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[OM] Re: Oly P&S

Subject: [OM] Re: Oly P&S
From: <cgeilfuss@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 07:40:25 -0700
  I'll weigh in here with my $.02 worth regarding XA and 
Stylus Epic. In true Zuikoholic form I have both 
(actually two XA's and one Epic) and after extensive and 
exhaustive reasearch have concluded they are both winners 
but have a decidedly different flavor. Both are easy to 
pocket and I rarely go anywhere without one or the other. 
The camera you have is infinitely better than the bag of 
gear you don't...etc.
  XA: I give a slight nod to the XA because of the 
ability to manually focus and set aperture. I find the 
lens reasonably sharp and have achieved very good results 
with it. It does vignette pretty badly especially at wide 
apertures so I try to avoid large expanses of blue sky. I 
have gotten in the habit of keeping it loaded with either 
Fuji 200 print film or Ilford XP2 which I shoot at ISO 
200. This speed film is a good compromise: fast enough 
for hand-held shots in dim lighting but not too fast that 
you bump your head on the 1/500 max shutter speed. Lately 
I've trended toward slower films as I've gotten used to 
the shutter release. I found it tricky at first but now 
appreciate its light touch for smooth shutter release. I 
can easily hand hold shoot at speeds I wouldn't consider 
with the OM cameras.

  Epic: The Stylus is a great little camera for what it 
does. It is very light weight and is comfotable even in 
the pants pocket (the XA is a bit heavier and I prefer to 
carry it in a jacket pocket). The lens in this camera can 
give astounding results IF the auto-focus agrees with you 
as to the point of focus. That's my main gripe about this 
camera. As a true grab-shot camera though it is tough to 
beat. I tend to load it with ISO 400 film to force its 
little brain to close the aperture when I want larger 
DOF. The built-in flash is not terribly strong but for me 
gives excellent results as a daytime fill-flash. I have 
found the Stylus to be very rugged; I let my 6 and 10 
year olds use it and it has been dropped many times 
(including a 10 foot drop-kick down the sidewalk) and 
refuses to stop working. I may have to buy another one of 
these to hold in reserve before they quit making them.

Regards,
Charlie Geilfuss

PS.  Walt I'm glad to hear you will be with us a while 
longer. I'd miss your grumblings.

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