[mju:] is an obvious progression from the Olympus XA family, but updated for the autofocus era.
The original µ[mju:], called the Stylus in North America, was introduced in 1991. This featured a fixed, 35mm focal length lens with an aperture of f/3.5. Olympus claimed sales for this model of over 5 million units.[1]
The 1997 µ[mju:] II (called the Stylus Epic in North America) was restyled with an even more compact body, while adding a faster f/2.8 lens and selectable, spot light metering. Silver and black finishes were available. Olympus claimed sales of 3.8 million for this model.[2] A metallic-finish "Limited" version of the camera was offered in 1998 with no feature changes.
The Stylus series quickly gained bulk and lost speed with the addition of zoom lenses, starting in 1998 with the µ[mju:] II Zoom; however the various µ[mju:] /Stylus models continued to be best sellers for Olympus. The zoom cameras are generally designated with three-digit model numbers, as distinct from the plain Stylus Epic/ µ[mju:] II (which is still available as of November 2007). With its fast f/2.8 lens and spot meter option, this model remains one of the few point & shoot film cameras with a cult following among "serious" photographers.
µ[mju:] II (Stylus Epic) in silver
Notes
- ↑ http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/history/camera/lineup_chronicle.cfm Olympus History (Olympus corporate website)
- ↑ http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/history/camera/lineup_chronicle.cfm ibid
Links
- Olympus Epic at www.antiquecameras.net
- Photo.net article
- User opinions at PhotographyReview.com
- Jim Tardio's user opinion
- Lionel's Olympus mju:-1 page in french at 35mm-compact.com
- Mju I, Mju II, Mju 115 and Stylus at www.collection-appareils.com
