I told my girlfriend to look for an Olympus Stylus Epic for me from thrift stores, she couldn’t find the one with the prime. But she manage to find a Zoom 80 for $2 in VERY good shape, looks new. I had my doubts because its a zoom, not the prime version, but its AF and knew it has a good flash system. What the hell, had a fresh CR123A in it, so, I popped a roll of Tri X in it. (Developed in D76 1 to 1)
See that smirk on dudes face probably thinkin’ he’s all bad with his crappy canon digital body and sigma lens while I’m taking a photo of him with my Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 loaded with Tri X. He wouldn’t even know what hit him. Its called Epic for a reason.
Sitting on hay bale on the lake with WGRD’s Hockey Tournament , with free beer and hot wings.
Same place, at the GRD thing. The Zoom 80 Pans pretty good too.
Change of scenery, smoking with Joe outside the pub, I am impressed with 400 speed film the Epic zoom 80 uses a larger aperture instead of f16. nice DOF.
Inside the pub bull shitting with Shane. Fill flash worked awesome.
Lora’s Brilliant idea. It said “Every 2 hours, Frank must complete this to check if he is able to drive home”. It is absolutely funny watching Frank doing that.
This will be sync flash too.
Took Kait to sledding, I am telling you this thing pans pretty damn good.
Two kids at the park, their parents were really nice folks.
Last frame of the roll, I kinda missed it since my hand was on the flash so the camera wouldn’t fire. When I finally got it figured out it was a Little late. But the dog was dragging the sled downhill, it was rather funny.
I think the Zoom 80 lives up to the Name Epic. Not bad even comparing to his big brother, The Stylus Epic.
Straight, No Chaser. 
Truly epic.
Thanks Emma.
Hi Derek,
It’s interesting that you’re using such a simple point & shoot (Okay, I have an Olympus Trip 35 too…)
Anyhow, I know very little about darkroom so I have no idea what you were talking about in the last reply 😀
Sorry for being repetitive, but do you think the shutter problem in the Petri 2.8 can be fixed by myself?
Random stuff: bought myself a Nikon EM today… but after I got home, I discovered that the meter is not working properly — needle moves after shutter is released, but gets stuck at 1/1000s after film advance. Odd problem but not uncommon… I’ve been trying to fix it but can’t seem to remove the ASA circlip thing. Wish me luck I guess? XD
Those stylus Epics are called Epic for a reason.
To work on the 2.8, you will need proper tools, like a spanner wrench for cameras with different tips, either buy one, or make one. And a set of precision screw drivers.
Yeah that ring you probably needs again a spanner wrench to remove the clip. I actually have an EM, but i never shot it yet, lol. Too many cameras.
hmm sorry by spanner wrench which ones do you mean?
I googled it and there was at least 3 different kinds of wrenchs… and do you know where can I buy them? Hardware stores?
The EM… haha… i was unable to remove a screw (way too tight) so i gave up and assembled it back. The only difference now is that I broke a cable for the beeper (when shutter speed is too low) from the solder, and I was too lazy to put the circlip for the ASA ring back (it took me a whole day to remove it… lol)
I guess I’ll still try a roll and see how things go, since it seem to meter fine even though the needle does not move (well… that is… as long as I meter, then advance, and shoot quickly before the meter turns off)… Not sure if you understand what I’m saying… but it’s a funny problem that I hope your EM does not have
It will look like something like this http://www.amazon.com/Spanner-Wrench-Lens-Ring-Tool/dp/B002QI1CVA
Basically you have 2 points or notch to turn a ring with 2 notches. Be creative and you can make one yourself also, but it has to be very strong.
Good luck on your EM, let me know how that all works out!
hmmm so should i be looking for the ones that look like the chinese character 井?
or one that looks kind of like a compass (or simply use a compass) ??
thank! I’m guessing this EM will likely be a practice camera for camera repairs… 😀
The 井 one is more less for lens, but the compass one is more or less for smaller parts. For the EM you might not need either, But it will be easier to have one to take the ring off underneath the remind crank and the ring under the shutter speed dial, if there are any. If they are present you need to take the rings off first before you can completely remove the top cover and reveal the prism. If you are determine to take the Petri 2.8 apart, its nice to have the 井 one. But if you’re just doing one or 2 cameras, you can probably be creative to make both. You can try to use one screw driver and hammer it of coz, but you have the risk of stripping the notch. Mine is homemade, it does the job mostly, but it will scratch up stuff easily.
Thats a pretty sharp point and shoot. If the Prime is better than this…i better look into one. The dof on some of these shots really outweighs most cameras of similar nature. Usually point and shoot cameras look rather flat and dull, this one seems to pull everything off nicely. I got a few shots with the yashica that I’m waiting to put up….its another good camera. does most things well, but the autofocus can be stupid. I especially like that first photo. Can’t take too many photos with your hands in your pockets.
Yeah its not bad, friend told me these camera actually tries to keep it as wide open as possible. The photo with joe is taken outside under the sun, with tri X 400. Still manage to have nice shallowed depth instead of sunny 16 I was expecting. Not bad at all.
Well that’s weird — this post showed up in my feed reader today. But I’ve had two Stylus Epic Zoom 80s in my time and can’t resist commenting to say that I agree, this is a fine little camera. I like shooting b/w in mine, too. Some little cameras are really best with color, but this one shines with b/w.
That is weird! Apart from I edited it yesterday. But I never thought that will make it show in feeds. I edit old posts quite often I will have to say this is the first time.
Abdolutely agreed on the zoom 80. By the way I have been bringing an epic stylus to work. Hopefully I will finish it soon since its getting baked in the truck everyday.
“See that smirk on dudes face probably thinkin’ he’s all bad with his crappy canon digital body and sigma lens while I’m taking a photo of him with my Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 loaded with Tri X. He wouldn’t even know what hit him. Its called Epic for a reason.”
I’ve never heard a more asinine, self-righteous, elitist comment than this. First of all, you pick on a man simply because he has a DSLR(more on that later). The thing is (most) film photographers like to belittle and bully digital photographers because of some superiority complex, and It’s the main reason that I quit film photography. Film isn’t better than digital and digital isn’t better than film. However, because of the aforementioned superiority complex, you all believe that film is better than digital, regardless.
And second, you call his Canon DSLR crappy while using an auto-only point-and-shoot that has no manual focus and no manual exposure. Tell me how is that epic?
You must be really upset over my caption to that photo. I am sorry, however, do not take my captions seriously really. But I can see why it made you think that way, and now that I read it again, I totally understand why you thought of it that way and I can’t blame you a bit. But then, if you would like me to explain.
First that was written as if my friends are reading it so they will get the inside jokes.
Assuming the person in the photo is really laughing at me and the little point and shoot. Assuming he is picking on me first. what i said was my “come back” line, and obviously now you pointed out it wasn’t as smart as I thought it would be.
You said film isn’t better than digital and digital isn’t better than film, I rather say it as film can be better than digital but digital can be better than film, which is essentially the same but different, depending on application and need. They are both great doing different things or even when combined together.
Did i really compare to a DSLR to a point and shoot? Haha oh boy. The inside joke for me and my friends, they all know I “dislike” Canon (not because of they take bad photos, but no need to explain in details). However if the person in the photo indeed was laughing at me (which is what i am assuming) the point was to tell him do not under estimate a point and shoot, any cameras can produce great photos. Those stylus epic are pretty epic really, especially those with a prime lens. Looks like a shitty camera but capable of taking very nice photos.
Once again, do not take my captions seriously. I intended most of my captions for entertainments. Good day.
Is it epic simply because it uses film?
Epic is the name of the camera series.
And yes, i do take this kind of elitism that is prevalent in the film photography community seriously.
You are confused and misunderstood. You’re assuming about me as much as I am assuming about the guy in the said photograph. So that makes us even.
D., I’m a beer snob from the west coast and have been making my way through various MI beers while back our home state. I like Bell’s the best regardless of what the Founders backers read in the published rankings. Can I still shoot B&W film from my Minolta using Ilford products? Thought so. 🙂 What would Ray A. thing of this string?
Haven’t heard from you in a long time , glad to see you again . Which one of bells do you like the best ? I like Oberon myself . Oh I think Ray would be even happier if you shoot his favorite , kent mere 100 . Man I miss that guy too .
Sorry, I tend to stand on the side lines and watch (posting wall flower?). I see all of your post, love your work and learn greatly from the various suggestions you provide.
Bell’s: This hop head enjoys Two Hearted IPA.
Kentmere 100: I find it hard to handle during processing/scanning and it scratches easily. My poor hand dexterity is mostly to blame for my disappointing Kentmere 100 results. Ilford film is physically the most forgiving and I use it the most (mixing in your Kodak Tri-X when I feel lucky). Ray proved quality results can be achieved from Kentmere 100. Strong was his karma with the Kentmere 100.
I remember now, I think we had the exact conversation before haha.
I love the way your old posts pop up from time to time; I’d never have read about the Epic otherwise. As you have often said, a good picture can be made with pretty well any camera if you are good enough to use to advantage its particular characteristics and shortcomings. I recently dug out my Olympus XAs, with the idea of reducing the number of cameras in the house, and found myself looking at a few forums re the XA4; a lot of complaints about the vignetting. But it’s a characteristic I really like in many situations. Having been at the back of the cupboard for a while I’d forgotten what little gems they are and now I am rarely leaving the house without the XA in one pocket and the XA4 in another. Maybe the XA2 and XA3 can go.
I never tried any of the XA series before but as I seen the spec of the original XA they are very capable cameras. That’s great that you always have those in your pocket, they are small and almost seems like full featured.