Film A Bit Of Fun With A μ[mju:]-1

pdh

Legend
In about 1991, perhaps 1992, I wanted a P&S autofocus camera ... So I went to Boots the Chemist in Victoria Road, Surbiton, and bought an Olympus μ[mju:]-1.

I can't remember how I came to that particular model, except of course it looked very cool and stylish and black ... it has a 35mm f/3.5 lens, autofocus, flash and a self-timer ... it is designed à la the XA rangefinder, with a slide-open front.

I can distinctly remember that it cost £108, and that the counter assistant who served me had trouble with the payment, which spoiled it for me a bit ... I suppose it must have been a lot of money to me then and I'd probably agonised a bit about it

Anyhoo, it's been with me ever since, rattling around in boxes and rucsacs and pockets and cars and the backs of drawers. It got sand in it in Peru and it never quite worked properly after that, so I rarely used it since the century turned, and not at all since I bought a digital camera in 2006.

The recent acquisition of the Bessa prompted me to look it out ... it had a roll of Agfa Vista 200 in it and a dead battery; my local Boots wanted about £11 for a new battery, but Amazon obliged for £1.18 ...

New battery, it fired up immediately and told me it had used only 4 shots on the roll, so I took it out with me on a walk round the Common and took some snaps; Bearing in mind the film must have expired about 10 years ago and has never been below room temperature, the results aren't too bad ... in fact, they have a bit of a "Foveon" look :D ... usual local minilab low-res scans of course, and very slight adjusts to exposure and contrast in LR4

6838440088_b2a817c685_b.jpg

Four snaps by _loupe, on Flickr

6838441376_36b29a70f0_b.jpg

Four snaps by _loupe, on Flickr

6838442676_80dd9c7585_b.jpg

Four snaps by _loupe, on Flickr

6838443832_d68f086090_b.jpg

Four snaps by _loupe, on Flickr
 
Paul,

Had you not related the story behind these pictures I would have not assumed them to be from some time expired colour negative film stock on a rather basic camera. They really are quite good given the circumstances (hangs head in shame at what I've been producing on film recently, picks up binoculars and throws cameras away :eek:)

Barrie
 
A late friend of our gave us a Stylus Infinity (as it was called here in the states) back in the early 90s. Being much lighter and smaller than our Nikon FG, it soon became our camera of choice and went with us everywhere. They are really wonderful cameras and I actually prefer using it to the Stylus Epic. I had given mine to my daughter but now feel inspired to finish up the roll of Kodak that is in there.
 
Paul,

These are really good. As Barrie said, I would never have guessed they were shot on long expired film. The scans look quite good also.

It's a sweet little camera. I had one on long term loan many years ago. When I returned it I bought a Stylus Epic, which is the same camera with a beautiful 35mm 2.8 lens. I still have it but it has not seen the light of day in years.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
Understood Jock, but I started this thread to relate and illustrate a personal story about a particular film camera, and it seems odd to find someone posting an image into it that is from neither a similar camera or a film camera, and doesn't bear any relationship to my story ... I'm sure you'll have lots of other good shots from that D550, perhaps they deserve a thread of their own?

all the best

Paul
 
I was going to say something facetious about it being definitely a compact but hardly serious ... but I've been indulging in my secret shame, pixel-peeping at 400% zoom ... :redface: ... well, these are 1200x1800 scans of long long expired film, and this is a 20-odd year old plastic camera, ... yet in the corners some of these shots appears as crisp and sharp as my Summicron ... and crisper and sharper than more than one of my m4/3 lenses ...

[that's enough pixelpeepery]

welll, anyway, if I find some more expired film anywhere, I'll be sure and run a roll through it now and again ... all this stuff about being able to control aperture, shutter speed and focus is utterly overrated I reckon
 
Nice one Paul! I'm halfway through a roll of TMax 400 in an mju-ii (Stylus Epic) that I scored locally - I won't say for how much as it might undermine its future sale ;). It looks in great condition, but the proof is in the film.

Also I had to do a little foil work-around to fool the cameras DX readers, as I only use bulk rolled film....and the mju-ii is wholly auto with no over-rides - so some elaborate cutting and pasting onto the plain black canisters.

This is such a fun camera to use!!!
 
hmm it's tricky finding a good rhyme for the inevitable μ[mju:]-II thread ... "Lots to do with a μ[mju:]-II" maybe ? ...
 
Antonio, it's a hallmark of what a good photographer you are that you take the trouble to light and frame a simple shot like that so perfectly ... whereas I do this ...

20120316_070-05-2.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


20120316_069-04-1.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Back
Top