Which 35mm point and shoot?

The old Olympus Stylus with 35mm 3.5 lens was one of my favorites.

Barry!! I had 3. Lost the first 2… and the 3rd died. Loved them, but I think I’m jinxed with them. Still it’s a good thought. Thanks.

The Yashica T4/T5 were very good. I have a friend who used a Leica Minilux when traveling, it had outstanding quality.

The Minilux sounds great… but it’s over my budget. ;-(

The Olympus Stylus Epic with the fixed 35 is beauty, I got mine for about $17. Incredibly sharp and has a spot meter, weather proof.

On the subject of little Olympus cameras -

In case you on’t know the series, all this was done with the Olympus Mju (2, I think) http://www.horvatland.com/pages/1999/indexgen_en.htm
The book is great and the prints I have seen exposed looked very good too.

This is done with an Olympus XA rangefinder http://www.emynassy.com/en/portfolio-11588-0-40-i-s-t-a-n-b-u-l.html
I don’t think the website does justice to the images. They looked much better on a magazine page.

That said… Using film and not wanting to break the bank? I know, that’s another debate… :-)

contax T2 or T3 if you can get one that still works. The amount you have to spend is a irrational variable. I get one thanks my friend Barry for free. Minilux have the infamous error 02, the quality is excellent but the probabilities to get a broken camera is high, so forget this alternative. T2 have a recurrent problem with the flash but there are some that still works without flash. Mine works that way, without flash, is ok for me. There are a lot of old very good cameras of film, but not much autofocus. The olympus XA is an excellent camera. If you don’t bother to make manual focus there are some old minoltas and olympus that have a 40 mm lens that are very good. I don’t remember the models. T4 was a classic in the 90’s too. There was this little rollei 35 but the problem is that you have to guess the focus. I don’t like that too much, you need a telemeter for some quiet snaps. Epic is amazing, but since there are no new ones, only the old, you will find too much problems of rolls rewinding in the middle of the roll. This camera have a tendency to have this problem but the spot meter works like a charm. A propos. I had some rolls of Retro Rollei 400s. I had no time to test this film yet but I have big expectations. Keep in touch JF and let us know what you can found. Cheers

Hi J-F,
I have been shooting with many cameras but my favorite one is the Minolta AF-c with 35mm f/2.8 6 element lens made/designed by Leitz very reliable nothing fancy about it hand cranked, manual rewinding,light and quality is fantasist. it goes around $55.55-$120.00

Rollei 35, either Made in Singapore or Germany. It’s an oldschool compact view-finder type 35mm. It’s reliable and strong.
Prices vary 150-450 USD.

Yashica T4 is my vote. Super sharp lens, and weatherproof if you get the T4 Super. Great camera.

I just received the Olympus XA2 (w/ flash)… The size is right, It’s solid, ergonomic, low key, quiet and inconspicuous. I also like the the fixed 35mm lens, and I really liked the photos from the links that DPC posted.
In the past, I was happy with all my Olympus P&Ss, so I don’t foresee any disappointment…
Thanks for all your suggestions.

If you talk XA then I think the first one, simply XA (without a 1 or 2) is best. Has an f2.8, 35mm lens, aperture priority and works like a real rangefinder to focus. Extremely small too. Very pocketable. I am not using it much though, but always think I should. But it is not a p&s actually as you have to focus manually. There is still a bit of thinking and doing needed betwee the point and the shoot.

If you’re looking for the simplest film P&S (35mm F/2.8 AF, with flash & weather resistant), go for the Mju II from Olympus.
Used it years ago in heavy monsoon and had a crack at it again this year: strong, easy, great images.