olympus om10 vs om1

I have an olympus om10 but i've been wondering what the differences are between

the two?

Nine:-)

The OM1 is a fully manual camera, where except the meter everything else is mechanical. Also the OM1 is definitely a more robust built, versus the high content of plastic on the OM10. If I were to chose between the two, I would definitely pick the OM1, but that's just my opinion.

OM10 gives you automatic exposures, however if you find the plug-in adaptor it WILL do manual exposures. These cameras were the consumer line of OM cameras and the ironic thing is that on the used market they are going for almost as much as an OM1. The OM10 also has a degenerative problem with the shutter and eventually the exposures start getting longer and longer. It also has a battery saving feature that the meter turns off after you hanvt shot a pic for several seconds. Sounds great, but the static switch for this tends to go bad and so other the only way to get the meter to display is to turn the camera off and then on again. The OM10 also has many plastic parts in places where there were metal parts on the OM1. The OM1 is a completely mechanical camera, it only needs a battery to run the meter, so the battery lasts a long time. If you are looking for a more professional equivilant to the OM10, look at the OM2, which is an auto-exposure camera. Apparently the OM2n version is more efficient with batteries than the earlier ones. The OM2 and OM1 are almost identical except that the OM2 has an electronically fired shutter and autoexposure.

Cheryl Tiegs ....(the model) sold the OM-10.....I worked in a camera store when her advertisment came out, we could not get the cameras fast enough.....she didn`t use the OM-1 so nobody wanted them any more. They were much......better cameras.

I was just out shooting my OM-1 Today :)

 

Very nice small (but heavy) manual camera. Very elegant design! Designed for mercury cells, I've been feeding mine hearing aid batteries... not the most accurate meter on mine anyway with these batteries... so Sunny-16 outdoors, set the ASA to 320 for 400 and it's close enough for low light.

If you need an automatic, look for an OM2, which has the robust construction of the OM1 plus OTF automatic metering (like the OM10), plus TTL flash which neither the OM1 nor the OM10 has. If you can't afford an OM2, try for an OMG (OM20) - it has the OM10's lightweight construction, definitely not in the OM1/OM2 league, but at least they added manual shutter controls with a working light meter system.

 

The OM1 is the best of them all, the OM10 is the bottom of the lot.

I've had nice luck with the OM-10...both in regular back and databack, but if you want a really interesting one, find an OM-F. Really neat in that it shines a green light when you have your object in focus (pre-auto focus gizmo), and will also make noise if you don't turn this feature off. Another interesting one is the OM-PC. Has DX coding and a way to add +/- to that and some other neat features. Has a nice feel to it, and the shutter seems more quiet than the OM-10.

 

Jon

Hi, Neil I've had three Olympus SLRs over the years, firstly an OM10 then an OM20 and finally an OM1n. OK, maybe four, because I subsequently got an OM1 for parts for the OM1n, but its jammed wind problem got sorted out so I've ended up using it as my second user.

 

I agree with most of the other guys in that the OM1 series are the ones to go for, being a bit heavier but far more robust. Having a totally mechanical shutter means that you're never going to have a battery problem in the middle of nowhere, which can happen with the OM10/20.

 

The worst that can happen with an OM1 is that should the battery fail, you have to guesstimate exposures. If a similar problem occurs with the OM10/20, you are totally stuffed. Worse, you get no advance warning - all that suddenly happens is that your 1/125 sec suddenly hangs more like 4 seconds. The battery status can even still read OK, just to confuse.

 

The OM1/OM1n's metering systems aren't as hi-tech as some SLRs, but I happen to like their plain old fashioned needle readings. Whiz-bang illuminated speed figures or whatever, are just unnecessary IMHO.

The OM-1 is a top-rated professional-level SLR. The OM-10 is loaded with plastic and has a fragile electrical system. Avoid it at all costs. The OM-10 was a disaster for Olympus. Many of the cameras returned under warranty had to be raplaced as they were unrepairable. This is almost unheard of.

I was working in photographic retail when the OM10 was being sold by the barrow-load. I was still in photographic retail a couple of years later when they were still being returned with faults. I second David's post regarding his preference for the OM1 or OM1n.<br>

It has been said that the OM1 was the SLR that Leica should have made.<br>

Steve

I have three OM-10 bodies. One is fine and the other two at least need new foam seals. The oily magnet problem can be fixed although this hasn't happened with any of my OM-10 bodies as far as I know. I also have two Manual Adapters. Of the OM-10 is in good working order it will work every bit as well as an OM-1. I have heard that repairing the meter mechanism on an OM-1 is difficult and that spare parts are no longer available. I wouldn't mind getting an OM-1 just to have an Olympus body with a mechanical shutter. If an OM2000 comes along at the right price I would consider that too. The OM-10 has a bright viewfinder, is very light and doesn't go through batteries too fast.

My own experience with the OM10 has not suggested that it was any worse than competing entry-level automatics from other makers at the time... but the OM1 is in a different class entirely. Given the low prices of really nice 35mm gear today, I would be reluctant to invest in any of the tyro-grade automatics from around 1980, it just doesn't cost that much more to get something better.

Before I knew anything about film SLR (all digital back then), I once hold a decent OM-10 and a beat up OM-1, one shutter click from each, and I knew which one is built better.

 

The seller told me that OM-10 is better because ten is bigger than one :)