An old newbie, OM4 and Zuiko glass what a combo.

[Dan McGavin]

Just joined and can't wait to get involved. I am getting aquatinted with my repaired OM4 and have two new lenses to add to my existing; a 25-70 f3.5 zoom and a 65-200 f4.0 zoom. I think those numbers are right (well, close, anyway). i also have Vivitar zoom/close focus with a doubler at 2x and the 50 mm 1.8 and the 35mm 2.8. I started close to my retirement and have made some wonderful pictures with my now sold Nikon d80 and a long telephoto -- mostly landscapes of the Kalamazoo river while I had a mobile one there.

While I still appreciate digital photography, I want to know more about what the heck I am doing, rather than what the heck the camera is doing for me. I have used "Darkroom" before to deep scan images from my medium sized Fuji and my Olympus OM4. I think it is a nice service. I download the images into Lightroom and modify them if needed.

I absolutely have fallen in love with the Zuiko glass. I have just received the small zoom and just won an ebay auction for the long zoom -- Both for less than $150. I hope the haze isn't in the long f.4 lens. i guess I'll see soon enough (that one was less than $50 including shipping). I have taken at least one amazing close-up withe the Vivitar lens, and some mediocre shoots of scenery in the daylight when I first got the camera recently. I did some nice B&W of the cruise ship bridge that are not too bad.

I know that I don't know as much as I should, but I am not a bad photographer, or so I am told. Learned much from Jack Wild in Delray Beach, Fl, where my wife and I winter. I just finished designing and building a home in Michigan near Saugatuck and the Kalamazoo river, and am putting in a small lavender farm, so I don't spend too much time shooting yet.

I am here to learn and share what little I know. Any quick tips for an old hack?

 

[M6F6E6]

Zuiko is nice gear, and plenty out there now too at a good price. Depends on what you are shooting, but the best thing to do for your images is use a tripod. The difference is in the details. Of course there are fantastic images that have some blur, but by and large you will benefit a lot from using a tripod, especially for landscapes and people and architecture and the list goes on!

Best feature of the OM4 and 4Ti is the metering off the film during the exposure. That makes life so much better, especially when film is getting so expensive. Try to not ever bracket your exposures - that is sloppy - unless it is some extraordinary unique image that you can't ever shoot again. The mutli spot metering is very worthwhile getting to know well. Shoot a proper test film on tranny film with detailed notes, and your knowledge will skyrocket.

I hope you are having fun with it still. Keep your gear in a dry cabinet also. The OM 4 / Ti electronic boards are no longer available, so I am told, so when it dies it dies. Keeping them totally dry is the key to longevity. Then you will have a very rare camera one day!