Beginner Olympus OM10 (semi-automatic) blurry pictures and unexposed films

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mandarina

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Hello,

I recently bought an Olympus OM10 camera and shot 3 rolls of film (Fuji 400, Ultramax 400, and Portra 800).

Most of the shots came out very blurry, except for a few that weren't, but the overall quality was disappointing.

Aperture: between f/16 and f/11, maybe f/8, pictures are urban scenes and landscapes.
ASA: I matched it to the film's ISO.
Shutter speed is automatic, the camera controls it.

  • Is there any fix that doesn't involve buying a manual adapter? The aperture and ISO settings are enough to get me started...

  • or Is this a problem with this camera? The photos I see posted by others are super sharp.

Also, anecdotally, they told me at the lab that one roll was unexposed, which I find very strange since the other two came out fine. I assume it was a mistake on my part when loading it, but is there any way to check?
 
I can see three possibilities:

a) You haven't focussed the lens. The OM10 does not have autofocus. You have to focus manually.
b) There is not enough light in the scene to allow a shutter speed to be used, which is fast enough to freeze action, hence moving objects are blurred.

Altough you can't choose a particular shutter speed with the OM10 (unless you buy a manual adaptor) the camera will tell you what shutter speed it has chosen, through the red light on the left hand side of the viewfinder. Try to change the aperture until your shutter speed is 1/60s or faster.

c) You have the shutter speed control set to "B" for bulb instead of Auto. In this mode the shutter stays open for as long you press the shutter button down.

The camera manual is here - https://www.cameramanuals.org/olympus_pdf/olympus_om10.pdf
 
Thanks, Kevin.

I'm sure it wasn't a) or c).

Regarding b), now that you mention it, the red light was always between 1/15 and 1/60 at most, if I remember correctly. I just did a test and the shutter speed only went over 1/60 at f/4.

I mostly take landscape photos, I don't know how this affects me, but I'll keep trying with your suggestion and the manual in mind.

Kevin Allan said:
I can see three possibilities:

a) You haven't focussed the lens. The OM10 does not have autofocus. You have to focus manually.
b) There is not enough light in the scene to allow a shutter speed to be used, which is fast enough to freeze action, hence moving objects are blurred.

Altough you can't choose a particular shutter speed with the OM10 (unless you buy a manual adaptor) the camera will tell you what shutter speed it has chosen, through the red light on the left hand side of the viewfinder. Try to change the aperture until your shutter speed is 1/60s or faster.

c) You have the shutter speed control set to "B" for bulb instead of Auto. In this mode the shutter stays open for as long you press the shutter button down.

The camera manual is here - https://www.cameramanuals.org/olympus_pdf/olympus_om10.pdf
Click to expand...
 
The OM10 was a basic camera but very capable of producing excellent results, very blurry could be a few different things as mentioned above by Kevin you could also add to the list dirty or damaged lens, film pressure plate damaged or miss placed and faulty focusing screen or mirror
Without seeing some of the worst effected photographs it is difficult to give advise other than to read the manual as linked above, most camera manuals of the period would assume almost zero prior knowledge and pretty much guide a new user as to what all the functions and controls do.
 
zx9 said:
The OM10 was a basic camera but very capable of producing excellent results, very blurry could be a few different things as mentioned above by Kevin you could also add to the list dirty or damaged lens, film pressure plate damaged or miss placed and faulty focusing screen or mirror
Without seeing some of the worst effected photographs it is difficult to give advise other than to read the manual as linked above, most camera manuals of the period would assume almost zero prior knowledge and pretty much guide a new user as to what all the functions and controls do.
Click to expand...
Hi, I bought it at a well-known store where I live, so I hope it's not one of those things :eek: Thank you.
 
zx9 said:
The OM10 was a basic camera but very capable of producing excellent results, very blurry could be a few different things as mentioned above by Kevin you could also add to the list dirty or damaged lens, film pressure plate damaged or miss placed and faulty focusing screen or mirror
Without seeing some of the worst effected photographs it is difficult to give advise other than to read the manual as linked above, most camera manuals of the period would assume almost zero prior knowledge and pretty much guide a new user as to what all the functions and controls do.
Click to expand...
full
full
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This is the sharpest picture i could get
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looks like a combination of camera shake an incorrect focusing. Could you post the worst please?
 
mandarina said:
full

I think this is the worst one, focused at ∞.
Click to expand...
That's camera shake for sure.

There is another way to conrtol the shutter speed, open the aperture up to a larger aperture (smaller number) it will make the camera select a faster shutter speed which will help with the shake.
 
As Topsy says it looks like camera shake caused by a shutter speed being too slow for hand held shots. You need the red light to indicate 1/60 or faster with a 50mm lens to prevent this. Or rest your arms or the camera on a solid surface.

Also, when you focus there is an area or zone in front of and behind the point of focus that will also be sharply focused. Looking at the photo of the people crossing the bridge it looks like the nearest part of the bridge is in focus leaving the greater area of the background out of focus. There are markings on the lens barrel that give an indication of the zone of acceptable focus for different settings of aperture and focus distance.
 
Clive K said:
As Topsy says it looks like camera shake caused by a shutter speed being too slow for hand held shots. You need the red light to indicate 1/60 or faster with a 50mm lens to prevent this. Or rest your arms or the camera on a solid surface.

Also, when you focus there is an area or zone in front of and behind the point of focus that will also be sharply focused. Looking at the photo of the people crossing the bridge it looks like the nearest part of the bridge is in focus leaving the greater area of the background out of focus. There are markings on the lens barrel that give an indication of the zone of acceptable focus for different settings of aperture and focus distance.
Click to expand...
Just to add to that, the zone of acceptable sharpness for a given aperture falls 1 3rd in front of the focus point and 2 3rds behind, plus if that 2 3rds behind is beyond the infinity point for the lens (about 50m for your 50mm) then the rest of the area beyond that 2 3rds will also be acceptably sharp therefore it is better to focus closer than farther away if there is no specific point in the photo that you want to emphasise.

The smaller the aperture is (bigger number) the bigger those 1 and 2 thirds become and there is usually a guide on the barrel lof the lens. Its called Depth of Field aka Depth of Focus if you want to research it a bit further.
 
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This is a reasonably succinct explanation.

pixelvalleystudio.com

Hyperfocal Distance Focusing and Depth of Field Tricks — Pixel Valley Studio

So focusing on a person or object isn’t that hard. You zoom in or use magnify, adjust focus, and then zoom back out. They’re in focus. But what if your subject moves in place or you have two subjects in the frame? What do you do? Can Hyperfocal distance help? Frank explores focusing, depth of field
pixelvalleystudio.com pixelvalleystudio.com
 
Topsy said:
This is a reasonably succinct explanation.

pixelvalleystudio.com

Hyperfocal Distance Focusing and Depth of Field Tricks — Pixel Valley Studio

So focusing on a person or object isn’t that hard. You zoom in or use magnify, adjust focus, and then zoom back out. They’re in focus. But what if your subject moves in place or you have two subjects in the frame? What do you do? Can Hyperfocal distance help? Frank explores focusing, depth of field
pixelvalleystudio.com pixelvalleystudio.com
Click to expand...
Perfect!

Thank you all so much for your time and comments. I honestly wasn't expecting any and was preparing to give up hope of taking good photos with this camera.

I'll definitely put everything you've suggested into practice (except for the tripod, since I'm doing this for fun) :snaphappy:
 
mandarina said:
Perfect!

Thank you all so much for your time and comments. I honestly wasn't expecting any and was preparing to give up hope of taking good photos with this camera.

I'll definitely put everything you've suggested into practice (except for the tripod, since I'm doing this for fun) :snaphappy:
Click to expand...

You are lucky in that the fix is easy and costs nothing.
 
mandarina said:
Perfect!

Thank you all so much for your time and comments. I honestly wasn't expecting any and was preparing to give up hope of taking good photos with this camera.

I'll definitely put everything you've suggested into practice (except for the tripod, since I'm doing this for fun) :snaphappy:
Click to expand...
Since you are using a "Nifty Fifty" perhaps you can try our Nifty Fifty Challenge? It's just for fun and will give you some ideas to stretch your imagination.


 
One way to confirm that you have a film loaded correctly, and that will wind correctly is to check the tension on the film with the rewind knob. After you have loaded the film gently turn the rewind knob clockwise (viewed as if you are using the camera). If the film is loaded correctly the knob will only turn a little until the film is tensioned.
Do it gently, don't apply too much force. If the film hasn't engaged correctly with the sprockets on the take up spool there will be no tension - as you turn the rewind knob you'll be rewinding the film into its canister (so stop, so you still have a film leader that you can reload).
Hope this makes sense - it's in reality a very simple check.
 
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It looks like shake to me. Don't automatically set the aperture, but pay attention to the shutter speed it's giving you as well. Just a little attention to detail might have told you that it was too slow. Sorry if that sounds a little harsh, but a manual adapter won't rectify that.
 
I agree with camera shake as at least the principal reason. The received wisdom is that your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens in mm, or in plainer English, 1/50th for a 50mm lens, 1/100th for a 100mm lens.

I found, age 18 and in good health, that I could detect the difference in sharpness when I went from 1/125th to 1/250th with a 50mm lens. You may be steadier.
 
StephenM said:
I agree with camera shake as at least the principal reason. The received wisdom is that your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens in mm, or in plainer English, 1/50th for a 50mm lens, 1/100th for a 100mm lens.

I found, age 18 and in good health, that I could detect the difference in sharpness when I went from 1/125th to 1/250th with a 50mm lens. You may be steadier.
Click to expand...
Indeed if possible use 1/250 sec....works for me with plenty of sharp pictures, but of course with less light some VG lenses are not so sharp below f4 e.g. wide angle lenses 17mm to 21mm or 24mm at f2 so depends how steady you are, hand held without support, to drop the shutter speed.
 
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The recommendation to use a tripod is good but when you don't have a tripod, brace yourself against a handy bit of street furniture or a wall, or pretend you are a sniper in a movie adopt a stable pose and take time to control your breathing, it all helps reduce camera shake.
 
focus put on wall ,,then use the self timer
 
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