AF compact

simon ess

simon ess

Just call me Roxanne.
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So, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get accurate focus with small rangefinders.

What small AF compacts are there to at least equal the IQ of my Olympus XA or 35 RC.

Thanks
 
What about the Olympus Mju?
 
If it's an eye sight thing then a rangefinder with diopter adjustment might also work too.

The cheesy Agfa I've got is easy to focus as it's got about 3 settings. Image quality surprisingly good. You're welcome to borrow it and see if it's easier.

Most of the zoom compacts seem to be a bit soft focus in comparison.
 
srichards said:
If it's an eye sight thing then a rangefinder with diopter adjustment might also work too.

The cheesy Agfa I've got is easy to focus as it's got about 3 settings. Image quality surprisingly good. You're welcome to borrow it and see if it's easier.

Most of the zoom compacts seem to be a bit soft focus in comparison.
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Thanks Suz. What Agfa is it?

It does seem to be an eyesight thing.
 
simon ess said:
Thanks for the suggestion Nick. I had one before but the ever erect flash really irritated me.
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Yes it is its most irritating trait but if you can get past that it can produce cracking results.
Or how about the little known Minolta AF-Z?
 
I've also noticed the viewfinder in the xa2 isn't anywhere near as bright as the one on other rangefinders. Yashica electro is the one I find the easiest. It's really bright.

Agfa is a weird model called the Optima. It's got a built in flash but it's a pop up one and sits flush to the body.
 
Do you have any other requirements or just AF? I’ve just picked up an Olympus AF10 which is as basic as they come but seems a decent lens (untested by me, I only got it yesterday). The super version lets you turn the flash off too, otherwise it’s as the camera wants. Nice and cheap too.

The Nikon L35AF gets decent reviews too but the prices have gone through the roof.

I suppose some of it may depend on what you want to spend.
 
The flash on an mju is not ever erect, it sits flush with the body but is always on unless you deactivate it every time you switch it on.
Its a pita but the camera meters whether to fire it or not, so it doesn't always flash.
I had a tiara for a while, that thing was tiny, optically is was as good as anything but as with most compacts it was a fiddly faff.
I guess that is an often overlooked factor that you don't consider until you've shot a roll or 2.
I also had a gr1, that was great besides the minuscule viewfinder, should never have sold that looking at the prices they go for these days.
Its difficult to beat the mju with out spending a packet..:/
 
andy1868 said:
Do you have any other requirements or just AF?
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Has to be good IQ, at least as good as my rangefinders and that's pretty good.

It seems that good quality stuff is getting expensive.
I'm beginning to think my F80 with 24mm lens might be compact enough.
 
The MJU are becoming worth a packet too though these days :LOL:
 
simon ess said:
Has to be good IQ, at least as good as my rangefinders and that's pretty good.

It seems that good quality stuff is getting expensive.
I'm beginning to think my F80 with 24mm lens might be compact enough.
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Seems that way for the most part, I have a Contax T2 which is superb but they go for daft money these days. There is the Contax TVS which goes for less, has a zoom lens and gets good reviews too for about half the price.

The Yashica T1/2/3/4/5 series go for less money and still sport Zeiss optics that are well regarded but still a fair wedge for a little plastic point and shoot.

Others are the Konica A4, Big Mini maybe
 
Meant to ask - is the MJU nearly as good / as good as the MJU ii?

They are a lot cheaper it seems.
 
I think the Mju range (especially Mju II) is now vastly overpriced for what it is. thanks to various YouTubers, Celebrities and review sites saying how great they are.

Maybe try a Canon Sure Shot? I can vouch personally for the Telemax and Z135 having great image quality (the Z135 is very slightly soft in the extreme corners if you look really closely. At least it is on mine). The AF35M II as well (although the autofocus on that is clunkier as it's an older model).

I've got albums of shots for all three if you want to take a look at what I've managed to get:

Telemax - https://www.flickr.com/gp/fishyfish/7w814j

Z135 - https://flic.kr/s/aHskUpHaQC

AF35M II - https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9EZRu8
 
Not got a Mju 1 - the main difference, except price is the Mju 2 has an f/2.8 instead of an f3.5 - If you want to try a Mju 2 I can lend you one of mine.
 
I have both but I just prefer the mju ergonomics to the mju2, and no I can't tell them apart for IQ.
 
dmb said:
Not got a Mju 1 - the main difference, except price is the Mju 2 has an f/2.8 instead of an f3.5 - If you want to try a Mju 2 I can lend you one of mine.
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Thanks David. I've had one before. I just have to get over the flash irritant thing.
 
My Olympus AF-1 has always been very good, still is thirty or more years on.
 
tijuana taxi said:
My Olympus AF-1 has always been very good, still is thirty or more years on.
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I’ve just been reading that it’s apparently the same lens as the original mju too, so should be a decent performer!
 
We had a mju (well, a Stylus, the US version) and I now have a mju 2. I agree about the ergonomics of the older one being a bit better, although the mju 2 is probably a bit more pocketable. I don't much like the viewfinder of the mju 2, and tbh it always worries me that there's no focus confirmation of any kind. I did think the image quality of the 2 was better than the older version, though. OTOH...

CN04E23 Austrian Lake small.jpg

That was taken with the older mju (Stylus... I hadn't worked out how toturn the date function off, and even more annoyingly it was over 10 years out, since th pic was taken in October 2004!). I've also just noticed that looking at the contact strip versions of some of my muj 2 films, there are signs of vignetting that I don't notice so much in individual shots. So maybe an old mju is a good investment to try out...
 
You need a Leica M-4 !:exit::LOL:

Seriously though, my eyesight has deteriorated dramatically in the past couple of years and I'm now having to wear varifocals.

I hate wearing specs of any description but focusing LF was becoming a nightmare.

Ironically the rangefinder "patch" in the M-4 is so bright that I can still use it without glasses and more often than not nail focus.

Of course Leicas don't come cheap!
 
Thanks for all the input folks. And thanks to @srichards and @dmb for the loan offers.

I'm going to give my Pentax Zoom 90 another run out before making a decision. It's not very compact and it's a bit noisy but IQ is excellent.

Otherwise, I think it might well be a mju.
 
FishyFish said:
I think the Mju range (especially Mju II) is now vastly overpriced for what it is. thanks to various YouTubers, Celebrities and review sites saying how great they are.
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I bought a Mju I for £2 at a market and later sold it for £30. I find that the better bargains come from market stalls that don't specialise in cameras but have one or two.
 
Kevin Allan said:
I bought a Mju I for £2 at a market and later sold it for £30. I find that the better bargains come from market stalls that don't specialise in cameras but have one or two.
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Getting one at that price is a definite bargain. I've found similar things on flea-market stalls full of general bric-a-brac (albeit no Mju's).

I'd be very wary of paying the prices they go for on eBay or shops though. If the electronics fail (given that these things are now 20-30 years old), then it's basically bricked and there's not a lot that can be done. At least a mechanical SLR has a chance at being repaired, and a cheaper P&S compact will not hurt the wallet quite as much.
 
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