Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus Stylus Epic 35mm Camera

We went to Paris lugging around a heavy Canon EOS Elan -- how I wish I had purchased the Stylus Epic before our trip! This tiny camera is great to take everywhere, and its protective case is water-resistant, meaning you can pop it into your pants pocket and not worry about it. The lens quality is excellent. Photos are tack-sharp and some are very difficult to distinguish between those taken with my Elan. I would recommend this camera to my friends.

If you're discriminating about image quality, or enjoy taking photos in natural light, or want a camera to carry with you all the time, then this camera is a fine choice. The lens is uncommonly sharp for a point-n-shoot, certainly much better than your typical point-n-shoot zoom lens. It also has a relatively wide aperature allowing use in lower light and/or with less reliance on flash. The clamshell design is wonderful for just throwing the thing in your pocket and not worrying. One downside: because it's so compact, the flash is very close to the lens, which results in worse red-eye than you might get on a camera whose flash is further from the lens.

I have the camera without the deluxe features (black finish, no panorama mode, dateless). I got tired of the nasty flare my earlier Olympus Stylus zoom gave me, so I went with this camera. The optics are sharp, with nice color and contrast. Flare isn't a problem and the lens has decent speed for low light. The spot meter and focus lock let you compose better photos. All-in-all, an excellent compact camera without the tiny image size on an APS camera. My only complaint is it's so small that it's easy to lose. Mine went missing for a couple of days... later found in my coat pocket.

This little camera takes excellent print photos. I have a full Minolta Maxxum system with several very good lenses, and when I make the standard 4x6 color prints that I most often shoot, the two cameras are virtually indistinguishable. Except for one thing. On a couple of rolls, I noticed some light leakage which ruined the edges of a couple of prints from the little Olympus. Had the camera checked out, and was told it was fine, but the problem still recurs from time to time.

If you are an individual such as myself who loves to take pictures but hates to walk around looking like a tourist, then the Olympus Stlus Epic 35mm is the best choice. It's so small that it can be comfortablely toted in a front pocket. Don't let its size fool you, its loaded with more than enought features for a point and shoot camera. The six different flash modes are impressive. An all around excellent camera.