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DIGITAL CAMERA
| OLYMPUS MJU MINI |
| P20,995 | |
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Olympus wants you to say "wow", instead of "cheese"
It seems that man has always had a fascination for curves: the Golden Spiral, the Porsche 911, and of course, the fairer sex. When it comes to digital cameras, there are but a few that manage to break out of the boxy mold. One of these of course is the Mju Mini - Olympus' 4-megapixel, sub-compact beauty.
Showing off the MM around the office brought about coos of delight from the ladies in Cosmopolitan and Preview. We don't blame them (we never dare question their sense of style), since this camera is quite posh. Its exterior is gracefully shaped out of metal, with the lens safely hidden behind its own hatch. The rear of the camera is dominated by the LCD and the camera's controls are where you'd expect to find them. The three-position dial requires a positive push to cycle through still, movie and playback modes, which helps prevent accidental switching. The right edge is where the USB port, xD card slot, and teeny battery are located, covered by a (surprise!) plastic door. Though we wish it were constructed of sterner stuff, it does have a rubber gasket which helps keep moisture out. The whole camera is billed as weatherproof - a slight drizzle or splash shouldn't bother this camera one bit. Then again, if you're out taking pictures with Typhoon Toyang at signal number three, it's not the camera that needs checking.
With no tropical depression in sight, we put this camera through its paces. It slips easily into a pocket, and it powers up in a jiffy. Its small size just begs for it to be used one-handed. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Try as we might, most of our single-handed efforts came out a bit blurry.
Images shot at the highest resolution were rich in color and had excellent sharpness. We noticed a lot of noise though when we didn't use the flash indoors, or in settings with less available light. The 2x optical zoom was adequate enough, but we wish it were 3x, considering that's what other brands offer. The camera's menu system was intuitive to use, and contains a selection of scene modes. These will cover most photo op situations: indoors, candlelight, portraits, and even cuisine.
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4.2-megapixel CCD. 2x optical, 4x digital zoom. 1.8-inch LCD. xD Picture Card support. Movie and annotated still picture modes. USB and AV-out connectivity. Dimensions: 95 x 56 x 28mm. Weight: 115g without battery.
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Yes this camera is a beauty - but it is a bit short in the brawn department. A larger bundled memory card and a battery with a bit more endurance would have helped.
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The Mju Mini also captures video at either 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 pixel resolution - not that great, but it's still a nice feature to have. Another neat trick is the camera's panoramic mode, which stitches up to ten photos together. This function requires the use of an Olympus-branded xD card, and the accompanying software, however. Speaking of software, the advanced manual found in the CD is a must-read befor you start snapping away. Our initial blurry impressions were minimized once we got to grips with the camera (and our shaky hands as well).
No doubt about it - this camera is one neat little package. It's well constructed and should hold up well to the odd splash or two. Because of its diminutive size, it makes an excellent travel or party cam. We did find two limitations, however. The first is the paltry 16MB xD card that comes with the camera, which makes an aftermarket purchase of a bigger capacity card mandatory. We recommend at least a 128MB one. While you're at it, you might as well grab a spare Li-Ion battery, especially if you plan a trip or an all-nighter. We found ours was good for around 100 shots, but your mileage may vary of course. The camera itself is priced quite competitively, but potential buyers should be prepared to shell out a bit more to get maximum enjoyment. A camera this stylish deserves that, at the very least. - Agu Paiso
 Post your opinion or own review!
T3 Magazine Philippines - January-February 2005 Issue
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