HISTORY OF THIS CAMERA
My professional and private background is all about electronics, audio and 'The Arts' but NOT photography! My photographs on this website will atest to that (it's the best I can do with the equipment I have!)
Recently I have been asked by an associate/friend to 'look after' their collection of photographic equipment and small format film projectors and stock due to their serious ill health and his inability to look after this gear any longer. Most of the photographic gear is original Japanese marketplace equipment, his country of birth. This is one of the vintage 35mm film cameras, a dated (but popular at the time) camera with pretty 'cool' features such as the motorised lens and many of the functions were fully automatic!
I will not pretend to know a lot about this gear, in my younger days I had a 'box brownie' and I think later a 'super ubeaut' Pentax SLR camera so my experience with these old 35mm film point n' shoot cameras is pretty well zilch.
PLEASE read the description below completely and decide if this camera may be of interest to you.
There are no returns or refunds offered, this is second hand gear and offered 'as-is' but I do try to give some information in the TESTING section of this description.
OLYMPUS Point N Shoot Camera
Technology: 35mm Film (Analog)
Model: IZM220
28 ~ 56mm
f3 5~6.5mm motorised zoom lens
Released to the domestic Japanese market around 1992
Special features are:
Panoramic capability
Many functions have been automated
Motorised zoom lens
Date stamp to film
Multimode flash operation
Self timer
Diopter correction
Can use DX coded film
Film speeds ISO 50~3200
Date stamping direct to film (date set by the user)
Japanese consumer market model, this was purchased retail in Japan and is not an Australian import model
Designed, manufactured and retailed in Japan
Supplied with the carry wrist strap
NO batteries supplied (uses 2x 123A)
NO carry case
Lens has no built in 'slide protector', perhaps there was a lens cover at one time - not sure about this.
Underside has a threaded hole for tripod mounting
Weight: 335g (with no batteries fitted)
This camera 'looks' substantial and the weight doesn't disappoint! Quite a heavy camera (in my opinion)
Dimensions: 135mm wide x 65mm front to back and 72mm high
TESTING:
Testing limitations: I do not have any 35mm film rolls, which means I have visually inspected the lens and viewfinder to the best of my abilities and checked the electronics/electrical operation using a couple of 123A batteries I had in my "servicing stock" (which appear to be ok)
Here is what I discovered ...
Upon inserting the batteries, the camera comes "alive" in a fashion ... what does that mean? I hear you ask ...
Top side LCD screen shows what appears to be an F or is it E? The lower section of the character is obscured, this LCD display may not be functioning correctly. The rear LCD screen indicates nothing and in fact has a Yellowish look to it - I strongly suspect liquid (water!) has been near or in the rear of the camera at some stage, resulting in this LCD being damaged. Actually I took a much more detailed look inside the rear door of the camera and it certainly looks as though some sort of liquid has been inside - see the photographs. This is the area where the Date imprint module is fitted ONLY - I could not see any other signs of liquid penetration i.e the front lens system for example.
I did not have a spare 2025 button battery for the Date imprint system so I could not check the operation of this function or the rear LCD screen itself, although it looks pretty 'shot' to me!
I had no response from the motorised zoom lens at all - it does not move, not matter what i do.
Took at close look at the front lens system and I could not see any signs of bacteria/mildew. The rear viewfinder eyepiece also looks to be in good condition.
The battery terminals are clean with no rust observed although I must say, dang! this battery compartment only JUST fits the 2x 123A batteries side by side! Its a tight little fit inside. The top battery cover is something to watch for as it has not retaining mechanism i.e it would be easy to lose the battery compartment cover.
The rear camera case door release works correctly and is not damaged.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
Clean
NO physical camera body damage at all, but of course there are various LIGHT scuff or handling marks but none of these are of any significance (in my opinion)
All labelling is unworn and clear/easy to read.
Control buttons are all present, are clean and feel as though they are fine (I could not confirm their electronic operation as the camera will not power up correctly)
Battery compartment lid slides on and off easily - keep in mind my notes above, it would be easy to lose this cover!
In summary, this camera looks to have been quite a nice product back in it's day 30+ years ago! Contemporary design with lots of 'bells & whistles' and I am not surprised these were once very popular (and probably many thousands of Yen as well!)
This particular camera though either needs some servicing OR may be a good candidate to use as an 'organ donor' for another IZM220 i.e use it for spare parts.
I have now packed this camera into a sealed clear plastic package to maintain the present condition and keep out airborne dust.
The camera is supplied WITHOUT batteries as Australia Post is very adverse to sending items with batteries.
