Olympus OM-4 Review with Sample Photos
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2019
- eBay Affiliate Search: YTDHOM-4
Video 1 (Overview):
• Olympus OM-4 Video Man...
Video 2 (Operation):
• Olympus OM-4 Video Man...
Script:
Humans set about to find and overcome challenges. Those of us with a spirit to do so seek the hardest challenge we can and then set about conquering it. Our lives become dedicated to more than a job, more than working for a weekend. Those of us who have found a calling, a challenge that we need to overcome, our lives become dedicated to an ideal, to a pursuit, to a goal that in practical terms we can never actually attain. That challenge could be climbing the highest mountain, driving the fastest car, skiing the longest jump, or diving to the deepest ocean bottom. All of those things can be done. All of those things will lead to something more. The voice calling those of us who hear it never quiets and with each success, the voice instead of quieting becomes louder, more urgent.
No one climbs the world’s highest mountains without first climbing smaller mountains. No one climbs smaller mountains without first climbing hills. This is how things progress naturally: smaller challenges lead to successes that lead to larger challenges. Babies are not born writing arias or as masters of differential equations. Successes lead to failures as well as successes. Each success leads to new and further ways to answer the call of what we seek to do. The same is true in the growth of cameras and camera technology. Creating the greatest manual-focus 35mm camera ever made, if that was indeed the goal, was a challenge met by the Olympus team behind the OM-4.
It’s hard to see how a different mentality could have led to the OM-4’s creation. The penultimate OM film camera, the OM-4 contained many of the advancements from the predecessor single-digit cameras and added new features, most notably the multi-spot metering. It is as though each predecessor camera was a practice mountain until Olympus finally summited Everest with the 4. Well, maybe it’s more like they summited K2: It’s not the highest point, but it’s close and way harder to reach.
The OM-4 was, and there ought not be any real argument on this point, the pinnacle of 35mm manual-focus camera development. The competition for that is strong, too. The Nikon FM3A, Pentax LX, Nikon F3, and Canon T90 are all contenders. All of them fall short, however, in some way, shape, or form compared to the OM-4. What truly cements the OM-4’s position on top is the multi-spot metering mode. That, combined with the size, quality of supporting lenses in the system, and the consistent and quality images this camera delivers make this a good, if sad, swan song for the Olympus professional lineup of 35mm cameras.
In Climbing Everest: The Complete Writings of George Mallory, on climbing Mt. Everest, Mallory writes
If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.
I submit that Mallory argues, in that quote, that the purpose of life is to find a purpose or overcome a challenge and to revel in the success of it. Knowing that purpose, to paraphrase and repurpose Mallory elsewhere in the same book, allows us to achieve that purpose.
So what is the purpose of a camera? What is the purpose of making the best one? In business, unlike mountaineering, there are gains to be made by having the best of a thing, or the first of a thing. But I argue that for most people who work on a product, the self-fulfillment of designing something great, something that allows others to be great, is worth more than the money earned doing so. Taking a photo of lasting value, a photo that inspires, teaches, or awakens something in the minds of other people, is worth more than whatever it took to get that photo. While you don’t need a great camera to take a great photo, there’s also nothing wrong with tipping the scales in your favor.
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/ davidhancock - Навчання та стиль
I own or have owned all the cameras you mentioned, but the OM-4 is my favorite. I literally wake up at night and worry about it though. If it stopped working I would be very sad. Olympus OM user since 1982.
Thank you! Yeah, I love the OM-4, too. It's an amazing camera.
Another fantastic video about a fantastic camera, I must admit I’ve been tempted a few times. Your narration and images are superb as always. I really liked how you concentrated on the spirit of the camera rather than all its features, though you did cover them adequately.
Thank you, Mark. I was trying to capture some 80's optimism and a sense of adventure, too. Next week I'm releasing a review on the Graflex Anniversary Graphic with photos from that. My plan is to do the Maxxum 7 review in two weeks and then (if all goes to plan) the HP5+ All About Film in three weeks. It's good to hear from you again, too.
@@DavidHancock I am eagerly waiting for your newer reviews of films.
David Hancock HP5+ is my go to film and I’ve looked at Graflexes more times than I care to mention as I think it’s a 4x5 I can handle. I was quite unwell with a particularly bad infection then went away for just over two weeks when I got back I had over 70 notifications. Which is good there’s plenty for me to watch, but I’m well behind catching up.
I'm glad you're feeling better. After my week in the hospital last year I spent some time catching up on notifications and it took some time. Healing is the most important thing.
Thank you David. I have the OM2n and I love it... But I must have the OM4 Ti now.
Thank you!
Ah, you mentioned G. Mallory. Wonderful! Thanks a lot!
Thank you!
Nice photos!
Thank you!
If you look back at the sales literature for this (and its rare all manual sibling, the OM-3), virtually all of the sample photos are in color. And to be sure, the precision of the metering system did a very good job with the narrow latitude color slide films most pro's favored in those days. But the irony is, if ever was a camera made for someone whose passion is black and white, this is it. As far as I can tell, the multi-spot metering system of the OM-3 & OM-4 is as close as anybody's ever come to an automated version of the zone system.
Absolutely concur. The multi-spot was an awesome tool.
I saw the notification for this video, so I decided to check it out, but then one of the suggested videos from UA-cam had a link for demonic exorcisms, so I clicked it instead.
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Heh heh heh. Sorry, bro. Good video. I'm waiting for your next one.
Thank you! :D
Next week is the Graflex Anniversary Graphic review (or the Greflex if I don't have time to go fix the cover screen typo and re-render it.) and then I think the Maxxum 7 in two weeks.
Love them because of their ergonomics and size. Find a 2-4 focusing screen and you’re in analog 35mm heaven.
Those are fantastic screens for these. I use a grid screen, but the bright screens are super nice.
Olympus should buy you a beer.
:D
The Olympus OM4 and the fully mechanical OM3 cameras, some of the features of these cameras is amazing for the time they came out in, the OTF high speed FP sync did not come out in some of the other brands until like 10 years later. So compact, and lightweight, the cameras are a delight to use.
Definitely yes. I love the OM single-digit lineup. They're amazing cameras. They just mesh well with the photographer.
not only the unbeatable flash system. the aperture priority has limitless shutter duration and can vary on the fly Off-The-Film reflection as lighting changes especially in long exposure. my nikon FE and F3 can do limitless shutter aperture priority ONLY taking the reading before shutter is activated and cannot adjust while shutter is open. another point to note is that most digital cams today can only do 30 sec aperture priority. the LX copied and improved on the Oly OTF system. OM2n / 4ti / Pentax LX are simply bosses at metering. the 4Ti takes this to another level with HSS.
You say that the OM-4 is the best manual camera mainly due to multi-spot metering and highlight/shadow control. The T90 has both of those, too. I made the decision easy for myself - I have both of them (and the FM3A) in my collection, among a lot of other cameras :-)
Due primarily, true, the T90 does have that, but is also has another quarter kilo of weight without the batteries (a third of a kilo with them.) For me, that's where the T90 falls short of the OM-4.
But good point and I am glad you called that out.
@@DavidHancock while other cams do single spot metering, the OM does up to 8 different spot readings, unreal at any point in photography history.
Is this the best film camera ever made?
The best manual focus film camera, In my opinion, yes. Others would argue that the Nikon FM3A, Pentax LX, or Canon T90 would be.
Thanks for your comment. I'll take this as your advice.
But, what about the best ever film camera? Which camera can produce best image on a 35mm film, be it manual or auto-focus?
In my mind, the Minolta Alpha 9. That said, I still haven't tried the Nikon F5 and Nikon F6. I'm not sure if there is another camera that could give the Alpha 9 a run for its money.
@@DavidHancock Thank you for your kind reply, Eagerly waiting for your comments on Nikon F6.
ooh this one has major batt drain issues. oly quickly fixed dat with the i
Actually OM4T and OM4Ti are the same, it was marketed in USA as T and Ti in the rest of the world.... Plain OM4 is the previous version (no titanium parts).
Mine doesn't, I think the early ones did.
Yup!
Nikon f3 is better i own both and love the f3 wayyy more. Spot metering is OK but i still prefer the metering system of the f3. Plus the battery drain is just too bad and you cant shoot without batteries (unlike the f3). Although I do love the Zuiko lenses, and im lucky enough to have the f1.2 50mm variant.
Hmm. I have both as well. I'd rank them six-one-way, half-dozen-the-other.
Why I don't buy the OM 4Ti, is because I have a better camera, the OM 3Ti. Needless to say anything more.
Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to shoot with one of those someday, but until then, the 4 is the best manual-focus 35mm I've used.
@@DavidHancock Too bad you don't live near me, because then I had also lent you the f / 2.0 range from 21 mm.
That is too bad. That's a lens I'd love to try some day.
my om3 has been in repair for a month now... ive got a bad feeling that itll never get fixed due to a ic problem.
Ooh, ouch. That could be a problem, yes. Spare parts on the OM-3 bodies are not in huge supply.