Olympus OM-4 Video Manual 1 of 2: Overview, Features, and Camera Layout

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Olympus' OM-4 (OM-4T and OM-4Ti) represented the end of the Olympus professional camera lineage, at least for film. The OM-4 was the pinnacle of Olympus' camera development technology and it supported the amazing Zuiko lens system and used an innovative multi-spot meter to allow photographers the ability to control the exposure in their images. One of the best cameras ever made for slide film, the OM-4 is a pairing of fantastic usability and functionality, making it one of the best cameras I've reviewed.
Review:
• Olympus OM-4 Review wi...
Video 2 (Operation):
• Olympus OM-4 Video Man...
Video Index:
Skip the Intro: 0:15
Olympus OM-4 Overview: 0:35
Olympus OM-4 Features - Top: 4:42
Olympus OM-4 Features - Front: 6:01
Olympus OM-4 Features - Back: 7:39
Olympus OM-4 Features - Bottom: 8:02
Olympus OM-4 Features - Inside: 8:40
Notes on the Olympus OM-4: 10:03
Things NOT to do with your Olympus OM-4: 12:58
Like this Video and Subscribe to the David Hancock Channel: 14:40
References:
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camera-wiki.org...
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[@johnmiller5717]

I owned a om-4 and I own a om4ti and after months with the battery left inside there has been no drain issue. Ever. Very nice video.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@DennisSulz]

The battery drain was only with the OM 4. That was changed when they made the OM 4T as It just automatically shuts off after 2 minutes saving the drain problem. Also use silver oxide batteries instead of alkaline to prevent any additional battery problems. Dennis Sulz | Flickr

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@UFGator1972]

My OM-T never had a battery-drain issue. As a matter of fact, I never had to take it to a shop for repairs. I still own this great camera.

[@DavidHancock]

They are really fantastic. I think this will be the Olympus camera I keep.

[@DANVIIL]

Wow, it looks like a jewel. I have my father’s old OM-2, I need to try it out with his Zuiko lenses. Great instruction video!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@AhmadThabet-qw1kc]

The Olympus OM-4 Ti is the legendary SLR Camera in the 35 mm History of Photography. It supersedes all other brands like Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Minolta by all measures. Many Thanks for the very useful presentation.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@highlander200107]

I use the switching to the red 60 method to prevent battery drain, the light meter is so sensitive that even the lightest press of the shutter button turns the meter active again, when you switch to the red 60 or the B, the light meter is switched off entirely; thus preventing the battery drain.

[@DavidHancock]

Oh that makes sense. Thank you.

[@highlander200107]

@@DavidHancock most welcome

[@TXGRunner]

That is true of the OM-3 and OM-3T as well. One can test this by using the meter, then rotating the shutter speed ring to B (or red 60 on OM-4 and the meter LEDs disappear.

[@woolfa]

Thank you so much for these videos on Olympus 4! I've got one a couple of days ago, and I keep re-watching your tutorial and reading manual at the same time, your instructions helps A LOT! Original paper manual is very, how shall I put it, dry and minimalistic, and it's much more helpful to see how to turn this knob or that on video, not on paper) cherrs from Moscow!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you, Olga!

[@ssejllenrad561]

Correction on the history. Olympus did not go from film to micro 4/3. They went from film to DSLRs in the 4/3 line which the developed with Kodak. Olympus had around 15 camera bodies designed for that dslr format. Towards the end of that line's run, around 2006/2007, Panasonic entered the ILC market using the same format (I believe they had 2 dslr bodies for the 4/3 system). Micro 4/3 then came in 2008 as a partnership of Olympus and Pana for the dawn of the mirrorless system.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I didn't realize they worked on DSLRs at all.

[@flymeaway12]

There is a 4/3 adapter you can get that takes the 4/3 to the micro 4/3 systems. I am looking to see if there is something to make the newer lens compatible with the film bodies (I have a Olympus DSLR and now a OM-4). But with that adapter you open yourself to some great lens that you can get for super cheap. My local camera shop sold me a basically brand new lens for $5 since it was 4/3 and it hard to find someone who has the ability to use them.

[@skolrelaterat4113]

I own a OM-4 and I never have had any issues with battery drain. In the late 80s and early 90s I used it more or less every day and a switched batteries maybe twice during that time.

[@DavidHancock]

Nice!

[@MsLoribee]

Great video. I just got one of these locally about a month ago and am looking forward to video 2 and spot metering. I had heard that regarding battery drain, it was something that occurred in the 4 but was fixed in the 4t and 4ti - this might be why you're not seeing that with your camera. I picked up the 280 flash on eBay for under $50 and it allows for flash sync at up to 1/2000 of a second. I believe it works by multiple flash pulses over the duration of the exposure so that the gap in the curtain is lit the whole time it moves across the film plane.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! That helps me a lot, too. Spot metering on these is simply fantastic. I had mine out this weekend out in the Rockies and it helped me get a lot of shots that I couldn't have otherwise gotten as easily.

[@julescannify]

Quite true, but the flash power is reduced in the FP mode due to the multiple flashes.

[@chepo1956]

Hi David. Jose from Puerto Rico. I have the champagne body OM4t. I bought that camera way back in 1986 from a camera store in Manhattan named Olden Camera which doesn't exist anymore. I have a couple of lenses also but the whole system needs repair (Camera and lenses) I've been thinking of sending it into a place I saw online that still does repairs on Olympus cameras called Camtech. I really enjoyed this video.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you, Jose.

[@CenturyOfCid]

Before Micro Four Thirds, there were Four Thirds DLSRs, The "successors" to the OM-4 would be the E-1, E-3, and E-5 DSLRs

[@DavidHancock]

I'm not certain that I would say the E series followed these in nature or spirit in any meaningful way. The format and lens mounts were both different. I would consider them their own innovation.

[@blopin2002]

Thanks for doing a video on my favorite Olympus camera! It's surprising how OM prizes have been falling lately the OM-4Ti being no exception, I got mine for a cool 200 USD. Noting the sticky aperture blades on your lens I had this exact issue and it may not be because of the blades themselves, but excess oil between the aperture indicator and stop-down plates (Parts CE185500 and CA928400). Wipe them clean and install dry, your lens will have a different mechanism than mine as it's an earlier silver-nose but I hope this applies as well.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I will give that a try.

[@rayh1009]

I have read and it was confirmed to me by an Olympus trained tech who works on Olympus cameras exclusively, that the red 60 and B settings do NOT prevent battery drain on the OM-4. He also confirmed that if the battery check light goes off after approximately 30 seconds, the circuit in those OM-4s drains more slowly than on others. So sometime during the production of the OM-4 (not T or Ti) the circuitry was either changed as production proceeded, or altered by a fix on some OM-4s. The advice was also to remove batteries when not using the camera for awhile, and to use silver oxide batteries.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and that's very good advice on the batteries. Silver oxide are definitely preferable.

[@rayh1009]

@@DavidHancock Also saw today the same technician on a forum post several years ago saying there were 3 or 4 revisions of the circuitry on the OM-4 (non-T/Ti), with the last one being the cameras that pass the 30 second test and have the lowest battery drain of any OM-4s before the T&Ti models.

[@queent0113]

super nice introduction ! Thanks a lot

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@mmadmic]

If you like OM2 and OM4, you'd try the OM2SP, it's their "son". A less known camera but imho, one of the best OM camera, I have all of the "one digit" OM and it's my favorite.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! The OM-2SP is a really great camera. At some point I'll make a video series for it here.

[@RhettAnderson]

Olympus did try to take the OM system into autofocus. My grandfather had the OM-77. His, like almost all of them, had a broken battery door right away. It was a lemon.

[@DavidHancock]

Yeah, they were all lemons. I wanted to make a video about that camera for a long time and I even got my hands on one, with dead electronics. I've never seen a working one.

[@RhettAnderson]

@@DavidHancock Haha. I still remember my grandfather using it. Every time, he had pursed lips, sighed, or said, "oh boy".

[@jonathansisovic]

Great Video!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@alanread6596]

Excellent video

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@petepictures]

Well done video. Can the camera do double exposures?

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and yes! Video 2 shows that process and there's a time-stamped index in the description if you want to skip to that part.

[@richm6139]

fantastic video!!!!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@LS-po7eq]

Thanks for the great video!! Could you explain further how to use the spot feature? Because I can see some dots appearing in the lens and I don’t know what that means…

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and I think I cover that in the second video.

[@albacase]

Love your videos David. Thank you! I was wondering how would you compare it with the Pentax LX that you love?

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! That would be a hard call because each has features that I like. I think if I had to keep only one it would be the LX because I'm heavily invested in the K mount system and I like the Pentax LX's sportsfinder. The OM-4 has a better meter, however, and I tend to think of it as more reliable long-term.

[@albacase]

David Hancock David you are the best! Thank you for your wonderful insights. Very much appreciated! And very helpful 🙏🙏

[@christopherlloyd8117]

Good video and a fab camera. I still use mine that I bought in 1988. (Re your questions about shutter speed and viewfinder magnification, you didn't exactly do your homework, did you? In the manual it says auto ~ 4mins and mag = 0.84.)

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I did read the manual but it's not unheard of for me to miss something. I tend to write scripts in batches of about 20 cameras at a time and when that happens it's easy to miss something.

[@Magnusscipioiterum]

I have placed the shutter dial on 1/60/B on my OM-2SP and the battery drain seems to have subsided.

[@DavidHancock]

Nice! I wonder if there's some kind of short in the mechanism that causes it.

[@ivostunga]

Are those blades really the culprit? I've taken my Zuiko lenses apart (50 f1.2, 50 f1.4, 24 f2.8 and Vivitar 80-200 f4) and found that oil and gunk is on the lever size where various metal arms move in close proximity to one another - CLS there helped in all instances and I did not have to take aperture blades apart. I even didn't re-lubricate it on the mount side, as metal-on-metal wear there is not an issue imho.

[@DavidHancock]

It could definitely be gunk in the springs, too. There is, for me, a little oil left on the blades. I didn't see anything in the mechanism, but also didn't fully disassemble it. I've found that the slightly slower stop-down action on this lens creates really smooth OOF effects, sort of like an STF lens, because the aperture is still closing down during the exposure. That effectively feathers the out of focus areas in the image. (I just edited the first bathes of photos that I took with this lens last night.)

[@TheFullmoonGirl]

Nice! But which batterie do i have to use?? Thank you for your Video you are really helping me!!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! Video 2 has all the details on batteries.

[@nishanhan559]

Hey David, if the battery dies mid-film roll, can you just simply replace the batteries and resume shooting??

[@DavidHancock]

Yup!

[@weisserth]

10:36 - You can verify this. Set it to one of the mechanical shutter speeds and manual mode, then see if the meter still gives you a reading in the viewfinder as it certainly does in manual mode with any of the electronic shutter speeds. If you see a meter reading, the battery will still drain.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@weisserth]

@@DavidHancock By the way, the battery drain issue only exists in the original OM-4, not the OM-4T and OM-4Ti, as Olympus recognized this as a problem and changed the electronics in the T and Ti versions to fix this.

[@ianhand5006]

The Canon T90 can take up to 9 spot meter readings.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I did not know that.

[@angelisone]

ATG/Maitani's cameras last productions: 1. Olympus OM-4TI 2. Olympus OM-3TI 3. Gold Olympus OM-4Ti, signed by Maitani & ATG (very rare) 4. Gold Olympus OM-3Ti, signed by Maitani & ATG (very rare) 5. Olympus Gold M-1, signed by Maitani (very rare); Gold M-1, signed by Maitani & ATG (super rare) From ATG's facts & data: 240 (1:19) seconds in ATG's Auto Modes M-1 means Yoshihisa Maitani is Number One OM-1 means Olympus & Maitani are still Number One M-1 was changed so Leica won't cry. OM-1 and OM-3 series are very reliable & made for the field working pros.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@GB-ez6ge]

I've owned an OM4 since it the first year released and can confirm that the battery drain ceases when in B or manual 60..

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you!

[@jamesal6138]

Does the OM4 still have the issue with the prism foam?

[@DavidHancock]

I have not experienced that, but it could be that in 15 years they will.

[@jamesal6138]

@@DavidHancock Thank you for your reply, using information you've freely shared I've revamped several cameras and put them back into service. You put out wonderfully informative content, thank you for everything you do!