[tncowdaddy]

I just saw an auction for an Olympus Stylus Zoom 170 Film Camera on ebay that was up to $40 with a day left. Since you can buy a box full of film cameras from that era for $40, I did a "sold items" search and found some of these Olympus Stylus Zoom film cameras are selling for well over $100! Anyone know what the appeal is for these old 35mm "point and shoot" cameras? For $150 and a little patience, you can get a Pentax K-5 with a 18-55mm and a 55-300mm! What gives?

[TwoUptons]

That's a good question...
I used to sell the "regular" Stylus without a zoom for $99 brand new many years ago... and now they sell used for much more than that...

I won't argue that it isn't a good camera - it is... but their prices have gone through the roof... they used to be $30 or so all day long for nice examples...

It's the same reason used K1000s are selling for over $100... name recognition... and a point and shoot gives a nice way into film photography that isn't any harder than using a phone...

-Eric

[BigMackCam]

I don't know about the zoom models, but Olympus prime lens models tended to be optically rather good compared to much of the competition from the same era... allegedly (I don't have enough experience with film cameras to provide my own evidence). I have an Olympus Trip 35 and the lens on that is good for the class of camera. I also own - but haven't yet shot with - an Olympus µ[mju] (aka Stylus) that belonged to my Dad, and with which he took some excellent B&W photos. Prices on that model have risen sharply in the last few years. The later µ[mju] ii (aka Stylus Epic) has almost cult status and commands even higher prices. I think that's what it comes down to... "cult status", plus a gradually-reducing number of examples available in good working condition. The same thing has happened with lenses from the Soviet Union. Certain models are now fetching hundreds of dollars, yet a decade ago you could pick them up for a fraction of the cost...

Comparison with a DSLR isn't really "apples to apples"... an Olympus Stylus is a light-weight pocketable 35mm film camera; a K-5 + 18-55 - whilst much more capable and versatile - is also much bulkier, heavier and ... well... digital. Having recently begun shooting film, I'm finding it an enjoyable and rewarding experience - neither better nor worse than digital, but certainly quite different.

[titrisol]

Stylus (mu) were awesome cameras, with great optics and exposure metering and a very cool design
My wife had one for years and pictures always came good.

I guess someone made them fashionable, as a couple of years ago they were worth nothing.

[tncowdaddy]

Comparison with a DSLR isn't really "apples to apples"... an Olympus Stylus is a light-weight pocketable 35mm film camera; a K-5 + 18-55 - whilst much more capable and versatile - is also much bulkier, heavier and ... well... digital.

Agreed, but I really don't know enough about the film camera market to make an apples to apples comparison. I'd just looked at K-5 as a backup and so the price range was fresh in my mind.

I guess part of my disbelief is that there's a market for film shooters wanting a pretty limited camera, i.e. not an SLR. I have acquired a couple of film SLRs but given the cost of film and processing, I'm waiting on a special occasion or at least a planned outing to try them out. I don't want to "waste" shots. In that same mind frame, I don't see grabbing a camera just cause it's easy to carry for such an occasion. Although I suppose there's a retro resurgence of sorts. A person might be trying film for the first time who has only shot on an iPhone before, and that would make the Stylus attractive. I wonder if some YouTuber or other such Influencer has hyped these?

[Cerebum]

I picked up a Ricoh 500rf, cool little rangefinder that takes great shots. The Olympus offering is six times the price. Film is having a real resurgence, maybe that is driving the price of the cooler models. The cost of an Olympus 35 sp is only going one way!

[BigMackCam]

Agreed, but I really don't know enough about the film camera market to make an apples to apples comparison. I'd just looked at K-5 as a backup and so the price range was fresh in my mind.

I guess part of my disbelief is that there's a market for film shooters wanting a pretty limited camera, i.e. not an SLR. I have acquired a couple of film SLRs but given the cost of film and processing, I'm waiting on a special occasion or at least a planned outing to try them out. I don't want to "waste" shots. In that same mind frame, I don't see grabbing a camera just cause it's easy to carry for such an occasion. Although I suppose there's a retro resurgence of sorts. A person might be trying film for the first time who has only shot on an iPhone before, and that would make the Stylus attractive. I wonder if some YouTuber or other such Influencer has hyped these?

There's definitely quite a significant subset / niche of film photography enthusiasts who don't care so much about interchangeable lenses and full manual control. I suspect some of them came up through the so-called "Lomography" movement, shooting very simple "hipster" cameras, but finally wanting better image quality.

Full exposure control and a choice of lenses - as provided by SLR and rangefinder cameras - provides the greatest versatility, of course, but there's something quite liberating about shooting with something more compact and/or basic... Sometimes, really basic:

Years ago - before I really understood anything about photography - I shot several rolls with a Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim... a cheap, all-plastic camera beloved of "Lomographers" (I still own the camera, and have another brand new, boxed, unused one in storage). It has a 22mm ultra-wide angle lens, just one shutter speed (1/125s) and one aperture (f/11), and a fixed focus distance such that everything from about 2.5 feet to infinity is in acceptable focus. Because the film winding mechanism, like the rest of the camera, is made from flimsy plastic parts, it will likely jam and break if you use 36 exp film with it, so it's recommended to use 24 exp only. Sounds like an awful camera, doesn't it? And yet, the simple two element lens is excellent and produces beautiful photos... if, of course, you get the subject, lighting and composition right (and remember to keep your fingers away from the ultra-wide lens ). I'm looking forward to shooting this camera again... it's a little gem that many folks here would probably laugh at.

The most fun I've had shooting film since I began last November (admittedly, not long ago) has been with the little Olympus Trip 35. The only things it lets you control are focus (either zone or distance based - most folks use the zones), and aperture if you're using a flash. Otherwise, exposure is automatic - it's a point-and-squirt camera. That said, the lens is really good, and in use it's nice just to concentrate on subject, lighting and composition. Plus, it's really convenient - and, as I already mentioned, quite liberating - to have a camera you can just keep in your pocket or dangle from your wrist, rather than hanging something comparatively large and heavy round your neck or over your shoulder...

EDIT: Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim cameras haven't been made for some time, and used models have sold on eBay for GBP £15 to £50 here in the UK recently, depending on condition (ludicrous considering the quality of manufacture and lack of features)... but I see that there's a re-make just been launched this year, the "RETO Ultra Wide and Slim". It sells for USD $29.99 + shipping from HK, or slightly more from local film photography suppliers in most regions. Again, this seems like a ludicrous price if all you consider is the materials and incredibly limited functionality of the camera... but it takes beautiful images. Stick a 24 exp roll of ISO 400 B&W film in it, and you can mostly shoot in any average daytime lighting due to the exposure latitude of the film... Folks may scoff, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it, I say

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 05-12-2022 at 01:27 PM.

[Dan]

I just saw an auction for an Olympus Stylus Zoom 170 Film Camera on ebay that was up to $40 with a day left. ... What gives?

I guess that Olympus is not a very popular camera. :-) Search for "Yashica T4" on eBay, a decent little camera with a very nice 35mm f/3.5 fixed lens. Working copies sell for about $500. I used to have one of these, and now wish that I had kept it. Needless to say, they sell for a lot more now than when they were new. I think I paid $150.

Dan

[gofour3]

Agreed, but I really don't know enough about the film camera market to make an apples to apples comparison. I'd just looked at K-5 as a backup and so the price range was fresh in my mind.

I guess part of my disbelief is that there's a market for film shooters wanting a pretty limited camera, i.e. not an SLR. I have acquired a couple of film SLRs but given the cost of film and processing, I'm waiting on a special occasion or at least a planned outing to try them out. I don't want to "waste" shots. In that same mind frame, I don't see grabbing a camera just cause it's easy to carry for such an occasion. Although I suppose there's a retro resurgence of sorts. A person might be trying film for the first time who has only shot on an iPhone before, and that would make the Stylus attractive. I wonder if some YouTuber or other such Influencer has hyped these?

All it takes is one celebrity to be pictured with that camera and their followers will go out and buy one.

Phil.

[Papa_Joe]

It is just some of those cameras are going to be hip sometimes. That is all. The Yashica T4 was used by Terry Richardson for a certain style of flash portrait photography. And whoopy of goes the price. Actually you can quite simply reproduce those portraits with the camera. I did a portrait of my son which looked nearly 100% alike on the first try.
So sometimes it is true, that the camera makes the picture.

All in all driven by Lomography there is a bigger awareness, that some rangefinder cameras have excellent optics and their uncomplicated usage and compactess make them very usable for street and people photography. The prices started to go up 4 years ago allready. With the Olympus XA, it took some time until it came within the focus of the community. You can still get some reasonable priced (100 €) ones. But sooner or later I think they will dig out all the good and decent 35 mm rangefinders. Just checked the prices of the Agfa Optima 1535 which has a decent glas lens and a coupled rangefinder, it was always over 100 EUR as it is quite seldom. But some people nowadays pay up to 350 EUR to get one, while with some patience you can still get some for 80 EUR as well.

[TwoUptons]

The Stylus was the first camera I ever saw that passed the drunk test...
In the 90s, when the Stylus was on the market, I ran a small minilab.
Every major holiday people would bring in their photos, and many people would take drunken selfies (though we didn't know to call it that at the time), particularly after New Years.
They would take their camera, at arms length, and point it at themselves doing something silly.
The photos would come back completely out of focus, dramatically washed out with the flash, and chopped off so all you got was a chin or some hair and an eyeball or something.
Until the Stylus...
Drunk selfies with the Stylus were absolutely pin-sharp -- focus was right on and the lens was good; and they were exposed properly. Though they still couldn't aim properly...
And the camera did the same thing for regular photos... if you didn't need a zoom, it was a great little pocket camera.

-Eric

[foresmac]

The Stylus is very small, has a 35/3.5 lens, and as noted excellent metering and focusing. The Stylus Epic upped that with a 35/2.8 optic and an even more compact body and DX coding up to 3200. I definitely used it to shoot handheld shots with TMax3200 or Superia 1600 with the flash turned off and it was great.

I used to have Stylus Epic Limited in the 90s, which my mom borrowed and apparently lost. Now they sell for about $800 on eBay! :,(

---------- Post added 05-12-22 at 06:16 PM ----------

Other similar camera models: Konica Big Mini, Nikon 35AF, Nikon 35Ti/28Ti, Pentax Espio mini/UC-1, Yashica/Kyocera T4, Minolta TC-1… I’m sure people could name others.

[yucatanPentax]

I had an Olympus XA2 camera in the 1980s and 1990s. The lens was sharp, the focal length was useful, the focusing was fast and accurate rangefinder. It was small, ready to use instantly, and could be carried anywhere. Because it didn't have a protruding lens, people tended not to think of it as a 'serious camera' although the images produced were often quite wonderful. (this is an online pic of an XA, only slightly different)



I usually had it loaded with slide film, almost always Kodachrome. Prints of a vacation to the Canary Islands are still on my wall, from that tiny camera that could go everywhere.

If digital weren't an option and the main choice today, that's likely the very camera I'd go back to -- the one always with me as opposed to a shoulder bag of DSLR things. Of course, I have more time for lugging around DSLR things today. But one reason I've lately become enamored of the KP is that it's small and quite flexible, especially with a 40 XS or other pancake.

I can certainly see the appeal of the various small Olympus cameras. Their lenses were quite good for their price and size. My aunt was a professional photographer back in the film days. She used Hasselblad and Olympus cameras.

[sconut1]

Although a little bit more complicated to use, but not much, given the prices on MEs these days (not Supers), not sure why the appeal of a point and shoot at all. The ME is really small for an SLR with all the benefits of an SLR and should yeild better results than a point and shoot. For a 1/3rd of the price of what folks are discussing here. I don't understand the allure of point and shoots, but different strokes for different folks I suppose.

[nickthetasmaniac]

I just saw an auction for an Olympus Stylus Zoom 170 Film Camera on ebay that was up to $40 with a day left. Since you can buy a box full of film cameras from that era for $40, I did a "sold items" search and found some of these Olympus Stylus Zoom film cameras are selling for well over $100! Anyone know what the appeal is for these old 35mm "point and shoot" cameras? For $150 and a little patience, you can get a Pentax K-5 with a 18-55mm and a 55-300mm! What gives?

Quality, pocketable 35mm film cameras are popular and aren’t easy to find. All examples that have a good reputation are becoming more expensive. Check the ‘sold’ listings for a Olympus Mju II of god forbid a Contax T3...

As you may be aware, a K-5 is not a pocketable 35mm film camera