Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/12/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Can't remember if I posted this before :-( When I was trying to decide between standardizing on Agfa Optima ISO 400 or Fujia Superia ISO 400, I loaded up my Yashica T4 Super (aka T5) with one film, the M6 with 35 mm (Canadian) Summicron with the other film, and shot the same picture a number of times with each camera. At approximately 12X enlargement, I could see that the Leica image was sharper. What really surprised me was that when I looked at the print with a 30X microscope, I could see chromatic aberration in one of the T4 pictures, but not in the Leica one. Anyway, that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing to mention an advantage of the Olympus Stylus Epic. I bought one at a ridiculously low price when it was on sale at Keeble & Shuchat. The reason was that I wanted to have a camera that would always be with me. The T4 didn't fill that bill. With a Swiss army knife and cell phone on my belt on one side, and a Palm handheld in its case on the other side, adding a camera in a belt case would just be carrying geekiness to an unacceptable extreme. The advantage of the Stylus is that, sans case, it is small enough to slip into a trouser pocket, and when the cover is closed, all scratchable windows are securely covered. The camera has some annoying features in that it tries to think for the user. So, it has this multi-beam focusing that is supposed to keep you from getting a sharp picture of the far background when photographing two people who are standing a bit apart. I guess that it focuses on the closest object in view. Then, in bright sunlight, if there is a dark shadow in the field, the flash goes off; I think the camera is assuming that this is a back lit situation and thinks it is using fill flash. Most of this nonsense can be overridden by putting the camera in spot focus mode, but it is a fiddly thing to do and cancels out when the cover is closed. Anyway, it has served well as a carry-everywhere. The lens if f/2.8 and seems not to be worse than the lens on the T4. It focuses as close: 13 inches. Herb - -- Herbert Kanner kanner@acm.org 650-326-8204 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html