Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus Stylus Epic QD CG Date 35mm Camera

The Epic QD CG is the Epic model that I bought, with the quartz date imprinting (which I've never used) and the attractive metallic "champagne gold" finish that aren't in the base model, but without the "panoramic" image-cropping in the more expensive DLX model.

The f/2.8 lens is sharp and bright, and the camera is small enough to carry in my pants pocket. But the feature I like best is the accurate exposure system. The default automatic mode uses fill flash effectively. You can also force the flash off or on, or combine foreground flash with long exposure for night scenes.

The flash is bright enough to reach 27' with ISO 400 film, and its brightness is automatically reduced to prevent overexposure of subjects as close as 1.1'. The flash is close to the lens, so you should use the red-eye-reduction mode when the ambient lighting is dim and your subject's pupils are dilated. Using this mode, I have never shot a subject with red eyes.

If you don't absolutely need a zoom lens, this is a handy camera that takes great pictures.

After you do photography for a while you start to understand that all that matters in a camera is the lens. The Olympus Epic had the best lens out of all point-and-shoot cameras (and most of SLR zoom lenses) here as of June 2000.You may ask are there better lenses in P/S cameras? The answer is yes; for example Ricoh GR1 has slightly better lens. The price is $450, and it is unavailable in the US. The only P/S camera in Amazon with comparable optics is Lomo Automatic, but it is very strange camera - you have to read the reviews and decide for yourself if you like Lomo. It is much easier and cheaper to construct high quality fixed focal lens than zoom lens which is the reason for high lens quality in Olympus and Lomo. Unfortunately, this creates the only problem I experienced with Epic. Its fixed focal length is 35 mm (this means that camera has 1.5 larger field of view than human eye, so everything looks 1.5 times smaller than in real life) which requires moving really close to the object to fill the frame. So, it is not very good for portraits, but excellent for buildings and landscapes. The bottom line: as many advanced amateurs and pros believe the camera has the best quality/price ratio in the world

I purchased an original Olympus Stylus when it was first released in 1990. Enamored with it's small size, and rave reviews I plunked down my [money] and was off.

Fast forward to 1999 - Averaging 2 rolls of film a month for 9 years, my Stylus began to sound a bit tired and was going through batteries at a quick pace. I began to look for a different camera and was certain I would just replace it in kind. However, with more rave reviews, the new Olympus Stylus Epic was released and I made the decision to replace my trusty little camera with the new version.

The size of this camera is absolutely wonderful. In the point-and-shoot 35mm category it has been the smallest affordable camera to come down the pike in a long time. It is easy to take with you anywhere, and if having a small, easily tote-able camera will get ANYONE to take pictures, it is well worth it. You don't take the pictures if you don't have your camera with you - with this camera, there are no excuses for not having it with you.

The pictures I've taken have been nothing short of fantastic. Always a clear image, colors are rendered appropriately, even spectacularly. The lack of a zoom has never been an issue, here In fact, I purchased a Stylus Zoom thinking it would enable me to take better close-ups, but quickly found out the closer I get to the action myself, without relying on a zoom lens, the better my pictures are. I returned the zoom camera without a regret. (If you REALLY need to zoom in, odds are you would be better off with an SLR and a real zoom lens, or a telephoto lens - we have those too - the size of this camera is much more practical!)

We've given two or three of these as gifts to family members and have a number of extended family members who have purchased this camera based on it's size, and the fantastic pictures we've happily passed around. Everyone is thrilled!

I don't think you will be disappointed should you decide to chose this camera!

This camera is one which has consistently received lavish praise from photo magazines such as Popular Photography for its ease of use and its superb Zuiko lens, which is comparable in quality to 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) fixed focal length wide angle lenses. I've borrowed one belonging to relatives and am quite impressed with how it easy it is to use, as well as the fine pictures that it produces. Admittedly, it is a bit small, so those who are comfortable using larger point and shoot cameras or SLRs will have to try to hold it steady. Otherwise, you'll get blurry pictures. My favorite point and shoot camera is the Yashica T4 Super with its 35mm Carl Zeiss Tessar f3.5 T* lens, but the 38mm Zuiko lens on the Stylus Epic is just as contrasty and sharp. Furthermore, the Stylus Epic is at least $50 cheaper than the Yashica T4 Super. Those who want high quality pictures from an inexpensive point and shoot camera should strongly consider buying this petite gem.

I've been shooting pictures since I was about 8, almost 30 years. I've owned several cameras, my first real one being a Canon AE-1 that I bought in high school. I upgraded to the EOS line in the early '90s and still shoot that line in film, but added medium format (Hasselblad) for portrait and wedding work (part time). Earlier this year, I got a digital and decided that I would invest a lot of time into that medium. But I wanted a film camera that, like my digital, had a good lens, was small and lightweight, and shot quality prints.

I researched for several weeks all potential reviews on P&S cameras. My wife has an older Pentax that was alright, but I had decided that the zoom lenses are often slow and not sharp enough. I debated between getting a Yashica P&S off ebay, getting the newer zoom camera by the same maker, or getting this Olympus. I decided on the Olympus and am glad I did, though I'm sure the Yashicas are fine cameras.

Working the camera is a snap. Open the lens cover, and shoot. I think the default setting is for fill flash, but the settings button cycles around -- so just use it for several rolls of film and get used to it. It does, however, reset to the default setting after you turn it off by closing the door on the lens, which is a minor problem. There's no need to wait for the lens to pop back in, since it is fixed focal length (though auto-focus -- keep in mind the difference).

You may not believe me when I say this, but this camera will take better pictures in low light situations than all cameras except SLRs with the most expensive lenses. Having to use the rest of a roll of film and not particularly caring about picture quality, I took this camera to a recent night-time high school football game. Now football in Texas is big, and stadium lighting is pretty good, but it is never good for anything other than expensive, fast lenses, and fast film, right?

Wrong. Well, partially wrong. This camera, armed with 200 (yes, that's 200 -- something I almost never shoot) film shot nighttime moderately lighted pictures that came out GREAT! The angle is wide, so the content leaves something to be desired, but this wide open apeture lens will definitely do the job when you need a fast, quality lens.

There is a red eye reduction feature in the flash cycle, but I haven't tried it. My applications for this have been mainly outdoor, and the pics I've gotten are very sharp and as good as my SLR's. The guy I sold my AE-1 to won a national award with a pic he made with that camera. I recently asked him if he could do the same with this Olympus. He simply asked me when I wanted to bring it over!