Olympus OM-10

...I have an old Olympus OM10 camera.

I've had the camera for about five or six years and it was given to me by my father who'd used it, previously to this, for probably another five years. So my OM10 is cracking on a bit age wise now, but I love the camera and it travels everywhere with me and is always in the boot of my car ready for action.

For those who take photography seriously this is a 35mm single lens reflex camera ...
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With this Olympus you can also take photos of yourself, which is useful for family or groups of friends. Switch to 'self timer', press the shutter button and you then have about 12 seconds to get into position yourself and be included in the photo. Obviously the camera has to be placed somewhere solid so it won't move or wobble.

There are lots of extras to add to the OM10, if money allows. I also have: a manual adapter, ... more

On the wall, just inside my front door, there is a large framed photograph taken in Yosemite Park, California. I think it's a bit special and I'm always delighted to say, "That's one of mine", when anyone remarks about how nice the picture looks. I love taking photos, but not for me the up to date digital way. I have an old Olympus OM10 camera.

I've had the camera for about five or six years and it was given to me by my father who'd used it, previously to this, for probably another five years. So my OM10 is cracking on a bit age wise now, but I love the camera and it travels everywhere with me and is always in the boot of my car ready for action.

For those who take photography seriously this is a 35mm single lens reflex camera with electronic control, automatic exposure and focal plane shutter. If this is meaningless twaddle to you, I'll admit that it mostly is to me as well!

Let's try to talk simple, because that's my attitude to photography and life, and besides I'm no expert.

The camera feels nice and comfortable in my hands, as it's the right weight at about 600gr (21.2oz). This isn't too heavy to make my arms ache and not too light to hold steady when I take a photo, therefore no fuzzy or shaky pictures. It also looks good in impressive black and silver.

Though the OM10 is partly automatic there are a couple of dials to twiddle to get the perfect picture. On the lens (the bit that sticks out from the main body) firstly there is an 'aperture ring'. This sets what is called the F, f or F stop numbers. These are numbers ranging from 1.8 up to 22 and are on most older style cameras. As far as I'm concerned they are simply adjusted to what the weather or light is like. For example, set on 4 for shade or cloud, 8 for sunshine and 16 or 22 for anywhere brighter still like on the sea or bright reflecting snow. There are other reasons for fiddling with these numbers and I'll mention a couple later.

Okay, so once you've set the F number you switch on the camera. This is to get the batteries in action that control the electronics - but how this works isn't important, at least not to me. The batteries are two 1.5v silver oxide ones (such as Eveready EPX-76). They last me at least a year, probably eighteen months on average, and cost about £4. Oh yes, and to stop unnecessary battery consumption the camera switches off automatically if not used for 90 seconds.

You hold up the camera, to your chosen eye, and peek through the viewfinder eyepiece at whatever it is that you want to take a photo of. As you look you'll see, on the left, an indicator of what the shutter speed will be if you go ahead and take your snap shot. This can range from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second. If the F number is set right it'll most likely show 1/125 or 1/250 of a second. If you want a different shutter speed, for some reason, then alter the F number up or down and the speed shown will also alter. An example of this might be if you are photographing something fast moving. With a fast shutter speed (1/1000) this will avoid getting a blurred image.

So once you've set the F number, switched on and looked at the shutter speed, you now turn the 'focus ring' on the lens depending on how far you are away from your subject. Once happy it's at last time to click the shutter button and take the photo. Blimey, that sounds complicated - which wasn't my intention - but it isn't really and is all done in a few seconds. It's easy - honest.

Anyway, the small instruction book that comes with the OM10 is easy to understand and explains everything very clearly, with the aid of pictures, and in a non technical manner.

What the camera does automatically is to adjust the shutter speed to whatever F number you choose. This means you should get good photo quality each time.

For a lot of people that's all the info, maybe even too much, needed to take decent photos with an OM10, though there are a few other bits I'd better mention. Obviously you have to put a film in the camera. This can be any 35mm with an ASA speed from 25 to 1600 - this is shown on the box when you buy a film, most are 100, 200 or 400 ASA for average use. There is a dial on the top of the camera to adjust to whatever ASA the film is. This is straight forward, and no further knowledge of what ASA means is required to get good results - just buy a normal film from Boots or somewhere.

The only thing I find difficult with the camera is puting in the film, as this is done manually. This could be partly because I'm left handed. It usually takes me a while, and a mild curse, to get the film in properly. This is the only real negative thing I have to say about my OM10. After taking a photo the film has to be wound on by moving a small lever on the right, at the top of the camera. Once the roll of film has been completed (normally 24 or 36 pictures), it has to be re-wound with a little pull-out winder. There is an indicator to tell you how many photos have been taken.

It's possible to take pictures at night, or when it's dark (without a flash) by switching off the automatic mode and setting on to something called 'bulb'. This allows you to lengthen the shutter speed to several seconds by holding the shutter button down for whatever length you choose. I did this (for 8 seconds) from a high building in San Francisco, at night, and the car lights can be seen as long red and white stripes, which looks very effective against the shape of the buildings. You need to keep the camera very steady to do this, preferably on a tripod.

With this Olympus you can also take photos of yourself, which is useful for family or groups of friends. Switch to 'self timer', press the shutter button and you then have about 12 seconds to get into position yourself and be included in the photo. Obviously the camera has to be placed somewhere solid so it won't move or wobble.

There are lots of extras to add to the OM10, if money allows. I also have: a manual adapter, an electronic flash, a wide angle lens, a zoom lens, a power winder, a tripod, various filters - and a very big bag to put everything in!

I guess, compared to modern cameras, this is one of the draw backs with the OM10. What is often now included requires add-ons. To me though this is half the fun! I love showing off by switching lenses, twiddling dials and kneeling down so it makes me look like I know what I'm doing. I was doing all of this (to my boyfriend's embarrassment), when we went away last weekend to Devon, and someone asked me what magazine I worked for. That made my day. I won't tell you what I answered!

As far as the 'extras' are concerned they are all provided for on the camera. There is a 'shoe' into which the flash fits, a thread underneath for a tripod, a special manual adapter socket and so on. The lenses can be switched from one to another very easily with a flick of the wrist and a firm hand.

For me the Olympus OM10 has been the perfect camera. At first it was straight forward to use because the automatic function enabled me to take good photos immediately. As I got to know a little bit more about photography I was then able to move on and mess about with how my pictures would turn out. For instance, I got to know that by adjusting the F numbers I could take a photo of someone, or something, and have the background either in sharp focus or not so prominent. As I spent time with the camera my interest and knowledge increased and I started to use the various additional lenses, filters and so on, that I've mentioned. This way I have more control over how I want to my photos to look.

So yes, I'd recommend this camera. There is one snag though, Olympus no longer make this particular model! All is not lost, however, as it is still very much a classic, saleable camera and you will find it in specialist photography shops - though mostly second hand (or maybe on eBay). The camera body, with a standard lens, will cost around £125 in a good second hand condition - a bargain! I can see this becoming a collectable of the future.

I hope to move on to a digital camera soon. I've a strong feeling though, that even then, my OM10 will still be ready primed for action in the boot of my car wherever I go. It allows me to take, what I consider to be, very good photos and has never let me down. It has been 100% reliable. You can't go wrong with an Olympus OM10 in my opinion ...

Smile please!

- Kay

 

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