OM 1-the ultimate beauty?

In the early 90s I was given an OM4. Dark, sinister and a devourer of batteries. Like a model girlfriend,high maintenance! We've been together, on and off ever since. Then her older sister arrived on the scene 4years ago. Silver haired OM1n was a breath of fresh air. After a prism clean and a MR-9 battery conversion she is strutting her stuff. Tall, shiny and her dials standing proudly erect, a lightweight beauty that fits your hand like memory foam and always delivers. I'm torn between sisters.

OMD EM5 Mark II, (what a name!), comes close in the digital world.

You sound as if you are planning to make love to it.

Never got on with the OM4Ti, lord knows I tried. Intellectually I understood its superior features and functionally. Viscerally it annoyed the crap out of me that it didn't quite look like the OM1/)OM2, and their beautifully damped shutter/mirror action had been sacrificed to obtain many new features. A brief fling with trailer-park cousin OM-2S was also messy and ended in tears.

 

In your terms, I dumped the hot model long ago and begged her older sister to take me back. ;)

 

My remaining OM system is centered on the timelessly beautiful, classic, quiet OM-1n. Sporadically searching for a nice OM2n to keep it company, perhaps in black to complement the silver OM-1n.

Dennis Stock used Olympus OM cameras extensively. Take a look at Provence Memories or New England Memories. Beautiful work on Kodachrome 64 with Olympus OM Cameras. He used different lenses but he favored the little 28-50mm 4.0 zoom. Good documentation of the camera, lens and film used for the pics in the back of the books. My favorite OM lens was the 24mm 2.8 which I think was one of the best lenses Olympus produced. Unfortunately I was seduced away from Olympus by the Leica R series and never looked back. Big mistake since the Olympus OM cameras and lenses were wonderful and really complimented my Leica M Cameras in so many ways. Small, felt good in the hand and the viewfinders were fantastic.

I heard about the OM-4 eating batteries problem but not all of the OM-4 do that right? With normal use the batteries should last 6 months or a year. I would love an OM-4 but they are too expensive now.

Pentax ME Super.

The girl sunbathing in the neighbor’s yard......

 

I'm still in love with my OM-1, although I haven't used it for several years. Finding reliable film processing just got to be too much of a challenge. But now, I'm thinking, I may give it another shot (pun intended).

I heard about the OM-4 eating batteries problem but not all of the OM-4 do that right? With normal use the batteries should last 6 months or a year. I would love an OM-4 but they are too expensive now.

 

All the OM4 variations are harder on batteries than, say, a Nikon FE2. But the really bad examples are mostly from the first batch of the original OM4 (some of which could kill a pair of batteries alarmingly fast). Olympus caught the defect and updated the circuit board during production, and a good number of "bad" cameras had their circuit boards replaced when sent in for servicing. An OM4 with updated board will typically give you about six months off a set of new batteries. All of the OM4Ti versions had the updated circuit.

 

In all cases, the cameras will run longer off silver oxide batteries. Updated bodies will burn thru alkalines faster, while the early "bad" OM4 can drain alkalines within a day or two if you aren't careful. The source of battery drain is OM4's default (and convenient) "always ready to shoot" standby mode: you can extend battery life if you disable standby mode by storing the camera with the shutter set to one of the manual mechanical backup speeds (B or 1/60th).

You sound as if you are planning to make love to it.

 

There may be some cameras where the incompatibilities are regretted. I think the Olympus OM series comes close,

 

It's important for public decency not to twist the lens focus back and forth too vigorously in public. :rolleyes:

Gotta mind the shudder release.....

So I agree the OMD5II is an amazing. Love my OM1n and OM2n but!! My Minolta XD gets my first phone call when I want a date. So beautiful.

. . . a lightweight beauty that fits your hand like memory foam and always delivers.

That's how I feel about my EM1 MarkII. Buttons on the new MarkIII just don't work as smoothly.

In the early 90s I was given an OM4. Dark, sinister and a devourer of batteries. Like a model girlfriend,high maintenance! We've been together, on and off ever since. Then her older sister arrived on the scene 4years ago. Silver haired OM1n was a breath of fresh air. After a prism clean and a MR-9 battery conversion she is strutting her stuff. Tall, shiny and her dials standing proudly erect, a lightweight beauty that fits your hand like memory foam and always delivers. I'm torn between sisters.

The OM-1 is going for about $150 on eBay. $200 if it's in Very good to Mint condition. Meanwhile the OM-4ti is going for about $350. I guess that Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Dennis Stock used Olympus OM cameras extensively. Take a look at Provence Memories or New England Memories. Beautiful work on Kodachrome 64 with Olympus OM Cameras. He used different lenses but he favored the little 28-50mm 4.0 zoom. Good documentation of the camera, lens and film used for the pics in the back of the books. My favorite OM lens was the 24mm 2.8 which I think was one of the best lenses Olympus produced. Unfortunately I was seduced away from Olympus by the Leica R series and never looked back. Big mistake since the Olympus OM cameras and lenses were wonderful and really complimented my Leica M Cameras in so many ways. Small, felt good in the hand and the viewfinders were fantastic.

It's almost as if the OM-1 was the SLR Leica should have made. Legendary Olympus designer Yoshihisa Maitani started with a IIIf himself, and his goal with the OM-1 was to create a camera with the size and quality of a Leica but the versatility of an SLR:

 

the Semi-Olympus I - the Pen Series | Special Lecture | Cameras | History of Olympus Products | Technology | Olympus

the Olympus OM-1 - the XA Series | Special Lecture | Cameras | History of Olympus Products | Technology | Olympus

I love my OM1. All mechanical shutter, excellent lenses, and fits my hand like a breast. What's not to like?

I should use my OM-1 more often. Besides light weight and easy handling, I like the bright and contrasty focusing screen.

Two sexy sisters!? They may not mind if you took them both out at the same time. Try it and see if you prefer one over the other.

I have worked professionally with the OM-1 since 1978 and with the OM-4Ti from when it replaced the OM-4. During the first years I used the 50/1.8 and a 35/2, but in the mid-eighties I settled on the 40/2 lenses. I am a one lens guy and found the 40mm perfect, in particular because of the b/w prints I get from it. My prints go up to 50x60cm (20x24in.)

I use the OM-4Ti with 125asa and the OM-1 with 400asa and both with the 40mm.

 

One of the best things of the OM-4Ti is the Grip 1, which changes holding the camera in a beautiful way. About 15 years ago I held that Grip 1 to my OM-1 and realized it would fit. I asked the opinion of an old friend who was a Leitz repairman, his response was: "may I?". In about 10 minutes he drilled the hole in the right place, gave it a screw thread, made it so it wouldn't leak light, glewed the leather back in place, etc. It looks and feels factory made.

 

The only thing about the 40mm I was not happy with is the very small front ring of the lens, which operates the aperture. I use 49-52 metal step-up rings made by Pentax which make using the aperture ring totally easy. Some different brand step-up rings don't work.

 

Attached a picture that explains the Grip 1 on the OM-1 and the step-up ring on the 40mm

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by m._hilo

I should use my OM-1 more often. Besides light weight and easy handling, I like the bright and contrasty focusing screen.

 

You've sold me, I need to find me an OM-1. Light weight, easy handling, manual, and Olympus. I will hunt one down. A camera which will suit my needs well. Thanks, Mike.

Back in the late 70's I thought highly of the OM but because I went with Nikon F2 I didn't have an OM. Later on I have an OM-2n and I don't think the OM are all that good.

I've had a Nikon F2 and an OM-2n for many years, with comparable prime lenses for both. I've made lots of wonderful pictures with both systems.

 

The OM-2n, besides being smaller/lighter and easier to carry, has the best light meter I've ever used: its Auto mode is always dead-on. My only complaint with the OM-2n is that I've had to send it to Camtech twice in 15 years for a stuck advance/shutter (and that's with just light occasional use, I've never been a big film burner). Whereas the F2, which my pro parents bought in the 1970s, has never required service. Both are great cameras... but not surprisingly, the built-like-a-tank Nikon is tougher.

 

I picked up an OM-1 at a flea market yesterday. They were asking $100, and with no guarantee about the meter working, I passed it by. But getting back to the original subject of this post... What a beautiful piece of machinery!

I just pulled my OM-1N out of the cupboard after having put it away several years ago, I think but don’t remember for sure the shutter was starting to hang up, but also I felt I couldn’t use it because there are no diopter correction lenses for the viewfinder.

 

Yesterday I realized I could use it with my glasses on, but also without my glasses because I can line up the split image accurately even with the overall view being a little blurry. Firing the shutter about 10o times, it stuck maybe 4 times, at 1/125th and a few times at slow speeds.So far though it hasn’t hung up at 1/500 or 1/1000, which is almost always what I shoot at anyway.

 

There aren’t many OM-1N cameras on eBay in good working order. It seems to be a camera that has broken down and can’t be fixed, for lack of parts, as John H mentioned back in 2007 (on this thread or another). Unfortunate because it’s a great camera that uses fantastic Zuiko lenses.

Edited September 22, 2022 by ray .

 

Not sure where you live, but a quick search showed several facilities which still repair Olympus cameras in the Chicago area. Fortunately my OM-1n ans 2n aren't in need of repairs at this time. I've been using an old Canon Diopter on mine...a tight fit, but it works for me.

Thank SCL.

 

John Hermanson’s website was last updated 5 years ago and his last post on photonet was 2019. Does anyone know what happened to him?

I just emailed him.