The optically great, but outdated, OM-4
Written: Mar 27 '00 (Updated Mar 28 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: lightweight; rugged; excellent lenses available; multi-spot metering
Cons: no autofocus; other than multi-spot, metering is unsophisticated; must remember to set film speed; manual film advance and rewind
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| philprice's Full Review: Olympus OM-4TI Film Camera |
I own an OM-4, the precursor to the OM-4T and OM-4Ti. The "T" and "Ti" stand for "titanium", and the 4T(i) and 3T(i) have titanium bodies that make them very rugged, as well as lightweight. The 4Ti also has improved electronics over the OM-4 (which tends to eat batteries).
The OM-4 in a nutshell:
1. Olympus single lens reflex cameras do not offer autofocus (except for one failed experiment, long out of production).
2. The philosophy behind these Olympus cameras was based on: simplicity of design; giving the photographer the information and control needed to execute his or her own vision; light weight; and durability. The OM-4 does very well by these criteria. However, it is not an auto-everything camera (read on)...indeed, it is not really an auto-anything camera.
3. The OM-4 was state-of-the-art when it came out in 1984; by the time the OM-4T was released in 1987, technology was already passing it by; and now, cameras by Nikon, Canon, and Minolta offer many more features. Some of the things you'll have to do with your OM-4, that you won't with a pro SLR from another manufacturer: set your own film speed (don't forget!), wind and rewind the film yourself (unless you spend extra money for a somewhat bulky add-on winder), and focus on your own.
Overall: If you don't mind the lack of convenience features, and are willing to forgo autofocus, then the OM-4 does have some things going for it, principally the superb lenses, light weight, and unsurpassed multi-spot metering system. Think hard about what you're giving up, though.
You can probably stop reading now, but if you want to know more, read on.
First, some jargon for the camera-savvy (don't worry if you don't understand this paragraph, it's all discussed in plain English later).
The OM-4Ti (and OM-3Ti) are lightweight, compact cameras that offer both center-weighted and multi-zone spot metering, and accept the excellent Olympus Zuiko lines of lenses. Operating modes are all-manual, or aperture-priority autoexposure, with exposure compensation up to +/-2 stops in 1/3-stop increments.
OK, now that that's out of the way, some discussion:
The single-digit OM cameras (OM 1-4) are Olympus' pro line. The OM-1 and OM-3 are mechanical (they do not require battery power for operation, except to operate the meter); the OM-2 and OM-4 are electronically controlled. As far as features and operation, the OM-3 and OM-4 are nearly identical; the distinction between the electronic and mechanical shutter will be important primarily to collectors, and perhaps a few pros in unsual circumstances.
All of the single-digit Olympus cameras use the same lens mount, and thus accept the same lenses; however, old lenses from some third-party suppliers can shear off a pin on the lens mount for the OM-4, so be careful with non-Olympus lenses. Many of the Olympus Zuiko lenses offer truly excellent optical quality, though there are a few consumer-grade zoom lenses in the line that offer only average performance. The pro-grade zoom lenses are "two-touch" rather than "one-touch" (there's are separate dials for setting focal length and focus), and I can fully vouch for the quality of these lenses---they are very, very good.
Olympus was a very popular brand in the 1970's and 80's, and used cameras and lenses are widely available and reasonably priced, which is not synonymous with "cheap." Genuine Olympus Zuiko lenses are much superior to almost all lenses from other suppliers (except Vivitar Series 1, which are also good), so stick to them if you can (of course, they'll be correspondingly more expensive). The nearly definitive source for information on original Olympus equipment is an enthusiast's site, http://www.veluwen.demon.nl/index.htm
The OM-4 is a pretty simple camera. You insert the film and set the film speed. You turn the camera on, either to aperture-priority autoexposure or metered manual. The viewfinder display is very simple: the image from the lens, plus (horizontally across the bottom) some shutter speed/exposure information that depends on which exposure mode you're in. You choose the exposure you want (by either setting shutter speed and aperture manually, or by setting aperture and letting the camera set shutter speed, depending on mode), focus, and depress the shutter. Then advance the film to the next frame.
A key feature of the OM-4(T)(i) is multi-spot metering, which is better executed than in any other camera, ever. Point the camera at something and press the small "spot" button next to the shutter release, and the camera takes a meter reading from just the spot in the center of the image (angle depends on what lens you're using; I think it's 3 degrees with a 50mm lens). You can use that to set your exposure...or aim the spot at another point and press the spot button again, in which case the camera will use the average of these values. You can do this with up to 8 separate spots. Once you know what you're doing, this can be very, very handy for tricky lighting situations; for one thing, the excellent, simple display shows how far apart (in light level) the different spots are, so you can judge whether your film has enough latitude to distinguish detail in all of the relevant parts of the image. With this camera, you'll find yourself using spot meter much more than you would expect; it's so easy! And it really can help you take better photographs, if you're the kind of technically-minded photographer who is inclined towards this kind of information.
This is supposed to be a review, not a user manual, so I'll stop here. There's a lot of online information about Olympus cameras, and they're easy to find used on the online auction site, where a used OM-4 in good condition costs about $350-$450 for the body plus the excellent 50mm f/1.4 lens, and an OM-4T or 4Ti costs $550-$700. If you're contemplating buying an OM-3 or OM-4 _new_, then you probably already know about them---they're very expensive, over $1200. If you're contemplating buying one on a whim, then you should make sure you know what you're getting: a lightweight, rugged camera that accepts excellent Zuiko lenses, offers very convenient multi-spot metering, and has NO MODERN CONVENIENCE FEATURES WHATSOEVER. Would I recommend buying one, for a typical person? No. Will I get rid of mine? Probably not.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
philprice
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Member: Phillip Price
Location: Berkeley, CA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 6 members
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