I wanted a "small" light weight camera to carry around for "quick" shots if I saw something interesting. I don't recall the exact date of purchase, but I recall using in the early 2000's. I may have purchased it as early as 1996 because I recall photographing a sunset by a historic building that was used in the early 20th century in the auto industry. I live in Farmington Hills Michigan a suburb of Detroit, so there where many sites related to auto manufacturing and that image was taken around 1996-1997. It took excellent images and the menu / camera features were way ahead on any other fixed lens film camera of the era.

35mm film camera.

Yes. I have used one and I still have it. A totally remarkable film camera with a sharp zoom lens. I used to carry it in my brief case as a "small" camera to photograph images when out and about and not wanting to carry 35mm gear. Highly "computerized" and menu driven for it's time. I think I purchased it around 2002. The menus and features would rival 35mm DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras currently in use today.

I have heard of individuals reporting "dust" or spots in the Canon EF 70-300 II lens. I purchased one and noticed "spots" on the main objective. Upon close examination the "spots" were in fact points of light that appeared on the surface of the lens. There is nothing wrong with the lens. If you rotate the lens the "spots" actually will move indicating that light is reflecting off of the front element.