Conrad -
Your OM-10 should provide exposure times in Auto from 1/1000th of a
second to well over one second, depending on circumstances. If not,
there's something wrong - but first, an OM-10 Primer....
The indicator LED's in the finder of your OM-10 are indicators only -
they in no way affect the operation of the camera. In Auto mode, the
exposure is controlled by the light passing through the lens and
reflected off the film into the camera's auto sensor, which is located
below the mirror. If there's no film in the camera, the exposure time
will (usually) be unpredictably long. So the first rule is this:
There must be film in your OM-10, and a lens attached,
for proper operation in Auto mode.
That having been noted, it should be pointed out that a significant
number of OM-10's develop a problem which results in excessively long
exposures, and consequently overexposed photos. To check, leave your
camera wound overnight, remove the lens and fire the shutter in a well
lit area - the shutter should fire very quickly. If there is a
noticable hesitation on the first shot, but the second and subsequent
shots seem progressively faster, you've got
>>sticky magnet<<.
Time for an overhaul!
Another consideration to note is that the camera is designed so that, if
the batteries fail, the mirror should stop half-way up, and stay there
until good batteries are installed. If the camera doesn't "lock up"
without batteries, that's another malfunction.
OK, so much for OM-10 basics - now on to cases. When you say the mirror
"klonked", what do you mean? Do you mean that, instead of the 1 second
exposure you expected, the shutter fired much faster? That would be
unusual - maybe your camera doesn't lock up as it should and the
batteries were too weak? Or did the shutter deliver a very long
exposure (a much more frequent and expected malady). Or am I completely
off the track? It might help to know if there was any sign of an image
on the negatives in question, or were they completely clear or
completely dark.
And just in passing - the general rule of thumb is "for hand-held
photos, keep the shutter speed at or above the focal length of the
lens". In other words, with a 50mm lens, keep the shutter speed at
1/60th or faster for hand-held shots. That's because "camera shake" is
magnified with longer focal length lenses, and you consequently need a
faster shutter speed to overcome it.
Conrad Samuels wrote:
>
> Greetings to all. I'm new here so be gentle if I do things wrongly.
>
> A while ago I bought a used OM10 plus two lenses from a second-hand dealer.
> There was no handbook with the camera but in general I found it very easy to
> operate. I have been a user of a wide variety of equipment as an amateur
> since the late '50s but this was the first Olympus I have used ever.
>
> I love the camera. I am particularly fond of the optics which appear to be
> very good. The lenses are a 50mm f1.8 MC and a 70-150mmF4 zoom. The camera
> is also fitted with a manual adaptor.
>
> In general I use the camera only on auto setting without any problems. The
> other day however the viewfinder display indicated 1 sec. When I pressed
> the shutter release the mirror klonked and that was that. I was rather
> taken aback since this was certainly not 1 sec. I took another shot with
> exactly the same result. When the film was finished (no those two shots did
> not come out) I experimented with the camera. It seems that on auto the
> camera will not work below 1/30 (my estimate) although if I switch to manual
> then the shutter functions perfectly from 1 sec upwards, no problem.
>
> Curiously enough, I normally use ISO 100 film. If I change the film speed
> setting to ISO 25 then the shutter seems to work fine right down to 1 sec on
> auto.
>
> Is there something here that I should know, eg, on auto does this camera
> not work below 1/30 for some reason or what?
>
> Thanks for any help in advance.
>
> Conrad F. Samuels
> Kirstenhof
>
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