Olympus mju Zoom 1701999

History

By the late 1990s the mju Zoom family had been climbing the zoom-range ladder for several years, with new models adding incremental telephoto extension roughly every 12-18 months. The 170mm model was among the last film-era additions before Olympus's attention shifted decisively toward its digital compact products. It arrived at a point when consumer expectations for zoom reach had grown substantially: the mid-1990s baseline of 70-80mm had stretched, in five years, to 150-200mm across most compact manufacturers' ranges.

The mju Zoom 170 was sold internationally under the usual regional naming split - mju in Japan and Europe, Stylus Zoom in North America. Production likely ended around 2001-2003 as the mju Digital line succeeded the film-era mju Zoom cameras in retail, though exact discontinuation dates remain unverified.

Why It Matters

The mju Zoom 170 is a camera at an inflection point: it pushes the weatherproof clamshell format as far as it practically goes before the zoom mechanism becomes a liability rather than a feature. At 170mm, a CR123A-powered motorised compact is working hard; the maximum aperture at the long end is narrow, requiring bright light or fast film for usable results. But for an outdoor photographer who wanted one compact capable of both wide environmental shots and compressed telephoto framing - all in a body that could survive light rain - it was a genuine solution.

In current used markets the 170 trades at a discount to the 105 and 130 models, in part because the longer zoom raises durability concerns and in part because the narrower aperture at 170mm limits its utility in typical low-light shooting. That discount makes it interesting to buyers who specifically want reach and shoot outdoors in good light.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Consumer super-zoom for travel and outdoor photographers wanting maximum reach in a pocket body. No documented editorial or professional use verified.
• The 38-170mm range aligns with the upper bound of consumer zoom expectations circa 2000, reflecting the "zoom wars" period when manufacturers competed primarily on focal-length extension.
• Occasionally sought out by 2020s film revival photographers specifically for telephoto compression effects achievable in a weatherproof compact format.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Olympus mju Zoom - family overview and variant listing
• Wikipedia: Olympus mju - product line context and naming history