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Re: [OM] Hiya folks!

Subject: Re: [OM] Hiya folks!
From: Dan Lau <dlau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 09:35:27 -0700 (PDT)
On Thu, 3 Sep 1998 20:14, Jay Maynard <jmaynard@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>I just found this list. Whee!

Just to add to all the others on this list, WELCOME!  So now we know
who is bidding against us for all these Olympus gear :-).

I bought an OM-PC several years ago as a replacement for a P&S camera,
since I already had several OM mount lenses.  The camera has served me
well, except for a small light leak problem which was cured by replacing
the foam seal.  Except for the manual focusing, using the program mode
makes the camera as easy to use as a P&S.

First, you should call Olympus Customer Services (I think it is
800-622-6372) and ask for a copy of the OM-PC instruction manual, they
will send it to you for free -- but it may take a while, depending on
whether they have it in stock.

>1) How, exactly, does the program mode work? I assume that it controls both
>the shutter and the diaphragm, the latter by controlling how far the
>stopdown lever is thrown during exposure. What's got me puzzled is: WHat do
>I do with the aperture ring on the lens? There's no "auto" setting on any of
>mine, unlike, say, the Canon AE lenses. If I adjust it with the camera on,
>the indicated shutter speed moves in big jumps, and stays in each place for
>three or so F-stop settings of the lens. What's going on here?

Many others have already answered this question, but basically you set
the lens to the widest aperture you want the camera (computer) to use,
and it will stop it down from there if necessary.  For example, if you
have a 50/f1.8 lens, you can set the aperture at 1.8 and the camera will
try to choose the fastest shutter speed to make a good exposure.  If
the fastest shutter speed is still not fast enough, it will start closing
down the aperture, etc.  So if you want a certain degree of control of
the depth of field, you can close down the aperture and the camera will
not open it wider than what you have set -- it will adjust the shutter
speed to fit your chosen aperture, again, closing down from there if
necessary.

When you get the manual, it has a nice graph showing the combination
aperture/shutter that the camera will follow for a given light level.

>2) What the heck is ESP metering? How can I tell if it's on or off?

On the right side of the lens mount (looking at the front of the camera)
there is a rotating switch to turn on ESP.  The switch has ESP written
on it.  If the letters "ESP" are horizontal, then it is turned on, if
it is not horizontal, then it is turned off (i.e., average metering).

Turning on ESP does not mean that the camera will/can use it.  Turning
on ESP tells the camera to do a spot measure of the middle of the
scene (this is the drawback of the OM-PC and OM-2SP spot metering, it
is only the center that is measured, unlike the OM-3/4, which allows
multi-spot metering; but the OM-PC is dynamic, while the OM-3/4 is
static, don't know the OM-2SP since I don't own one).  If there is a
significant difference in light level between the center spot and the
rest of the frame, then the camera will use ESP compensation.  You'll
know when the camera is using ESP compensation becasue there is a
little (half) circle that lights up in the bottom left of the viewfinder.
If the camera is not using ESP (not enough contrast between the center
spot and the rest of the frame) then that half circle does not light
up even if ESP is turned on.  I normally just leave ESP turned on all
the time.

Since you have access to the internet, you should be able to get a
lot of information from the Web.  Start with the Lee Hawkins' FAQ at:

http://www.astro.wellesley.edu/lhawkins/photo/photo.html

Then you can find all the features/viewfinders at Ziv's page at:

http://www.teamti.com/Ziv/OM/OM-Index.htm

(there is a pointer from Lee's page to here).  And you can see the
viewfinder indicator I mentioned above.

Good luck and have fun.  Personally, I don't know how anyone can use
so many OM bodies :-).
        -Dan

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