Olympus MJU 105 Review - Small, mighty but worth the hype?

Shooting film shouldn’t be exclusively a dedicated experience of manual precision. For many of us, shooting film is more of a fun, creative release whilst capturing moments you look back at with a smile. For many, It’s meant to be breezy.

Just point & shoot.

Capture those sick gigs, adventurous road trips or the wildly slightly-illegal parties with you & your friends. 

But there’s also a group who doesn’t want just a point & shoot. They want quality, reliability but also the simpleness of the point & shoot cameras. 

Lo and behold, the Olympus MJU might be your answer. The super popular series product by Olympus helps to address this dilemma.

olympus mju 105

Firstly, it’s small and compact. Easy to fit in your pocket, purse or bag or just have it swing around your neck. The body is weatherproof meaning if someone is having too much of a good time and spills a drink on it, it’ll be fine unlike your shirt. It also boasts a lovely 38-105mm zoom lens which makes it versatile for most realistic situations.

Let’s not forget the Integrated flash with multiple modes to help shoot in most lighting situations. Like a traditional point & shoot, focus and aperture is done for you. Just point & press shoot! It’s not surprising to see why this Olympus is such a popular model to shoot on.

olympus mju 105 top view

This nimble point & shoot definitely has a lot of perks. The easiness of shooting just made me concentrate on the composition without making me worry too much about focus and exposure. It did it all for me which to me is a blessing and a curse. I do like the automation as it helps to focus on the composition but without the control, I do feel a bit lost in executing the specific shot I may want.

See, the MJU 105 is pretty good at getting it right. But it’s never 100%. I found some images weirdly out of focus or not as sharp as I ideally was expecting them to be. With shots like bokeh or focusing on a particular subject, I won’t lie but it was a hit and miss for a few of the shots. But again, these are the quirks of many point & shoots.

olympus mju 105 top view

Design of the camera, I really liked the clamshell design. The clamshell is wonderful in protecting the lens. I would put it in my pocket and never feared scratching or damaging the lens. When it came to shooting, it did feel like the camera was noisier than I was expecting and the zoom wasn’t as fast as I anticipated.   

 At the end of the experience, I could see why the MJU series is popular. It’s ergonomic, small and easy to use with a decent shot. Although it never really excels in any of those departments, the above-average results for each makes it a desirable point & shoot. Here's some photos I took with the Olympus MJU 105 with Kodak Ultramax 400.

 

Do I like the 105?

It’s pretty good compared to many point & shoots I’ve tested. The fact it has all 3 somewhat well-executed: good quality images, small/ergonomic & easy to use makes it a solid point & shoot. The only issue would be the price since their popularity has skyrocketed for obvious reasons and so has the price. Other than that, if you’re looking for a solid point & shoot, then check out the MJU 105. If you want something similar, the MJU 80 is smaller and more nimbly.

If you're looking for some Point & Shoots to buy in Australia, check out our extensive stock! 


      


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