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| The venerable IS-1000 |
One thing I noticed whilst going through my photography magazines from the 90s ("Φωτογραφος" magazine) is that the only mention of it was in this report of the PhotoKina in 1990. There are no test reviews and it doesn't even appear on the list of available cameras in the greek market in this 1991 issue of "Φωτογραφος". Following this, there is a shop advert from 1993 with the IS-2000 and IS-3000 - it looks like by that point, the IS-1000 was already discontinued.
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| The 1990 PhotoKina announcement |
Looking through the Popular Photography and Practical Photography issues, looks like the overall reception of the IS-1000 was positive. The IS-1000 was followed up by an IS-2000 the following year which maintained the same lens and meter system but with some improvement on the AF and added features and a few months later by the IS-3000 which is considered to be the flagship model. It added a longer lens, a couple of programme modes and a better AF. There are also a few budget models (IS-xxx line) that lose some features and offer wider lens options; these were offered as advanced p&s cameras offering little to no control over exposure modes. There is also a successor to the IS-3000, called IS-5000 but comparing it feature by feature to the IS-3000, it doesn't seem to be offering anything more (quite the opposite, some features like exposure compensation was scaled down) and it comes in a horrible ivory colour finish.
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| The 1993 camera advert |
Although the IS-series established a camera category on their own, sometimes it was difficult to gain the recognition it deserved in the absence of competition. Reading through this Practical Photography article from 1994, even the better spec'ed IS-3000 couldn't compete with the best consumer grade AF SLRs coming out from the Big Four: the EOS5, the F70, the 700si and the Z-1 we're better cameras, more feature rich and more customizable.
If it is photographic press reviews you are after, then I recommend having a look at Azriel Knight's review at PetaPixel - it has absolutely everything you need. In this review I will focus more on my experience of shooting a couple of rolls with it.
Handling
The moment you pick up the Olympus IS-1000, you notice
the odd mass distribution. The hand grip is great and once you place the
left hand under the lens it balances really well. Although you can
easily hold the camera with the right hand, the chunky handgrip might be
an issue with people with smaller hands - especially if you need to
press the spot button. A small, lightweight SLR with a standard lens is
easier to hold with one hand and shoot.
The way you access different
functions is quite easy to figure out - all is happening by pressing a
button and navigate the menu with the two buttons next to the shutter
button. Here are a couple of strange omissions though: no shutter
priority mode (added to the IS-2000) and no manual iso setting.
The viewfinder is a mixed picture too. First of all, it is impressively bright for an f/4.5-5.6 lens and nicely sharp. Actually it is brighter than the 1967 Praktica Super TL with a f1.8 lens attached. But the viewfinder window is small and if you are wearing glasses it is difficult to see the information display. It is rubberized thought and won't scratch your glasses.
All controls are where you would expect to find them - the zoom in/out buttons fall right under your thumb and the on/off switch and flash button are nicely sized. There are a number of small buttons hidding behind a compartment door but they are a bit on the small size and can be quite fiddly to press.
Overall, I think ergonomics are good although it might take you a bit of time to get used to it, especially if you are used to SLRs.
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| The lens is of very good quality |
The lens
The lens was the single most important selling point of
this camera. Olympus engineers did do a very good job with it and made
sure they advertised it accordingly. The lens is a 16 elements in 15
groups, with one element being made from ED glass. ED glass is usually
being used in telescopes and long focal length lenses: the aim of it is
to minimize chromatic aberrations, making the image appear sharper. All
glass surfaces are multi-coated, increasing light transmission and
contrast and minimizing internal flare.
What is less impressive
are the 5 aperture blades which create a pentagon shape - unfortunately
it also appears to be slightly wonky. Highly unlikely that you will
notice it as this is not a camera you will use if you are a bokeh
connoisseur.
When you compare this lens with the equivalent
lenses of other major manufacturers of that time, you will notice that
the Olympus IS-1000 had a lens on a par with their offers. Nikon had
the 35-135mm 1:3.5-4.5 Ai-s (15 elements in 14 groups), Canon had the
EF35-135mm f/4-5.6 USM (14 elements in 12 groups) and Pentax had the SMC
Pentax FA 35-135 f3.4-4.5 (16 elements in 12 groups). In terms of
specifications and performance, the lens on the IS-1000 is just as good -
Olympus did put a good quality glass into it.
The Autofocus
This is the area where the Olympus IS-1000 is
struggling the most. Once you switch the camera on and compose, pressing
the shutter button half way through activates the AF. In good light and
in cases that the AF has to make small adjustments to the focusing
distance, you will be pleased with its performance. No, it is not the
fastest but it is sufficient. It also makes a slight noise which I don't
consider to be distracting.
The first issue you will come
across is when you try to focus from the closest distance to the
furthest (i.e when it cannot find focus) - it requires a ridiculous
amount of time. Then another issue is trying to focus on a subject with
horizontal lines on its pattern; it will give up quite quickly. As with
all early AF systems with no cross-type sensors , horizontal lines are
their worst nightmare. You need to tilt the camera slightly to help the
camera find focus.
The last - and possibly worse - issue with the
AF is the contrast. The AF sensor is sensitive down to +3EV which even
by 1990s standard was not sensitive enough. Just as an example, Nikon's
second sensor introduced in 1987 (AM200) was -1 EV sensitive; that is 3
times more sensitive. Add the f/4.5-f/5.6 lens to that and you can
easily understand that the picture becomes dim pretty fast for the
IS-1000.
So unless the light is abundant, the AF is struggling.
There is the IR focusing aid that does a relatively good job when light
gets too low but if you are used to modern cameras or AF SLRs from the
mid/late 90s, you will be disappointed.
The light meter
The
Olympus IS-1000 is well equipped in the light metering department. The
IS-1000 comes packed with a matrix metering system (called "ESP"),
centre weighted and spot. The ESP is basically a glorified centre
weighted meter but rather than centre and edges contributing in a
constant rate (i.e 60/40), judging by the contrast it can contribute
anything from 50/50 to 90/10.
But of course, being a genuine
Olympus, things need to be done in an awkward way. You cannot choose
between ESP or centre weighted: ESP is available at programme mode only
and manual and aperture priority come with centre weighted. Thankfully
pressing the spot button overrides the selected metering system.
What
I think is a serious omission is a exposure lock button. Yes, you have
spot metering but I find exposure lock much easier to use.
Other bits and pieces
In
line with what manufacturers thought that users needed back in the
early 1990s, the IS-1000 offers a few programmes like portrait, double
exposure and night mode that no one really cares about. You might think
that macro mode is more useful but it's not: you need to be at least
half a meter away (actually 60cm) before the camera manages to focus. It
even has a zoom mode which is more rediculous that it sounds. On the
other hand, the intergrated flash is quite powerful and useful for fill
in flash photography.
If the AF finds it difficult to lock
focus, you can focus manually via the power focus mode. Also you can set
a custom focal length for the lens to rest when you switch the camera
on (instead of the usual 35mm). There is also a very useful exposure
compensation of (-/+)4 stops - this is extra useful considering that
this is a DX only camera. Finally, in the very unlikely case where you
have messed up with the very few settings on-board, you can press
simultaneously the "Mode" and "+/-" buttons and the camera will reset.
One
thing that gives away the P&S nature of this camera is the fact
that the programme is not shiftable - what you see is what you get. If
you want to be able to shift exposure, you need to switch to aperture
priority or manual.
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| The lens turned out an excellent preformer |
Using the Olympus IS-1000
Using the Olympus IS-1000 wasn't exactly trouble free. Loading the camera with film can feel a bit fiddly - the weight distribution makes it awkward to hold and load it. The film canister also has the tendency to jump out of its position. I went out and about shooting a couple of rolls of APX100. I stayed with the wider end of the focal length due to risk of camera shake and the results left me feeling very pleased. I took pictures in good daylight so I had no issues with the AF performance either.
There is no denying that the lens on this camera is very good. Resolution on both centre and edge of frame for the wide and tele-end are very good wide open (see pictures) and they only get better once stopped down a stop or so.
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| Crop of the above picture |
The ESP gave a mixed performance. Overall it has given me pictures well exposed - some quite impressive with backlight. But in others, seemingly uncomplicated scenes with flat light, I see an under-exposure of about 1/2 to 2/3 of a stop. This is mostly noticeable in the blacked out shadows.
The spot button is excellent, well placed and easy to activate - in conjunction with the exposure compensation you can basically deal with any light situation available.
Flare is also well controlled - that is, well controlled for a lens containing 16 elements. I need to source a 35mm hood since the one I have for my nikkor doesn't fit.
In terms of noise and vibrations, I would say the Olympus IS-1000 is reasonably silent and vibrations from the mirror are well dumped. The noise of the advance motor is a bit on the loud side but overall it doesn't seem to bother too much. But of course it is not to be confused with some quiet SLRs out there like the EOS5 or the Nikon F70.
On reflection, using 100 iso film was not the best idea. With plenty of sunshine you can get 1/500 and f/5.6 (or equivalent) but with anything less favourable the f/4.5-5.6 lens almost prohibits the use of the tele-end due to risk of camera shake. Indeed for an afternoon shot it gave me f/4.5 and 1/60 which mean you can only shoot at the 35-50mm range. I would say a 400 iso film is more suitable for this camera.
Overall I am very happy with the quality of the pictures I got from it. I think they are better than any p&s camera I ever used and of course the secret is in the lens.
Summary
When it comes to trailblazing cameras and classics, I think we can safely split most of them into two categories.
The first one are those important cameras that set a trade and became classics but at the same time remained relevant to future photographers despite becoming obsolete. Olympus had many cameras in this category - the Olympus OM-1 or the Pen. Think of the 1950s Rolleiflex and Hasselblad or the Nikon F. All these cameras are still loved and used and in a way create the same emotional stir as when they first came out.
There is also another category. The category of cameras that were very innovative when they came out, set a trend but became out-dated, obsolete and eventually forgotten. These cameras serve today as a curiosity of the past, showing all the teething problems of a technology that eventually became better and better. They don't represent the pinnacle of evolution of a camera but rather the beginnings. This is the category I place the IS-1000 in.
It is true that it takes good pictures but it is not trouble free. Any camera from the early 90s will probably do the same and much easier. I am pretty sure that Olympus engineers wanted to bridge the good parts of two different worlds (ie compacts and SLRs) but today, it is so out-dated that really it serves as a camera for the person who suffers from some sort of 1980s-90s nolstagia and likes making their film photographic life unnecessarily complicated. Eventually they will be rewarded with good pictures though.
I think a more interesting question is: "What are the alternatives?". There are very few P&S compacts that will perform as well. I think the only real competition comes from small SLRs of the later 90s (I.e. Nikon F65, Minolta Dynax 5 etc) which are cheap as chips and very good performers.
Recommended for those people interested in oddball cameras but don't pay much for it.
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