The Olympus mju II wasn't my first and P&S, but the one with which I have my most enduring relationship. I’ve had my little black mju II since 2003. I bought it when I was preparing for a trip to Sierra Leone, my first serious project as a photographer. I walked into Camera House in Melbourne, Australia and told the shop assistant I was looking for a good P&S. I had seen a photo of Helmut Newton holding an Olympus mju II as he arrived on the red carpet at some fancy party. I figured that if the mju good enough for him, it was good enough for me, but I asked to take a look a Nikon 35ti, a much more high-end camera that was beyond my budget.
At around AU$150, the black plastic Olympus mju II was almost ten times cheaper than the Nikon which had a pale bronze coloured metal body (the 'ti' in the name stands for titanium) and some pretty dials. Both had 35mm lenses f2.8, but I found the viewfinder to be bigger and brighter than the Nikon, the sculptured plastic body is a brilliant design and slides easily into a pocket. It's also weather sealed.
The Olympus mju is very much a point and shoot, but it also has a spot meter and a 'night flash' mode. I got used to sliding the camera open and then pushing the a couple of little buttons on the back of the camera a a few times to either turn the flash off, turn the spot meter on or put it in night flash mode.
It became the camera I took everywhere.
Unlike a lot of Japanese lenses, the Zuiko 35mm 2.8 lens has fairly low contrast and a beautiful character. This may make a few Leica owners splutter into their coffee, but I find the mju has a kind of softness which is at the same time sharp - something I've observed from the work of some people shooting with Leica rangefinders.
I lost track of my mju II for a few years until it was found in a box I'd put in storage in my parents' shed in Australia. My mju II now lives in Shanghai, and my fiancee Vanessa has taken to the camera like a duck to water. I rarely shoot with it since it has become the camera she now takes everywhere with her.
It’s been nice to shoot with it while back in Australia these past few weeks.
I must have put hundreds a rolls through the thing, but I’ve this little gallery consists of some shots from a single roll of FujiPress 800 shot at a Highball Burlesque show at Cherry Bar. The spot meter came in handy as I balanced the camera on the edge of the stage. I ended up shooting a series on different burlesque troupes in Melbourne which was published in a few magazines including a cover. I even ended up self publishing a book, but the project began with the little Olympus mju II.
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