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RE: [OM] Trouble in OM paradise

Subject: RE: [OM] Trouble in OM paradise
From: Winsor Crosby <wincros@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 12:33:49 -0800
At 18:19 12/15/01, Tom Trottier wrote:
The Olympus Stylus Epic is probably the smallest full-frame 35 (The
Tessina is smaller but heavier and has 14x21mm negs) and it has auto
focus, spot metering, motor drive & rewind and energy-saving flash.
Plastic body, f/2.8, 145g, the size of 3 film boxes, and $80. So they
haven't lost their creativity.

tOM

For cameras in current production, I believe the Minolta TC-1 is smaller and is likely *the* smallest, but not by much. At $900, smaller size costs much more (among other bells and whistles). I haven't searched exhaustively for the smallest (in production), so there may be another camera staking claim to it.

The Olympus XA, long out of production, is slightly smaller than the Stylus along two of three dimensions. The Rollei 35, also long out of production, is smaller than the XA along the same two dimensions, although it is much heavier with metal frame and body.

The Rollei 35 and its succesors through the 35TE/SE held an unchallenged "smallest full frame" status from 1966 until the Olympus XA, circa 1978. If the lenses are omitted on both, the Rollei body is smaller. The Minox EL (1974) came close. The Minolta TC-1 has much less debatably taken that position away from the Rollei 35 by beating it in two of three dimensions and having an integral flash. I've included their dimensions below so that you can see how close these all are dimensionally. The stylus is 15mm - 20mm longer. Otherwise, the differences are just a few millimeters among all of them. They all push the envelope hard on how small a full frame can be made.

Oly Stylus:  117mm x 63mm   x  37mm
Oly XA:      102mm x 65mm   x  40mm
Minox EL:    102mm x 69mm   x  34mm (lens collapsed)
Rollei 35:    97mm x 60mm   x  44.8mm (lens collapsed)
Minolta TC-1  99mm x 58.4mm x  30.5mm (body, not counting lens)

AFIK no camera makers other than Minolta, Olympus and Minox (35EL in 1974) have created full-frame 35mm that challenge Rollei's "smallest size" achievement in 1966.

-- John


All true, but the Stylus includes an electronic flash and a motorized winder. If you add those to the other cameras the difference is dramatic.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California

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