6:30 "In the OFF mode, you can still use the camera...." You just stumbled on one of Mr. Maitani's (the chief designer of the OM System) design requirements, and the reason there is no "shutter release lock" on his cameras! Imagine you waste a frame on a roll of film -- boo, hoo, what a shame, but you've got plenty more, right? But then, imagine you bring your camera to your eye for that once in a life-time shot, and -- Ahhhhh! The release button is locked! You loose! Maitani insisted that his cameras be always ready to fire at all times, even when "off".
Just wondering. What shutter speed is being used when the camera is off? Since there is no manual selection there has to be a certain default shutter speed that is selected for exposures in the off mode
@@singleaspringle6941 It still works in full aperture priority mode in the "off" position as it does when the switch is in the "on" position. The only difference is that you don't get a readout in the viewfinder which you get with the switch in the "on" position.
As far as I can recall the little bar code like icon was to denote that the camera took its meter reading as reflected from the film itself. This was thought a special feature about that time when Olympus was forging ahead with off the film (OTF) metering and, on cameras further up the range, spot metering and multi spot metering. Olympus OM10 thus had two metering systems the fist of which gave the viewfinder reading and the second OTF determined the actual exposure whilst in auto and during the exposure.
My 1st 35mm camera was the OM10. I no longer have it, but it got me really interested in photography, and for that I will always be grateful to that little camera.
My OM10 also turns the meter off if you don't use it for a while - I believe it's a feature (not a bug) that was included to save battery life, although the meter is still operating when the light is off so I can't think it makes much of a difference. However, that thing you thought was a shutter lock is actually the key to switching it back on again! It's electrostatic so a touch from your finger will reactivate the meter light. On a lot of models this feature breaks quite fast, unfortunately, so yours may not work. Lovely camera though, the Zuiko lenses are amazing!
That’s interesting about the electrostatic switch. I did not know that. I’ve got 5 of the OM series cameras and have restored most of them from the grave. Will have to check if any of them work or if I can fix them. Thanks for that.
When did Phil Collins start doing camera reviews?Wonderful camera . I have had mine for 45 years.It still works PERFECTLY.The little silver knob you thought was a lock is actually a touch sensor to turn the light meter back on when it times out .As for the little checkered symbol ,well, It's a little badge to show people that the camera uses an off the film light meter (this was a big deal back in the day), and that's the pattern that's printed on the shutter curtain to be used to represent the majority of film types. The pattern is for metering when the shutter is closed (as you can't meter off the film at that point). So yeah, the badge is purely decorative / PR.
Hey there, I am currently using this camera as it used to be my dads and i just wanted to have a go. I keep researching everywhere but with no answers. What does it mean when the light meter is in the red area with what seems to be a flash icon? thanks.
@@celestedrouin_davis9412 The LED at the very top of the scale, the one by the flash icon, will illuminate when a dedicated flash (a flash made with the special connections for Olympus cameras) is attached to the hot shoe on top of the camera and ready to fire. Just below that, but above the "1000" mark, is an LED that will illuminate if the lighting conditions and camera settings would require a shutter speed above 1/1000th second, which are above the capabilities of the camera. In that case, you would want to adjust the lens' aperture setting to reduce the amount of light getting to the film.
The black and white pattern you see in a little box on the front near the shutter button indicates the camera uses 'off-the-plane multi-pattern metering'. If you take the lens off and carefully lift the mirror up, you will see the black and white patterning on the cloth shutter curtain.. Apparently, this seemingly random pattern helped with exposure
Great review on the OM10. Quick note on the light meter when it goes off. You do not have to turn it off/on. Just hit the tiny lever (that you thought was a lock button) on the shutter release button and it will trigger the light meter to come on again. It is a battery saving finction. Someone else may have commented on that. If so, my apologies. It is a simple and great slr. Especially for B&W.
I've recently got back into film photography after I switched to digital back in college (7 years ago). My om10 is now packed into my day bag! Wonderful review, can't wait to get mine loaded up. If only I had a dark room..
When the light meter goes off tap the collar of the shutter button and it will bring the light meter back on. It’s just going into power saver mode. Great video and great shots.
Smashing little camera, I’ve loved the OM system since the 80’s . The silver switch around the shutter button is to turn the meter back on with a light press not a shutter lock. The barcode symbol is just to signify that it uses multi pattern metering. Great honest review!👍
I bought one about 5 or 6 years ago because it had six lenses with it, I thought they be there for when I bought my OM1 one day. Mine has the shutter speed adapter with it and with the Zuiko glass it’s such a lovely little camera that I now have no intention of upgrading. I use it as my "colour" camera as it has a large selection of lenses. My problem is I’m not a big 35mm colour shooter so sometimes I can have a film in it for quite a while (ie months). If you do buy one look for a serial number above 2,000,000, there was a recurring fault with the shutters before then. I don’t have to turn mine off and back on again, and the original batteries are no longer legal and you put two others, sorry I forget what they are, to make an equivalent. Great video Roger of a great camera, which often overlooked for its its bigger brothers.
My first ever camera! Shot exclusively with this while I travelled across europe late 80's early 90's. Shot mostly slide film. I still have those shots AND the camera! And like you said, it rarely misses. Probably explains why I still favour Aperture Priority all these years later though! About the size, I still cant understand why modern full frame digital SLRs are so much bigger than this camera. When you think about it, this is a tiny FF SLR and we're still struggling to build modern equivalents with a similar size and weight. Enjoyed your vid as always.
That's true. I wonder how much of that was driven by design and marketing though rather than actual necessity. IE "pros" wanting big, black bulky bodies that gave the appearance of a solid professioanl tool, rather than a holidaymaker taking snaps. It's clear the actual mirror, mirror chamber and film plane for the 35mm format does not need to take up a lot of space, and miniaturisation has made many advance since this camera was born. And yet we are still stuck with big, black boxes.
Just found this site and really enjoy it. As a retired professional photographer and former camera tech for Olympus Corp responsible for UPI camera maintenance for the SE USA, I can assure you that "pros" very much like the size of Olympus equipment. That reason, along with excellent warranty service is why UPI switched from Nikon to Olympus in the late 70's. Although the OM10 was for "advanced amateurs," the OM1's, OM2's and OM2n's were widely used by many pros and advanced amateurs until digital photography had advanced enough to equal or surpass film based images. I held on to my OM's, "Hassys" and Sinar 4X5 until the very end. I shoot digital now, but wish I'd never sold the others. Only did after Kodak went belly up by closing all of their film processing labs, making it difficult to find a lab that could still process color.
Fond memories, my first camera I purchased in 1981:) I remember paying an extra £10 for the small click on 'manual adapter' unit which gave you shutter priority.
The final version of this OM series was the OM-40 Program or OM- PC. These were more affordable as compared to the OM-1 or OM-4T. I’ve had a few of these. Major problem with older OM cameras is the deterioration of the light seals and prism supporting foam which then deposits through the mechanicals and jams it. But if you get a good one it should be ok very compact much like the Pentax ME super.
I picked up on of these recently in a charity shop, it's like new! This takes me back thirty years to developing sndvprinting in the school darkroom. I've always wanted to get back to it. Your vid has really inspired me! Thanks for a great vid.
I just picked one up today in a car boot sale for €20 with a 28-70mm lens I'm chuffed! It was in the bottom of a box like it was broken, I changed the battery and everything works great its amazing! Super happy
I have one of these with a 50mm lens that I had given to me by one of the guys from work, in lovely condition with an original dedicated flash and instructions as well. takes great shots...I like the fact you can shoot quicker with it being an aperture priority camera as well. its one of 3 camera's I've had given to me by people from work or that come in.the other was from another workmate, a nice little Pentax K100 with a 50mm lens, the other was a Canon AE-1 program with a 50mm and a 100-300mm zoom lens. all I need is for someone to give a nice Hassy now....lol. great review and nice shots you got there as well, always enjoy your video's.
Yay! This is my main film SLR! I've only ever used it with the manual adapter as I don't like giving my control away. I like it because I can have it hanging off my wrist and barely notice it, while my digital or another film camera is round my neck.
The black & white checked pattern on the front is just an indicator, to the computer generated pattern on the shutter curtain. If you remove the lens and cock the shutter, behind the mirror you will see a black & white check on the first curtain. This is to achieve a correct exposure, When the mirror flips up, metering cells measure the light reflected from the subject as it bounces off of this pattern of blocks. Using this information, the camera times the release of the second curtain, allowing realtime and step-less adjustments to exposure times. I think it was build into all OM models starting with the OM2 I've had my OM10 for 30+ years and still don't fully understand what the cutrain blocks all means LOL
I just had a look and I see it. But why put the same code on the front? It obviously doesn't do anything other than a visual representation of what's on the curtain. I thought it was a serial code at first!
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Think it's just a badge of honour, to let the buyer know it has this matrix pattern curtain fitted. I guess Olympus thought it was a big deal back then 😀
The black and white badge is to prompt customers to ask, "What's this?" so that a good sales clerk could expound on the benefits of "Off The Film" exposure control, a feature unique to Olympus at the time. Some other manufacturers utilized the same system in later years, but only Olympus used it back then.
After so many years of digital, I recently got a Yashica Mat TLR after watching one of your seascape videos with 6x6 and got back to film shooting and developed my first roll of Delta 100 the other day. I am now in the process of convincing myself to have a darkroom shed in the back yard. 😂😩 All because of your great content. 🤣 Joke aside, love the videos and the content you are putting on. 👌 🙏
I used a ton of Kodachrome when i was stationed in Germany in my OM10 that I bought new before i got there. I carried all over Spain, Denmark, Norway, Italy, on Military aircraft in back pack. never had a single problem with it. Now the timer no longer works but otherwise its fine. I always like Olympus and next chance i get at a reasonably priced OM-1 I am getting. May be awhile. My dog tore her ACL yesterday. so thinks the vet. Min 2000. dollars for surgery. oh boy. but if i lock my wife and my dog in a closet for 8 hours and let them our my dog will be happy to see me. I ask you, who could love you more. so she gets the surgery!
I really want to like the OM series. The viewfinder's huge size is wonderful for someone who wears glasses and I like how the shutter speed selector is ring around the lens mount on the single digit bodies but the cameras are just a little to small for my hands. The fingers on my right hand get all jammed up against the lens mount. Extremely good lenses.
I tried the OM-10 my brother bought on my recommendation as he was just a hobby shooter and didn't want to invest too much into gear. It's a decent amateur camera, certainly, but compared to the big siblings (the 1-4 OMs) it feels so very flimsy. It takes fine pictures as the OM lenses are excellent. But it cannot be compared to the pro OMs seriously. Disclaimer: I shot OMs for a daily for 9 years.
If you put the camera in manual mode without the manual adapter the shutter speed will default to 1/60th of a second. 1/60 of a second is the maximum flash sync speed.
One of the buttons on the lens…opposite the lens release lock…is actually a depth-of-field preview button. It closes the lens down to the aperture set in the lens.
Thank you! This is a perfect educational video. I know nothing about shooting film and picked one of these up and needed something explaining the ins and outside out the functioning
I bought an OM10 in 1980. (Still have the Dixon’s receipt 😁) I also bought a Patterson home developer kit, then added the colour developer kit to it. Still have both. Only just taken up the hobby again after a 28 yr break. Need to get the lens professionally cleaned. The Olympus still works well. Pity you didn’t have the manual attachment. I now have a Nikon D3400 18-55 and a 55-200 lens. The big benefit is being able to immediately see what you have taken via an iPad. But I do want to develop my own again. It’s great fun.
Roger, thanks very much for the advise and the way you explain in general. Just started with the films process and developed the first film. Started with a Canon T70 and indeed a bit scary getting the first roll into the container but after the developing seeing the first glance of negatives come to life, yes exited. Thanks again Roger your explanation really gets the inspiration trigged. Like also the composition advises and possibilities, greetz Ric, The Netherlands.
Thanks. I really enjoyed that! In a review of this camera by Oly35mm the button "without no function" is explained. It reactivates the lightmeter, that indeed does have a sleepmode, so you do not have to put the metering of and on again.
Bought mine around 1980. Being semi-auto, these were kind of the 'new breed' in base SLRs, competing with the likes of the K1000. Just got it working again a couple of months ago, but still haven't managed to finish the roll of film sitting in it.
I have an om10 & was my 1st can in the 80's & have the manual adapter. I can't use it now though cos I can't process film but the lens which came with it is great on My modern mirrorless Sony camera The lens has fungus but photos r still great. And yesterday got a Olympus zuiko 135mm tele lens in the post for less than a tenner on eBay but it has a lot of fungus have to see if I can clean it. And it's really small for a tele lens.
I think the bar code thing's just a logo to let you know it has 'deegital' electronics inside. Which was a big marketing deal back in the day.. "Computerized".. Like an old Bond film where all the computers were the size of large cupboards with flashing on/off lights all over them. (I'm old now so I have a lot of "back in the day" to bore people senseless with. :) Here's another.. If you do color developing and printing don't be tempted to buy a Durst color safelight.
Good Overview of the OM10..I have had one since they were first introduced.. Daughter number two did a design course at St Martins and I managed to find a great second hand set including tripod, telephoto and wide angled lens for £60 for her ...Pleased to say she is well into photography and still uses old faithful....They are great cameras ..and would recommend them to anyone looking to get into Film photography ..i also recommend this channel too as a good guidance on what to do and how to do it too....
I have the OMG which is like a newer version of the 10 and I love this little bugger. It has a very bright easy to focus viewfinder and is small and light weight.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Just got the first roll of film developed, it took 3 months due to covid but they are cracking, looking on ebay it cost me £23 as was untested, and it works like a dream, manual adaptor arrived yesterday £18 so very keen to get out shooting.
I hate the smell of the stop bath, so I stopped using it. I also think it was causing my film to curl, which I have never had a problem with since. I have both a Rondinax 35U and a Rondix 35 daylight developing tanks and I think they are a great solution, no need for a darkroom or bag because the film is directly loaded into the tank.
Socrates I have respiratory difficulties and use the odourless stop both, the chemicals that really get to my lungs are the e6 and they have a lot less odour than the c-41. I’ve found making my chemicals and final rinse the same temperature stops a lot of curl. I’m really interested in the developing system you use, and will research into it as I often find using my 1980s cotton bag quite painful due to my upper body difficulties and it’s putting me off developing my films or I try to rush. Your comment might b e the answer to my problems, thank you.
Socrates I have a bag and tank so no need for a Rondix 35 as for a darkroom well that where you do your printing and as far as I know you can't do that inside a Rondix 35 .
My point is that a bag and tank are reliable,cheap and easy to use yet you imply that the expensive Rodinax 35u is a "solution" to a bag and tank. A solution needs a problem and that problem doesn't exist using a bag and tank and as for how the 35U replaces the need for darkroom I don't know........Also stop bath making film curling your having a laugh.
I just refurbished my fathers old OM10 and was looking around RU-vid for good videos about it. I have to say I enjoyed yours immensely. I have the auto adapter on mine but I may shoot aperture priority first. I’m curious about the reason you were waving something over your paper when you were creating the prints. Does that affect the final image somehow? Again, great video. Peace.
Say, don't be mad at me, but could it be that your photographs are lacking highlights course of too short development time? By the way, in the time when I shoot and developed film myself, I developed HP5, my beloved film for reportage, street, sports and concert work, in Ilford's Microphene developer. Yes, you have to dissolve / cook it, but in my view, that's the best high speed film developer. At least for Ilford films. Now what camera is concerning, few days ago I stumbled upon one OM10, in really good condition, for a descent price. However I didn't pull the gun course the camera did not have manual exposure adapter included. And that's no-go for me, despite being loyal Olympus film shooter (when I do shoot film). Course my first SLR camera was Pentax MG (rebranded ME), quite similar to OM10 (without adapter), and with that camera was nearly impossible to shoot slide film and achieve correct exposure all the time...
Thanks Tomislav! I have not tried Microphen although I have read it works well with Ilfords higher speed films. I've only recently shortened my developing times slightly after some tests using XTOL and I'm getting better results. Before I think I was slightly over developing as my negatives were always appearing more dense. I also recently purchased a OM20 as it has the manual shutter ring selector built in.
Hi Matthew, I'm confused about the light meter in this camera - where is the ideal location for the red light to be to indicate that the lighting is correct before shooting the shot?
nice camera pretty similar to the Minolta x700 the 50mm lens was nailing some cream shots also rodger was that gloss or perl paper u were using they came out pretty clean for HP5
blame it on bloody digital equipment rodger I waiting till the digital industry release a lcd screen for our enlargers to preview before we print maybe one day the analyses just ant good enough
My first SLR was an OM-1 it had a mechanical shutter so the battery was only necessary for the meter. The body was all metal unlike the OM-10 that had silver painted plastic parts. Overall I really enjoyed using the OM-1 especially the bright viewfinder.
are you just using a drop or two of dish soap? did you wash it all off or hang them still slippery? I don't use anything but tap water right now and I'm pretty tired of cleaning water spots. Great video!
Yes. Couple of drops of dish soap and soak the film in it for five mins or so. Then remove and hang to dry. I hardly get any streaks. It works for me at least.
great video. can you try to develop something with remjet on the back? just bought myself a big old roll for my pentax... it would be interesting to see your take!
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss 400 feet of eastman kodak 400T 5294... same film they shot 'gremlins' and 'aliens' and soo many classics with. the box was manufactured in 1988, kept in a film refrigerator from 1988-2016; after 2016 it was kept in a cool darkroom. now i just need my 49mm 85B filter--i know i put it around here someplace!?!
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss €75. think we got a good deal? maybe i should've simply continued doing things like everyone else... haven't even rolled or developed any yet. assume it will lose a few stops due to the expiration date. (it is marked with the official seal of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics! hahahaha) the guy who sold it to me included some sort of chemist's recipe, but when they cancelled the arts back when i was in school i never got to learn darkroom techniques.
Hi thanks for the informative vid, wonderful stuff, I have just been given an OM10 with a 50mm lens and have a few questions as I'm new to film photography, does the om10 meter through the lens? if so could I put an nd filter on the front to be able to shoot at F1.8 in sunny conditions? would really appreciate some help thanks Tim, ps subbed
Also what film hangers do you use, I've got some metal ones but don't like them as they have theeth that grip and damaged the film. Which is fine for the end up finding have have enough depth in the DR to hang full lengths?
Not sure. He has a few old tractors. In the field opposite our home each year they have a ploughing competition where all the old tractors turn up to plough the fields. Some real old classics there.
Have one of these....have to be careful when mounted on tripod. The light from the viewfinder fools the lightmeter when your not looking trough it, and gives you false readings....
Yes, alas, light entering the finder will affect the indicator in the finder, but will have no effect on the actual shutter speed chosen by the Off The Film control.
The 'Bar code' is all part of your focusing system. you'll have a 22 at each end of the scale then a 16... then 11 all the way down to the maximum aperture of your lens. the numbers on your focus ring will tell you what distance's will be in focus at those apertures. Foe example.. IF you set your aperture to f16 and then you align your infinity sign on your focusing ring to the number 16 on the right side of the scale then you look at the left hand number 16.... It will say that everything from say 2.5 meters to infinity will be in focus. It's kind of complicated to explain..... Easier to show. Take a look on youtube for video's about zone focusing and pre focusing. You already know this system in a different way but these numbers and lines (bar code) actually show you whats in focus at any given position of your lens settings. I hope this helps.
Shoot Film Like a Boss Ta Roger. Looking forward to hanging it on my wall 😊 This system works really well. I use this system at venues, parties and weddings. I set my aperture to f8 or f16. Predetermined my distance (usually to the size of the room) set my flash accordingly and then tape up my focusing ring so I can’t move or nock it! and BOOOOM!!!! no focus hunting for your camera to do! It’s a brilliant system 😎👍
Can anyone explain how best to do double exposures on the OM10? Tried it a few ways myself and read some other tips online but methods seem to be varied. Thanks for the video also
Because it's so rarely needed, that's not a feature Olympus built into their cameras, but it can be done. Take your first exposure, gently turn the rewind knob clockwise to take up the slack in the cassette, then, while holding the rewind knob, turn the rewind release on the front of the camera horizontally and hold it that way (yes, having three hands would greatly help!). Then, while holding the rewind knob and the rewind release in place, wind the camera, then take your second exposure. Once you're done, the rewind release should pop back vertical as you begin winding the camera to move the film to the next frame, but there is a chance you might overlap frames if you take a photo there, so to be safe you might want to set the camera to "manual adapter" and shoot a blank frame just in case.
I had an OM10 in my hands today and nearly bought it it was 100% but I left it till I knew the settings or it’d be a waste of film for god knows how long but I’ll get one one day 😢
I have had a few to repair. They can be notoriously unreliable. Very popular though. Small in the hand is why people like them. The mirrors tend to lock up.
I am enjoying photography but started with digital. Now, I decided to try film photography and just purchased an Olympus OM10, in a very cheap price. I took it out and tried the camera. However, it seemed like the photos are out of focus when I developed it. When I tried to take photo, it seemed that the subject was in focus, but it wasn't when I had the film developed. lol. any tips on how to use it properly. it was my first film roll.
Could it be your eye sight Leann? I need reading glasses and some cameras I need those glasses to focus! You should see the middle of the viewfinder a circle and inside that circle is a line where the line is broken but comes straight once you are focused.
The barcode looking bit on the body is just a branding badge. Olympus's marketing made a big deal about the OM series (Not the OM-1) "off the film" TTL metering. When the shutter is closed the metering cell can't see the film so the front shutter curtain has a pattern that looks similar to that badge printed on it which provides a known calibrated target for the meter to sample off of prior to shooting. If you take the lens off and lift up the mirror you'll see it on the shutter curtain.
According to some internet searching, it's a sign to show that the OM10 uses Off The Film metering for its exposures over 1/60th of a second - it has no practical function other than to show to those who knew about such things that it could do it. Apparently (and I started shooting on an OM10 and never knew this), once you go to 1/60th of a second or over the camera uses OTF metering so that if the lighting situation changes it adjusts exposure accordingly during the exposure itself!
I have an OM10, that always worked, but remained off and not used for many years .. I changed the batteries after many years, but when I switch on, nothings happens. Battery not detected .. no oxidation and batteries are new. Mechanical parts are ok. Any idea or suggestions to fix it by myself? Thanks
I have an OM10 that is showing faults in the electrical part. I use the adapter to manually set the speed. Can you tell me if even without the electrical part working this adapter works normally to set the speed? Or if without the electrical part, how fast is the camera shooting.
The OM10 is NOT the best camera to start learning photography if you're serious about really learning. The OM1 is much better for learning, you don't need a battery for the camera to work and your using an all manual system that forces you to learn shutter speeds and aperture settings for getting the proper exposure. Most of these OM10's for sale used will not include the manual adapter and they're not easy to find otherwise. The barcode is telling you that the meter works the same way as the OM2 model. It will meter OTF (Off the Film plane) The OM10 is a nice camera, but the OM1 IMHO is a much better camera for the beginner.
Cheers Rick. A camera that can shoot Auto (Aperture Priority) and Manual I would always suggest. As long as it works! They can then flick a switch, shoot manual and learn the basics if they want to get more familiar with the basics. Nothing worse for a beginner to waste rolls of film because they can't understand the exposure settings. At least with AP they can get to grips with DOF and the aperture, still get nice pics and then move onto the shutter speeds later (if they want to learn). First, enjoy taking pictures. OM1, great camera though. Plenty of Adapters about.
I can beat that too with putting the fixer jug where my develop jug goes and fixing the film before developing! 2 hours shooting foggy woodland wasted! ha ha. If you don't make mistakes how will you know your getting better?
Lol indeed it's not mistake if you learn from it. Cheers for the videos. Next time in down on the IOW if I spot you about I'll give you and thanks for the videoz
Probably a silly question but I haven’t used film in years and really wanna make sure it comes out well, if I’m using auto mode, does the camera need to be on of can it stay on the off mode (as I’m not using the light meter) ? And if I could, does this mean I wouldn’t need a battery to shoot as it can stay in off mode ?
If you use auto mode that means you are in Aperture Priority where you select the aperture and the camera will choose the appropriate shutter speed in which case you will need to select auto mode and have a good battery in the camera. I also believe this camera won't fire without batteries.
I have this camera, and I would love to use it, but I can't see anything thought the lens, and the button to the right won't snap a photo... Do you know what could be the problem? please answer:):)
