Robust, reliable, compact, superbly engineered. Arguably the best 35mm film SLR ever made.

A minor point: the black paint is not very durable and is easily chipped (but this all adds to the "patina").

My OM4-Ti was bought for me in 1991 at a camera dealer in Lothian Road in Edinburgh when I was still a medical student. It was a very expensive camera at the time but it was a birthday present (and what a present). I had agonised for well over a year over which camera to go for, reading the photographic magazines and digesting the opinions on the best cameras of the time. I considered Pentax and Nikon but there was something about the OM-4Ti that meant I had to have it. At the time the camera shops had started to fill with plastic bodied cameras that had autofocus and LCD screens but I rejected these as shoddy rubbish that would be broken in a few years. In fact, the OM4Ti looked like a very refined but rather old-fashioned camera in 1991. I had learned the basics of film photography at my school photography club so I did not want, or need, a camera that told me what to do. Back at school we had started with pinhole cameras that we made ourselves and had then progressed to basic box cameras. We did our own developing and printing (black and white only, colour was too complicated and expensive) so I knew how to do darkroom work as well. I wanted a camera that would give me the freedom to experiment.

I have never regretted my choice of the OM-4Ti in the least. In fact, of all the purchasing decisions I have made over the years it is probably the best. The camera has travelled with me all over the world (and it has the knocks and scratches to prove it). It has been up Mount Kenya, taken pictures of slums and palaces, has been to deserts and rainforests, and has been at home in the remotest lands and in the best connected cities of the world.

It is a joy to use, compact and eminently portable. Even now there is a good choice of excellent OM (second hand) lenses.

The only problems I have had have been minor. The black paint is not very durable and is easily damaged by knocks. I have never really been upset about it because it is only cosmetic and it adds to the well-travelled history of my camera. The other problem I have had has been electrical. After about 10 years of owning the camera it seemed to start exhausting batteries very fast. I did not do this when new. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about battery life in OM4 cameras. As far as I understand it (and with the benefit of advice from my now 80+ year old Olympus camera dealer) there was a problem with the early OM4 cameras that meant they did drain batteries quite fast. This problem was corrected by an updated circuit in later OM4 models and it never happened in OM4Ti cameras. The "fix" for affected OM4 models was to leave the camera on "B" when not in use. Anyway, I digress, my OM4Ti had dirty battery contacts and a slightly loose bottom plate. Cleaning the battery contacts and tightening the screws in the base plate solved the problems completely. Batteries now last at least a year as they did before.

I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants to truly experience the best of 35mm film photography. You will be forced to think and learn as this camera will not do it all for you. Having said that, the general metering and especially the spot metering is very accurate so you can use the camera for general snaps easily. Second hand prices (at the time of writing) seem to be rising quite steeply but well-used examples are still reasonably priced considering the quality of the camera. The fact that the paint tends to be easily damaged on the black models is almost an advantage because buyers tend to be put off and the price is more attractive.

Similar Products Used:

OM 2N

The perfect camera.

None

Last week at the Venice Carnival the strap broke and my om4 was shattered. In a panic I rushed in to a local dealer to buy a replacement only to be told they have stopped making them and that I would have to buy the om-d. It is full of gimmicks. The instruction book runs to 130 pages. Photography with the om4 was simple, just get the correct balance between shutter speed and f stop I do not want to tell the camera what sort of photo that I want to take, I can se that with my own eyes. Back in England I took the 10 rolls of film that I had shot on the om4 in to my local dealer for processing and told him about my disaster. He reached up and handed me an om4 and assured me it was in mint condition. I snatched his hand and left the shop as a much happier man. He guaranteed that the electronics were perfect. Years ago I was at the Venice Carnival with a brand new om4 that olympus had just and it just ate batteries. Every 5 minutes I had to buy more batteries. The electronics were faulty but olympus denied this. But they were. By the time that I bought my om4ti. Olympus had solved the problem.

After years of wanting an OM-4 , now that I have semi-retired I can afford an OM-4, my teenage daughter has secured an OM-4Ti with data back from Sth Africa on eBay , for about $500 AUDI have owned an OM-1 which was stolen , then Igot an OM-2n which I have owned since 1983, It has never given me any trouble at all and I have got some wonderful photographs from it , I have a full range of accessories and lenses to use so hopefully I can get even better results with my long awaited OM-4 , i do also have 2 digital cameras (point & shoot) & yes with my PC printing instand photos is great , but u cant get wall sized pics from digital cameras with any quality , I think for $500 i have scored a bargain ,the OM-4ti was about 2 months pay for me when it was released. Better late than never !

Impeccable build, utterly reliable, robust like a mini tank.

One only: that it is out of production. Olympus, give us a digital OM!!!!

I have owned my OM4Ti for almost 20 years now. It's a wonderful camera and -- for its intended usage -- has zero defects. Olympus should have kept the OM alive and made a digital version of it, as Leica did with its M series. In fact, this is a camera that could challenge the Leica any day. Wake up Olympus!

Customer Service

Never.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon FM

Compact, Lovely design, simple and excellent handling, awsome metering functions

an off switch, however if switch to bulb... that helps. no mirror lock unless on timer

Ok its two yeas since anyone wrote about this dream camera. So here it is.
I owned one , an OM4 way back and loved it. I rang all the bells and pulled all the right whistles. I was out on awful stormy day taking shots on the moors and dropped it as I was getting back into the car...totally buggered it up, smashed the viewfinder etc. :-( I got a quote for a fix, had it repaired but then got sucked into the autofocus thing and traded for a Canon EOS. Yes i loved that camera also but.... I missed the compact design of the OM and its simple beauty. The functions were easy to use and the lenses magnificent... I progressed through many cameras all auto focus and now all digital and almost all Canon. Then I realised I wasn't spending so much time on set up therefore less self satifaction even if the results were good.
We all love new technology and what the future will bring but and this is a big but! some of us liked things just the way they were. I believe some of us prefer 'photography' as it was. I am not saying there is no skill in digital, but I defy anyone to tell me the results are as good as film in many respects.
Some of the fun has gone out of photography. Anyone can pick up a camera these days and point and shoot and get lucky.
Anyway I digress...
I now have an OM4ti and love it to bits! Still got all my other cameras but the OM is treasured above all others.
A real crime that Olympus didn't carry on what they were good at instead of trying to be clever with those awful autofocus products they produced

Customer Service

Never used it.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax ME Super
Canon F1n
Canon EOS 40D

Ease of use ..Fantastic light meter ..Quality build ....Impressive results

Having to Put a film in .......Buts really its still apleasure !!!

Olympus Om4 ..I bought this on Ebay just a month ago in A1 condition from a science laboratory in England..After buying my first OM1N in may 1980..
WOW !!!!! After useing my digital Canon g7...For over a year ...And putting my four Om1n 's on the back burner...It was a fantastic change to finnaly get to use on Om4...Which i craved for yrs !!! As well as the om3 which im still looking for,..

Anyway ...THIS was a dream to use with all types of lenes ,And the great thing about this camera is YOU need to develope the pics....Unlike the digital where sometimes i just had them stuck on my computer..BUT image quality and View finder detail was far more impressive then the G9 ever could be ...If only olympus bought out anOM4 TI with a digital enterchangable back instead of sliting its thoat all out digital ill never know,....

Similar Products Used:

Om1N Om2n ...Canon AT1 , Om2n spot programme , Nikon FA , Nikon Fm2 .Pentax lx,

The functions on this camera are ace, especially the spot metering. The high and low light settings are also fun to play with. Its also really cheap to pick up a nice zuiko lens to go with the camera. The standard fixed ones work wonders. I would say that any beginner would benefit from this system and get a lot more out of there photography that jumpin0g straight in for a D-SLR and their fully auto setting.

Repairs will probably be more expensive than replacing the camera for a time and very soon can see the om-4 becoming a collector item and lots of £££.

Well the last review of this camera was 3 years ago and not much has changed since! I would mainly class my self as a beginner in the black and white field and having owned the om-10 and om-20 would defiantly say that hands down the om-4 is a winner.

Similar Products Used:

om-10 and om-20. om-20 is a fantastic camera that is incredibly easy to use when you get to know the basics.

Zuiko 135MM
Zuiko 50mm
Zuiko 28mm
Zuiko 35-105mm

the last lens although expensive compared to the others is a fantastic bit of kit, great for most situations, although nothing in the world can replace a good old 28mm :)

Amazingly accurate average and multi-spot metering. Great (and now cheap) lenses. (Though secondhand rare lenses are now much more expensive than getting Canon EF series) Looks good Fairly rugged and feels like a quality camera should. Great images. Huge bright viewfinder( You'll think someone has turned out the lights if you look at a 20D one afterwards..though the 20D is a great camera too! but is not in the same class as the OM-4) Cheap to buy now on eBay etc. Small physical size of lenses..leave a 50mm on and slip a 100/2.8 and a 28/2.8 into a couple of pockets and you set for the afternoon.

Have not found any yet Maybe that you have to use the self timer if you want to take shots with the mirror locked up. Hard to get parts for now.

My buying price is in N.Z. dollars. First up this review is about the OM-4 not ti model. In some ways this camera is unbelievable. I have never shot slides before, and though I have been keen on digital SLR for a couple of years , I had heard all about the difficulty of exposing slides properly. It almost doesn't matter with this camera weather you use the Auto (Aperture Priority) setting or the Manual, Or average or Spot..you seem to come out with beautifully exposed slides almost in spite of yourself! :-) Maybe a little overexagerated. I have been shooting with 300D and more recently 20D and I need to sell something as I cannot afford to keep 3 cameras. But regardless of it's overall image quality the 20D cant hold a candle to the OM-4 exposure wise. I have never yet got an overexposed image with the OM-4, but I have had a few in the days since I got the 20D. I tried a scanner the other day (Canon FS4000) + Silverfast software + Neat Image for grain removal and the prints from the slides are so good I'm nearly tempted to flick off my new 20D.The digital is more convienient and the digital digs deep into the shadow, but the slides look supurb!! Anyway here is 2005's tribute to am amazing camera. So inconspicious too with it's tiny lenses, compared to today's (excellent) but huge Auto focus giants! I love this little camera. The lenses, even after years of use are still smooth to focus....Could go on and on :-) What to do?

Customer Service

Never used

Similar Products Used:

Canon 300D Canon 20D Various Minolta's

Sturdy, light, metering, accuracy, reliability and 2nd hand retained value

Battery life (switching the shutter speed to "B" when you have finished work, turns off the circuitry)

Nothing written for nearly a year about this amazing camera. Still nothing on the 35mm SLA market to touch it. Digital is not an option yet for passionate landscape photographers. My OM-4 (not the Ti model)is still my favourite: trusty, light, sturdy, accurate, metering to die for, Zuiko's crisp contrasty lenses, what more could a photographer want...apart from Olympus to wake up and realise what a mistake they have made in ending OM series production .

Customer Service

Isn't it wonderful how so few people have ever used it...how reliable a 1980's camera is that?

Similar Products Used:

Olympus OM-2n Mercedes E300 Turbodiesel (similar engineering)

Both the range and accuracy of the meter are astounding. Others may argue, but on this point I’m not sure it has ever been matched. The multispot metering facility is sublime. Why aren’t all cameras like this? The highlight/shadow buttons are not something I use, but they do work beyond the range of the max/min ISO settings where manual compensation is not possible. The normal metering method is simple centreweighted averaging, which I happen to like. It’s consistent and predictable. That’s all that a meter needs to be. It has an exposure lock/clear facility which I am amazed in this day and age is still not a standard on all cameras. The viewfinder itself is large, clear, and bright, with dioptric correction, and the viewfinder display is a work of genius. The analogue bar graph indicates the actual averaged exposure to 1/3 of a stop accuracy, while at the same time displaying each individual spot reading, and thereby the overall contrast range. All this is assimilated as instantaneously as reading a clock face. No mental gymnastics required. You just look at the viewfinder and it’s there in your brain. The manual metering display is equally clever. The absence of aperture readout in the viewfinder is an often pointed out omission. The positive side of this is that Olympus have never needed to update their lens mount, with the benefit that all the lenses I have ever bought (and ever will) are guaranteed to work on this camera. Of the two options, this is by far the most important to me personally. B setting is entirely mechanical, and a back-up mechanical speed of 1/60 is also available, so the camera can be used when the batteries fail. This setting also doubles as an off switch to prevent battery drain. The locking switch is small and fussy though (and unnecessary?), and not easy to access when tripod mounted. The OM range of lenses and equipment is vast, and it’s largely all still out there somewhere. The good lenses are very very good, the best are superb, and a small number even legendary. For macro/micro photography, even now the OM system is probably unmatched. The downside is the good quality stuff that was expensive to buy new, still is. The plus side is you have a system that holds it’s value well.

Minor comments:- The ISO setting/compensation dial rotates in reverse of what I expected – ie minus compensation is forward. It is also possible for the clumsy to disturb the ISO setting when adjusting auto exposure compensation, and a positive locking mechanism would have been nice. Because of its nature it is impossible to dial-in auto compensation beyond the minimum and maximum ISO settings range available. However, you may not notice the film speed resetting itself when you try. The 1/60 max flash sync speed is probably the most limiting feature of the camera in comarison to more modern combos. The FP flash gives pleasing enough results, but is not nearly as flexible or predictable (without effort) as more modern variants, and quite limited in range in certain situations. Normal TTL flash though is as superb as it ever was. Mirror prefire is available with the self timer, but the timer itself is not adjustable, and I would have preferred a separate mirror lock-up à la OM1. A double-exposure button would also have been nice. The black paint on some models is quick to show brassing (titaniuming surely - ED). This is of no consequence to me. It’s a defunct system, no longer made or supported by the manufacturer. By the same token third party lenses and associated equipment are now rarely if ever available new in OM mount, though for the time being compatible flash strobes still seem to be.

This is a full system pro 35mm camera from an era when some of us think SLR camera design and build quality were at their zenith, and this one is probably the pick of the bunch. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a jewel. Small and light for a camera of this type and build quality, it is extremely robust and supremely well screwed together. It’s pretty much weatherproof. Excellent ergonomics. There are no useless exposure modes to clutter the user interface. No whistle or bells are provided, only features. Just as it should be. Buying second hand made for an extremely good value purchase in my case. In all honesty I don’t think I was ever going to pay the full price new though, but my value rating is based on what you are likely to pay for a good used example now. Chances are it will at least hold it’s value, and this camera had collectible classic written all over it from the day it was born. I would not necessarily recommend anyone entering a defunct system from scratch, but anyone already with lenses or looking for a new body should definitely treat themselves to this camera.

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

OM1, OM10, OM40