This is a weekend of broken Olympus promises, camera style. First, it is this Olympus LT zoom. Having already tried the LT-1, I was super excited to get my hands on this rough-looking LT Zoom.

I saw it at the Boston Spa Camera Fair. It wasn’t on a table but on a shelf behind one. I knew the seller and later sent him a message asking if he had bought it there for himself. He replied, that it was for sale and he hadn’t put it on the table when I saw it. As I was not buying cameras, I offered him a swap. Someone had recently given me a nice DSLR would he swap it for that?? Yes, he would. So a week later it was in my hand.

I loaded it with a roll of Poundland Agfa 200 and went for a wander to Bakewell with my sister. The Olympus made a few clicking sounds when turned on. From experience, I knew this was not a good sign. Sure enough, after this roll, the camera died and refused to turn on again. The swapee has offered to look at it and thinks he can fix it, so the next time we meet we will make another exchange. I hope he can as I really enjoyed using it, plus it looks so steam punk.

The camera was produced around 1997 and has a 38-105mm, f/4.5-8.9 zoom lens. Not the best specs, but I can overlook that for the design. The camera uses DX-coding with non DX set to 100asa. That is actually quite useful as many set non DX to 25asa. I think the camera is best used in good light as the f4.5 doesn’t lend itself to low light situations. Like many Olympus point-and-shoots from this era, it feels nice in the hand. The leather skin and sturdy lens cover makes it a perfect bag camera. It is weather proof but not waterproof.

As I said, I managed to get one roll through it before it died, here are most of my results. Most were taken around Bakewell, but a few around my home town.

I hope my friend is able to fix it as it isn’t a camera I could afford to replace even if I was buying more cameras. Talking of getting more cameras, someone pointed out the ‘A’ in GAS is acquisition. Therefore I should change my counter to GPS, gear purchasing syndrome. I think that is a good point.

It is safe for now as a GPS, but I do have my eye on a new lens for an experiment, more on that later. The next Boston Spa Fair is on March 16th 2025. I will be selling some cameras there, mainly for other people, but hopefully, I will be reducing my own collection.

The fair doesn’t have an active website and uses Facebook. This is the text from that post.

Next CAMERA FAIR at BOSTON SPA junction 45 A1(M)near LEEDS, West Yorkshire
SUNDAY 16th MARCH 2025
Venue: BOSTON SPA Village Hall – LS23 6AA.

Starts 9.30am until 1pm. Entry £3. Pay at the door.

Stallholders selling cameras & lenses, film & digital, new and used items. Lots of different makes & models, Leica, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Mamiya, Bolex, Voigtlander, Zeiss, Minolta and many more. Filters, films, camera straps, stepping rings and adaptors. FETCH YOUR UNWANTED PHOTOGRAPHY ITEMS TO SELL, PART EXCHANGE or just come to buy something you haven’t used before. Hot & cold refreshments available on the day. This is a cash only event, however a local shop does have a cash machine. Thanks.