Olympus OM 4 viewfinder vs OM 2/1

[lim_guo_chai]

I am interested in buying an Olympus OM series camera mainly because I have read that the

viewfinder is so big. Is the viewfinder in the OM4/T/Ti as big as those in the earlier series?

[patrick j dempsey]

I think the OM4 is pretty close to the same size as the OM1/2 finder. The

eyepiece is exactly the same size because it takes the standard OM eye-cups. If

the image is smaller, it's only very slightly and I really cannot tell that it

is. One advantage that the OM4 has over the earlier ones is the the light meter

display is in a strip below the viewfinder display, where-as with the others,

the light meter cuts into the display on the left side. So it might actually

show MORE of the view... especially the OM2 which has a pretty large light meter

display in Auto mode. The OM4 also features a built-in diopter adjustment,

whereas the earlier models require the use of individual diopters that fit into

the eyecup. But especially compared to older classic SLR's and many crop-factor

dSLR's, the viewfinder is huge. Also, in older SLR's there was often a great

deal of cropping in the viewfinder image, while these cameras have virtually

zero cropping... allowing for perfect framing of compositions as they will

appear on the negative.

[ondrejp_spyderman]

OM-3/4 has slightly lower viewfinder magnification than OM-1/2 (I think like

0.85 vs. 0.9 or so). All OM's have large viewfinders compared to competitor's

consumer models, and HUGE compared to today's non-full frame dSLR's.

 

With identical focussing screen, the viewfinder of OM-1/2 is brighter because

OM-3/4 has half-mirror and steals some light for the metering sensor in the

bottom of mirror box.

 

OTOH OM-2sp/3/4 are comaptible with a 2- series focussing screen which is A LOT

brighter than standard 1-13 screen.

 

With all OM's the viewfinder coverage is about 95%. not "virtually zero". There

IS SOME cropping.

[john_hermanson2]

OM-2S, 3, 3Ti, 4, 4T, 4Ti viewfinders are not as bright as OM-1/1N/2/2N. Series 2 focus screen or Beattie Intenscreen will improve them by about 2/3rds of a stop. This is due to the semi-silvered mirrors used. Part of the light goes up to the focus screen, the other part goes through the mirror and is reflected by a secondary mirror to the meter cell in the mirror box floor. John, www.zuiko.com

[matthew_newton]

Not to quibble (I am quibbling), but the OM-1 view finder is .92x magnification and shows 97% of the actual field of view (not .9x or 95%). As for the later models, I am not sure what their view finder coverage is (as far as I know the OM-2 has the exact same mag and coverage).

[harold_gough]

John's estimation of added brightness with alternative screens may be accurate for the Series 2 but I find that the Beatties give a huge improvement.

[john_hermanson2]

Beattie Intenscreens and Olympus Series 2 are exactly the same brightness. The surrounding matte area on the Olympus is finer, the scribed lines on the Beatties are unusually thick and crude. I can do much finer lines with a single edge razor blade (for rule of thirds>) John, www.zuiko.com

[patrick j dempsey]

3% of 24 x 36mm is 35 square millimeters... which is about 1/4 of a millimeter of crop all the way around the negative. To me, that's virtually zero. Most scanning equipment I've seen seems to automatically add more crop than that, and a proper negative carrier (that hasn't been filed down) probably adds more crop than that to a full-frame print. In fact, if you have prints commercially made from these negatives, there will be a great deal more cropped off of the image than 1/4 of a millimeter, to allow for bleed. From the perspective of commercial printing, it's a good idea to leave an insulating edge all the way around the negative so something important that should be right on the edge doesn't get cropped off completely. I've used cameras where the viewfinder image did not match the negative and shots I painstakingly lined up ended up needing cropping in the print to look correct... and this is a completely different experience.

[patrick j dempsey]

Oops, my math skills are not too sharp today. 3% of 24mm x 36mm would be 26 square millimeters. This would be less than 1/4 of a millimeter... more like 2/9ths.

[harold_gough]

If a transparency is mounted/projected, the cropping, by the edges of the mount, is rather more than the amounts discussed. So one needs to establish whether mounted or unmounted frames are being considered in this context.

[2fer]

Per the OM-4 Instruction Manual, the OM-4 view finder is .84x magnification and shows 97% of the actual field of view, vs the OM-1 view finder, which is .92x magnification and shows the same 97% of the actual field of view.