This Changed My Mind About Compact Zooms

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When it comes to film point and shoots, and as a rule of thumb generally, I prefer prime lenses. I’m not a big fan of zooms. This is why this camera, as well as many others in my collection, have been relegated to storage.

I kept meaning to give it a go, but I’d often pick a fixed focal length camera over this one, and the others, any time I go for the point and shoot experience.

On this occasion I went to select the next camera to review and it was between this one and a Canon Sure Shot series camera. The thing that drew my attention to this zoom Oly, and caused me to pick it over the Canon was the power source. This is one of the strength of the Olympus Infinity Zoom 80 DLX.

This camera doesn’t only accept the very common 2 x AA batteries, but also the 2 x LR6 batteries. That’s not all. It also takes 1 x CR123A or DL123A batteries. I had never come across that before.

Technical Stuff

• Lens: Glass, 38-80mm Zoom f4.5-8.9, 5 elements in 4 groups, 0.6m minimum focal distance, autofocus.
• Shutter: Electronic 4 to 1/500 seconds, 12 seconds self timer.
• Exposure Meter: 50-3200 ISO range DX code detector.

In Use

I loaded it with a roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200, which was the only 35mm film I had around at the time and took it along on a trip to town. As usual, I wasn’t looking to create any fine art. It was the first time I was using the camera and just wanted to get through the roll so I could see the results.

I tried to take some shots at the minimum and maximum focal lengths to compare, as well as different lighting situations to see how the flash and exposure meter would function.

The camera is light weight, being plastic, but doesn’t feel too cheap and flimsy like some low budget point and shoots. The ergonomics are ok too, but only if you’re right-handed. All the buttons are on top of the camera and easy to see. The shutter release button is smooth and comfortable to use, if a little indecisive.

The lens zoom lever can be easily operated with the thumb without taking one’s eyes off the viewfinder. It’s located around the on-off switch. The viewfinder is a “real image” viewfinder which zooms along with the lens. Because one isn’t looking through the lens like in an SLR, however, there are parallax guide lines. There are also autofocus frame lines visible in the viewfinder.

There is a neck strap attached to the side of the camera which can be used also as a wrist strap. Alternatively, it can be swapped for a dedicated wrist strap.

Right, moving on to positives and negatives from my point of view.

Positives

• Weight: This camera is great for travel and shall I say, street photography. It’s light enough to be carried around all day without issue.
• Battery: I had never encountered a camera with the ability to take a variety of battery types such as this one. This is a major plus in my opinion.
• Flash: The flash system on this camera is actually quite advanced for this range of camera. At first, it * has 4 settings: Auto, Auto-S, Fill-in and most importantly, Off. Some cameras won’t allow you to turn off the flash.
• Quiet(ish): Compared to other point and shoot cameras in this range, the shutter action and film advance are both quiet.
• Viewfinder: While it’s not on par with an SLR, it’s the closest thing. The viewfinder zooms along with the lens. You do however, still need to worry about parallax error.
• Colour: Even though most of it is due to the film used, the lens does contribute to the colour rendition of the image. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the lens in this regard.
• Lens sharpness: This is the big one. Like I said in the beginning, I’m not too keen on zoom lenses. This lens, being glass, is actually quite sharp. At least at 38mm, it is just as sharp as my Olympus 35 RC! At 80mm though, I think it’s a little softer.
  
  Taken at 38mm
  

Taken at 38mm

Taken at 80mm

Negatives

• Shutter release: While I actually like the look and feel of the shutter release button, when pressed, sometimes it takes a little effort, which can lead to camera shake.
• Parallax error: This will probably get better with experience with the camera, but it’s easier than usual to get parallax error with this camera. The error is most dependent on the distance from your subject, but when zoomed in, this might be a little deceptive.
• Slow Zoom: Going from 38mm to 80mm is a bit slow for me. I’m probably being unfair, as most cameras of this range would probably be just as slow.
• No info: The camera is fully automatic, including when detecting the DX code of the film. There is no information, however, given about this in the display panel. There’s also no focal length info or distance scale to reference when zooming. You have to guess what focal length you’re at, or just go with what looks good in the viewfinder. I found myself staying at 38mm and just zooming with my feet.
  
  

Taken at 38mm

Taken at 80mm

That’s pretty much it. It’s a simple camera, with not much to love or hate. It’s a nice looking camera, with a surprisingly lovely lens. I find the zooming a little annoying, but I would probably use this camera as if it’s a 38mm fixed focal length camera. That’s where you get the best results anyway.

If anything, it’s changed my mind about zoom lenses on point and shoots being necessarily a bad thing. I will no doubt now look into may hoard of zooms to see if there are other gems sitting there undiscovered.

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Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé

All copy and photos are original content by me.
© adetorrent.com

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