I found a half dozen of the Olympus Infinity Stylus (mju) camera over the years at Albuquerque thrift stores, with prices ranging from $2 to $10. A short time into the revival of interest in film photography I started seeing them being sold on ebay for as much as $300. Lately, they seem to be obtainable for around $100. I suppose the demand is driven by the same factors that made the camera very popular when it appeared in 1990. Focusing, exposure and film advance are all automatic. It is small enough to slip easily into a pocket, and requires only that you flip open the camera, aim and press the button to get your shot.
The fully automated camera thus fulfills most needs for most people, though it would be useful to have a little more manual control occasionally. For instance, many modern films — both b&w and color — seem to do best when given an extra stop of exposure. For these shots made last week in Old Town with the mju I added just a little extra time to the development to compensate for slight under-exposure.
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The corner of Church and San Felipe
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An Old Town cat with boundless self-confidence
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A happy duck at Tingley Ponds
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2 comments:
A new version of one of these little cameras would be a best seller. But the cost might be pretty steep because the many suppliers and industrial infrastructure that supported this market have gone. The so-called luxury compacts, like the Nikon 35Ti, sell for serious $$s, despite the fact that an electronic failure often means the machine is permanently comatose.
I still have my original mju as well as a $5 backup, and both work fine. The 3-volt batteries have amazing longevity; I think I have not had to replace either in the last five years.
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