Olympus Mju II

The Mju II is so compact. It boasts an incredibly sharp fixed f/2.8 Zeiss lens with a 35mm focal length and a shutter speed as fast as 1/1000. The flash is fantastic—with the night mode being able to illuminate the subject in the foreground and maintain colors of the background to bring night scenes to life. It weighs under 150 grams (without film). The accurate autofocus always nails it. The metering is excellent, and it also has spot metering mode, though I never feel the need to use it. It’s also "splash proof" and I’ve used mine in rain and snow and it has performed beautifully. The Olympus Mju II is extremely easy to use and fairly idiot proof. By that I mean, you can’t really mess up your settings. Sharp images are expected.

The camera reads the DX code of the film and automatically sets the ISO so you don’t have to worry about getting that number right. It has a small but bright and mighty viewfinder—not awkwardly tiny like some of its market competitors. It also automatically winds film, so for anyone switching from disposables to a reloadable point and shoot, you’ll appreciate the lack of creaky winding plastic that has a tendency to ruin candid moments.