I'm surprised FE didn't handle an OM-4 at a local shop first before
investing in it. There's nothing wrong with the design really. 11
things "wrong"? Hmm, some people just aren't happy unless they can
complain about something.
John
gma wrote:
>
> Frank;
>
> Thanks a lot for your opinion. Don't let the cyber door hit you in the
> ass on your way to the wunderbrick lists. Bye.
>
> George
>
> Frank Ernens wrote:
> >
> > "Be careful what you wish for; it might come true."
> >
> > I have been looking for another OM body for some months now.
> > Yesterday I snared an OM-4 in good condition, with a new
> > OM4-Ti circuit installed, for a very good price. Lucky me!
> >
> > Or not so lucky. After just a few hours with this body I
> > have come to loathe it. The problem is the ergonomics
> > (or "handling", as photo types call it.) Although it seems
> > OK when you first pick it up, a collection of small things
> > add up to a camera which is very unpleasant to use.
> >
> > Here they are:
> >
> > 1. You can't see the shutter speed looking down at the
> > camera, because the prism housing obscures it. Since the
> > aperture is not shown in the viewfinder, you can never see
> > shutter speed and aperture together. This is especially
> > bad when the camera is mounted on a tripod for macro work.
> >
> > 2. In manual mode, an LCD number line is shown in the
> > viewfinder, but it is *backwards* from mathematical convention.
> > + is to the left, and - to the right! Since I am in the
> > minority of people who hold a camera vertically with the
> > shutter release at the bottom, it's OK in vertical format.
> > On the OM-1 and OM-2N, this scale is at the left of the
> > viewfinder with + to the top, and therefore correct for
> > me in either format.
> >
> > 3. The exposure compensation dial is likewise backwards
> > from expected, with + proceeding anticlockwise. Even worse,
> > the *scale* rotates around the *dial*. When setting the
> > film speed, you have to perform a mental triple-negative.
> >
> > 4. An LCD bar graph is much harder to use than an
> > analogue swing needle. There have been scientific studies
> > done in the avionics industry to prove this. If the
> > reading is between two values on the LCD scale, the last
> > block blinks in a very distracting way. The LCD is just
> > a cost-saving by the manufacturer - on what was supposed
> > to be the top of the range model.
> >
> > 4. There is no spot metering manual mode. You have to
> > start in centre-weighted manual mode and push the "spot"
> > button. Then you centre the bar graph (drawn, per (2),
> > backwards, from right to left). Meanwhile, a second
> > moving diamond - the next spot reading, which the
> > camera is not using - is blinking away, distracting you.
> > There has to be a SPOT button in order for multi-spot
> > to work, but I'm only interested in a single spot reading.
> > In this respect the OM2000 and OM-2SP are both much
> > better cameras.
> >
> > 5. The camera gets sick of you after 120 seconds and
> > unilaterally throws away all your work. If you are using
> > the spot meter manually, it also changes the mode back
> > to centre-weighted, with very little in the viewfinder
> > to warn you. There should be a three-way switch
> > OFF-CENTRE-SPOT and another one MANUAL-AUTO. The second
> > would be left in one position by many people.
> >
> > 6. You have to read the instruction book from cover to
> > cover to figure out how to stop the camera from beeping.
> > Beeps are *always* evidence of poor interface design. When
> > you do switch it off, you find out why it was there: the
> > viewfinder doesn't indicate how many spot measurements have
> > the one value.
> >
> > 7. The highlight and shadow buttons are pointless features,
> > since there's already a compensation dial. I don't happen
> > to agree with 2 2/3 stops for shadow with the film I use,
> > but that's a moot point, since I can't actually push the
> > button with my fat finger. I have already suggested in (4)
> > that the SPOT button is a bad idea too.
> >
> > 8. The TTL socket is exactly where I like to rest a finger.
> > When a cord is attached to it, it tends to drift into the
> > field of view for macro work.
> >
> > 9. The MEMO mode looks deadly. If you should accidentally
> > bump this switch, *every* exposure from then on will be wrong.
> > I am so afraid of doing this I have taken to pressing CLEAR
> > (which cancels MEMO) every time I pick up the camera and
> > between every frame. More mental overhead.
> >
> > 10. The instruction manual actually says to remove the
> > batteries between sessions. They have to be joking.
> >
> > 11. I spent quite a while centreing the dioptric adjustment,
> > even though I wear contacts and don't need it. This knob
> > doesn't lock securely enough to prevent it being moved
> > in use. Even after this, the viewfinder is not as clear
> > as that of the OM-1 and OM-2N, although mercifully smaller.
> >
> > There may be more problems. (1) and (2) are the killers,
> > and (4) is right up there. Fortunately the shop that sold
> > this camera has a return policy.
> >
> > I know now that it wasn't lack of marketing or keen pricing
> > which lost Olympus the SLR market. They no longer *have* a
> > product worth marketing. I would not buy this camera new at
> > any price.
> >
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