View allAll Photos Tagged Olympus IS-5000
Neighbouring vineyard as imagined on grossly expired slide film. The film came loaded in the camera, it's been sitting there for nobody knows how long - hence significant colour shift. Late Spring 2014.
Taken with Olympus IS-5000 superzoom point & shoot camera, on very expired Fujichrome Velvia 50 slide film.
Scanned with Plustek OpticFilm 8100 scanner, using VueScan 9.2.
I accidentally opened the camera, not knowing there's film inside, and this is what I got. The film came loaded in the camera, it's been sitting there for nobody knows how long. Spring 2014.
Taken with Olympus IS-5000 superzoom point & shoot camera, on very expired Fujichrome Velvia 50 slide film.
Scanned with Plustek OpticFilm 8100 scanner, using VueScan 9.2.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
I got a new (to me) camera today. An Olympus iS-3000.
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1991 / 2 with the 4-digit models being the more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced after the OM series of cameras went out of production, and before digital cameras were a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
There is very little data available regarding these cameras and they seem to be the “withered arm” of Olympus Optical products. Being produced for a short time only there are no support groups for these cameras and they seem to have been largely forgotten.
I paid 88 euro for the camera, a soft case, a G40 dedicated flash, the B-28 wide angle converter and the B-300 teleconverter attachments. That represents about all the major accessories available for the camera! Other accessories included a remote infrared release, RC-100, a close up macro lens converter, B-Macro, enabling 1:1 reproduction, Grip strap B, and a Panorama mask.
As an example an Olympus Mju-1 usually sells for about 150-170 euro, and the, some would say, more desirable MJju-II for around the 200 euro mark. Both are excellent point and shoot cameras with auto focus, auto loading, auto winding and programmed auto exposure. I have a Mju-1 I bought, new, in 1991 and it just works!
I heard about this range of cameras and did a little digging. Of the little information available all the reviews both by professional and amateur reviewers said much the same thing very good performance and built solidly. So I tracked one down on eBay.
So what did I get for my money?
A 35mm bridge camera with auto loading, auto wind, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, manual, night time exposure, portrait exposure and landscape exposure modes. Spot, centre weighted and ESP metering, in a plastic body (more of that in a moment). Pretty good so far. The lens is not interchangeable but zooms from 35mm to 180mm, with the converters it can reach 28mm to 300mm. The minimum aperture is not too hot, f4.5, but the ergonomics of the body allow pictures to be taken at 1/30second at 180mm if you are careful.
The lens is quite special. Olympus designed the camera around the lens. It has 16 elements, one of which is an Enhanced Dispersion element and the lens is tack sharp and contrasty. It gives my Zuiko primes a run for their money at any focal length between 35mm and 180mm, and even with the converters attached it is still more than acceptable!
The body is plastic, but very nicely moulded, and the controls have been placed where your fingers naturally fall. A lot of attention went into the ergonomics. The plastic body belies its weight. It clocks about 1kg when loaded with film and batteries. It is comfortable to hold and carry at that weight and nicely balanced. It feels the business unlike the plastic EOS cameras around at the time.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus succeeded.
Those of you who know me know I am a big Olympus fan, I still have my first new camera, an OM-1, and all the others I bought in between right up to a pair of OM-4Tis. In terms of ease of use, output quality and, in almost all cases, ability this is just as good as any of the OM cameras. The OM cameras have the edge on versatility.
Some irritations, of course, but minor:-
• Iso setting is by DX code and cannot be entered manually, however there is a + and – 4 stop compensation adjustment in 1/3 stop steps.
• Despite controlling the flash and mechanically setting the flash tube position in the attached G40 flash in either the tele or wide position depending on the lens focal length, there is no readout of the actual focal length in use apart from numbers on the lens barrel. This is dealt with on the built in flash by having two flashes mounted, one for tele and one for wide
• The hot shoe is of proprietary design, having no centre pin and a foot with different dimensions to a standard flash bracket. ONLY the dedicated G40 flash will work with this camera.
• The digital displays in the viewfinder are hard to see in bright conditions.
On the day of the test shoot, the weather conditions were bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
The camera didn’t miss a shot, the negs all had a good tonal range except for 1 or 2 slightly under par when a lot of sky was in the picture. I shot using both Aperture priority and Program modes and both worked flawlessly.
The attached photos were taken on Ilford FP4 plus film (gotta love FP4) exposed at box speed, Iso 125, and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. These are all unretouched, direct scans from the negs originally in 4800dpi Tiff format.
Judge for yourself, but in my opinion these are very underrated cameras and consequently very good value for money if you are into film photography.
ADDENDUM.
Although the G40 flash is the only dedicated flash that will fit and work with the iS range of cameras fitted with a hotshoe, there was an adaptor produced that fitted in the hotshoe and had a normal pc socket on the top instead of a flash, allowing a non dedicated auto flash to be used with the camera. It was called the iS/L Multi Flash Synchro Module and did not appear in any documentation as it was added to the range late in its production run.
Olympus OM2n | OM 21/2 Zuiko
I went to Maehara, one of the more popular local 'entertainment districts', to take some hyperfocal shots mid-day thinking that there'd be nothing going on. I was wrong. The place was packed with girls and johns. I shot most of these from the hip, which turns out is really a dumb thing to do. You have to understand that these places are run mostly by gangsters and other crooks, so you don't want to be caught breaking the rules. The going rate here is 5000 yen for 15 minutes with a girl of your choosing.
A TAP Air Portugal Airbus seconds before landing at Madeira airport (if you're familiar to this airport you can notice that it's the amplified runway 05).
I published a previous version on Trekearth back in 2003. Slightly cropped and made some adjustments on Photoshop for this new version.
Taken with a 35 mm camera (Olympus IS-5000 ED) with a 200 ISO film. Scanned with Nikon Coolscan IV ED.
Appareil reflex SLR fabriqué en Chine en 2002 avec objectif zoom AF lentille verre ED 4,9/28 mm- 6,9/140 mm, obturateur avec un maxi à 1/2000 s. Zoom électrique par paliers. Flash rétractable et débrayable avec réduction des yeux rouges. Film 135 Dx, moteur et 2 piles CR 123 A. Retardateur et multifonctions : portrait, nuit, sport, paysage, macro et sur-impression.
The roar of the ocean making its way through the rocks is one of the most rewarding feelings one can experience.
Taken with a 35 mm film camera Olympus IS-5000 ED. 200 ISO (aperture and speed not available).
Rear view:
Part of a range of 9 different models produced starting in 1990 with the iS1000.This camera was introduced in 1992. The last cameras in the range were produced in 1999. Like the OM series of cameras they were supplied in amateur and prosumer versions, those with a 2 or 3 digit number (iS 10, 100, 100S, 200, 300) were aimed at the amateur market whilst the 4-digit models (iS-1000, 2000, 3000 and 5000) were more advanced. These were “Bridging” cameras introduced as the OM series of cameras were being phased out of production, and before digital cameras became a viable consumer level product. The iS-3000 was superseded by an iS-5000, but the iS-3000 probably represents the most sophisticated of the whole range.
At the time a number of the camera majors tried their hand at making bridge cameras but only Olympus had any real success.
They were marketed in the US as iS-1, 2 and 3 DLX and in Japan as L1, L2 and L3 and there were “Quartz Date” versions signified by a final QD in the product number.
A reasonable range of accessories was available for the camera, although the lens accessories were specific to this model as it does not share the same sized front lens thread with it's siblings.
This camera retailed for around $470 to $540 in 1993/4 (data taken from Popular Photography magazine Dec '94) The Olympus OM-4Ti was retailing at the same time for around $650. In todays money that would be around $1040 and $1228 respectively. This places the camera in the market above the point and shoot cameras and below the professional cameras, and at a price point, allowing for inflation, for similarly specified cameras today.