Hi, Kierstin --
Welcome to the Olympus mailing list. I own an Olympus repair shop in
Dallas, Texas -- I've repaired Olympus cameras for over 20 years. I
thought I'd write off-list since my note is so long. If you have any
particular questions, I'll be pleased to help if I can.
First, just so you know, the OM-20 is the same camera as the OM-G --
that's the U.S. model's name. Olympus often makes the same or very
similar models with different names to sell in different parts of the
world. You should be able to find a copy of the OM-G/20 instruction
manual online.
At the risk of being _too_ basic, I'll go over the use of your camera
briefly. If this is stuff you already know, I apologize!
Your camera is a "SLR" -- Single Lens Reflex. That means that when you
look through the eyepiece, you're looking through the lens that's going
to take the picture. The nice thing about that is that what you see in
the eyepiece is almost exactly what's going to be in the picture. On
other kinds of cameras (that are not "SLR"'s), that won't be true --
since the finder is separate from the lens that takes the picture, they
aren't going to "see" the same thing.
Since you're looking through the lens that will take the picture, you
can see if what you want to be sharp in the photo is going to be sharp.
If it isn't, you'll need to turn the focusing ring on the lens until the
image _is_ sharp -- that's all there is to it! Since your lens is a
"macro" lens, you'll be able to focus on things that are much closer
than lots of other lenses -- that's what "macro" means. Your note also
says your lens is a "zoom" lens, which means you can change the focal
length by turning another ring on your lens -- that will make things
look closer or further away.
Your camera needs batteries to operate -- if they're dead, it won't
work. So turn the knob underneath the rewind knob to the "check"
position to check the batteries. The camera should emit a steady sound,
and the red light on the front will come on, too, if the batteries are
OK. If the sound and light pulse, the batteries are weak -- replace
them soon. If you don't get the sound and light at all, the batteries
are dead (or in the camera backwards -- the "+" side of the batteries
goes out!).
Your camera will need to know what kind of film you're going to put
inside it -- not whether it's "slide" or "print" film, or color or
black&white, but how sensitive the film is to light. Films are rated
using a number called an "ASA" or "ISO" number -- that number should be
printed on the film's box and on the film cassette itself. For now, I'd
suggest a film with an ASA/ISO of 400. Between the wind lever and the
eyepiece of the camera is a black knob with a window on top that shows
the "ASA" number -- lift and turn the knob until you see the ASA/ISO
number of the film you're going to use through the window on top of the
knob, then lower the knob. Now turn the whole knob so that the white
line points to the black stripe on the top cover just to the left of the
knob.
Next, load the film. Open the back of the camera by pulling up on the
rewind knob. The film cassette drops into the chamber on the left and
the "leader", or the end of the film, slips into the slotted "spool" on
the right -- you'll have to pull an inch or two of film out of the
cassette to get it there. The only caution is that the film leader
should go _into_ but not _through_ the take-up "spool". Wind and fire
the camera once or twice to be sure the film is wrapping around the
take-up spool properly, and it's flat across the back of the camera.
Then close the back cover.
The film counter will now be at "S" (that's Japanese for "Start" ;^).
You need to wind and fire the camera until the film counter says "1" --
that's because the film outside the cassette has been exposed to light,
and you need to move "fresh" film to where the picture is made. Take
the lens cap off the front of the lens and point the lens toward a light
when you do this -- if there isn't any light entering the lens, the
shutter will stay open for a while, and you won't be able to wind the
camera until it closes.
Now you're ready to take photos. Turn the dial under the rewind knob to
"AUTO" -- the camera will vary the shutter speed according to the light
it sees. You can change the amount of light the camera sees by changing
the aperture ring on the lens -- that's the ring that has numbers like
"4 -- 5.6 -- 8 -- 11 -- 16" and so on. Watch through the eyepiece while
you change this ring on the lens -- you should see the numbers inside
changing, too. For now, just keep the numbers in the finder anywhere
between "60" and "1000" -- below "60" and your photos will probably be
blurry from camera shake, above "1000" and you're out of the camera's
range.
Focus and shoot, then wind the camera until it stops and you'll be ready
for the next photo. When you get to the end of the roll of film and
can't wind anymore, you'll need to disengage the camera's winding
mechanism to turn the film back into the cassette -- that's what we call
"rewinding" -- before you open the back of the camera to remove the
cassette. On the front of the camera, just below the button you press
to take a photo and next to where it says "OM-20", is a little black
knob with a white stripe across it, a little white "R" and an arrow --
rotate that knob in the direction of the arrow until the stripe is
horizontal. Now, flip out the little lever on top of the rewind knob
and rotate the knob in the direction of the arrow you can see on the
underside of the lever. This will turn the film back into the cassette
-- keep turning until you feel the film come off the take-up spool. It
will turn much more easily. Now, pull up on the rewind knob to open the
back again and remove the film.
After these basics, all the rest is "art" -- when to use one shutter
speed over another, or one aperture as opposed to another, and so on.
That can wait for now -- just have fun shooting!
Clint
Kierstin wrote:
> I am new to this group and have never posted anything here before. I
> am a American living in London and desperately need some guidance. I
> have bothered the owner of this list too many times and I suppose it
> is high time to 'join' into the group.
> >
> > I am hoping to find out something about my OM 20, as I bought it in
> a
> > auction a few weeks ago and it did not come with a manual. I paid
> £40 to have it fixed and I would love to learn to use it properly.
> >
> > It was suggested to me that I should try signing up to this group
> and that there would probably be someone who would be willing to share
> some knowledge with me and possibly even send me a copy of the manual,
> but I have been generally confused about the content - I don't know if
> it is because I am such a novice or what.
> >
> > I will tell you the details of the camera and then maybe someone can
> help me - I am a little nervous that people might get a little pissed
> at me for asking stupid questions (although they are not stupid to
> me), but how else will I ever learn?
> >
> > It is black & silver, it says OM20 in the left hand front corner.
> The lens says MACRO (on the top) with 6 different rows of numbers. It
> adjusts in & out. The front part of the lens (which is missing the
> black cap at the end) says SOLIGOR MC ZOOM-AUTO F2.5/3.5 f=35-70mm
> made in Japan 58o NO97956912.
> >
> > Please, oh please can you help me, all this is way over my head, but
> I want to learn very badly. I am smart and I think I could pick it up
> if someone would be so kind as to take the time to explain a few of
> the basics to me.
> >
> > Many thanks
> > Kierstin
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|