Plastic components on/in the OM1?

[andy m.]

Okay, maybe a stupid question, but could anyone possibly let me know

whether Olympus made use of plastic in the construction of the OM1?

I am thinking there about the film spool inside the film chamber etc.

 

I am considering obtaining one of these great cameras, and am

becoming averse to the use of plastic in cameras.

[ray_wilson1]

Andy,

 

Yes, the take up spool is plastic. But the OM series is most known for cracked or broken flash shoes. I have one camera that has very little plastic: Leica M7. But you could buy dozens of OM-1s' off eBay for what it cost.

 

Ray

[kieran_hamill]

I don't have it with me, but I think the take-up spool probably is plastic. I wouldnt let that put you off an OM1(N) though. The only bit of plastic which is a problem on the early OM's are the rather lightweight hotshoes, which tend to crack with age or when overtightened. You dont need one anyway. Otherwise these cameras are superbly engineered and are wonderful to hold. I seldom use mine now for other than long night exposures, but I suspect in years to come they will be adding sound chips to silent digital cameras to mimic the OM1 whirr-crump. It works like clockwork everytime. Because it's clockwork, silly!

[neild]

If you refer to a preference away from the overly plastic construction of modern cameras, fear not. The OM-1 (and it's contemporary the OM-2) are very well-built cameras, made before the 'plastic revolution' as it were...

<p>

As noted, the detachable hot-shoe is their weakest design feature: these things seem always to crack! But the camera itself is very sturdy. Yes, the take-up spool is plastic, but I've never had a problem, nor have I ever heard of a problem, with it.

[richard_oleson]

I don't think there's been a camera made since 1950 that had no plastic in it: the eyepiece frame on the Leica IIIF, for instance, is plastic.

 

On the OM1, the takeup spool, the tip of the wind lever, the viewfinder eyepiece frame and the film sprocket are all plastic. Early models had a painted metal on/off switch, in later ones this had a plastic handle. I believe the same is true for the self timer lever, and the round bezel behind the self timer is plastic as well.

 

Early OM1s used a plastic screw to hold the battery terminal in the battery box; due to breakage problems, this was later changed to a smaller metal screw with a plastic collar to insulate it. That screw is the only plastic part, aside from the irritating cracking of the flash shoes, that I'm aware of ever causing objections in the OM1. I don't know at what serial number the change was made from the plastic battery terminal screw, but it's an easy enough thing to fix if it breaks.

 

rick :)=

[george_shihanian]

"but I suspect in years to come they will be adding sound chips to silent digital cameras to mimic the OM1 whirr-crump. It works like clockwork everytime. Because it's clockwork, silly!"

 

They've done it already! My Olympus E-10, which is about 3 years old technology, has a selector to choose 1 of 2 shutter sounds. You can also adjust its volume, or turn off this feature completely. I like it. It gives me some feedback that I actually took a photo!

George

[andy m.]

Many thanks to all of you for the answers.