snowfooled said:
my grandfathers had these and gave them to me. i would like to know some stuff about them. maybe a .pdf maunal or some just general info about the cameras.
I know nothing about Olympus SLR's but I do own a 500TL. It's a pretty decent if pedestrian M42 mount camera. It's a stripped-down version of the 1000TL, DTL, MTL, etc. It has no self-timer or spot meter like the 1000's, however, it does have a stop-down lever of sorts. It is the wind lever. You merely push it in towards the body and the lens will stop-down then open as you release the wind lever- if the lens is an automatic. If you want to store the camera and shut off the meter, push the hub of the wind lever and the lever will retract automatically. Of course, one needs to have a working meter to have to really worry about retracting the wind lever. Many of these models' meters don't work and it isn't because the meter sucks, but the wiring leaves a good deal to be desired.
Anyway, you should find it to be a workhorse if you don't expect a whole lot of gimmicry or whiz-bang for your buck. I use mine as a dedicated body with my Novoflex auto bellows and Noflexar 105mm f/4 bellows lens. I wouldn't consider it to be a model to be used very intensely, there are simply too many other cameras that are much more useful and just as cheap in price.
Jon
from Deepinaharta, Georgia