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The OM1 MD came in excellent condition; however, testing was essential to observe its performance. It was tested on a sunny spring day with an Olympus Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 Manual Focus Lens with a yellow filter and a Kentmere ISO 100 film pushed to 320. The purpose was to see if the shutter, light meter, and camera components worked adequately. The results were excellent; all worked properly and were well-calibrated. In the grand tradition of the Olympus OM1, this camera provided the best-expected results.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This was one of the best manual cameras ever built, and depending on what you shoot, it's a powerhouse. The weak points of this camera are a fairly slow maximum shutter speed (1/1000 sec.), a weaker shutter than say a Nikon F2, and issues related to replacing the 1.3V mercury cell. Google the battery issues, and you can find all sorts of fixes for the battery problem, the best being the MR-9 step-down adapter. The shutter weaknesses are a result of Olympus using a super fancy shutter, similar in design to the famous Leica. Although slower and weaker than the competing Nikons, the cloth shutter on the OM-1 is very quiet, and more importantly, produces very little vibration, meaning that you can get away with slower shutter speeds when shooting handheld due to reduced "mirror-slap." The only people who ever experience shutter failure are professional photographers who shoot many times more exposures than the average hobbiest, making this camera unpopular with the combat-photography set, but hobbiests and the vast majority of professionals will probably never encounter this problem. With the minor problems out of the way, the OM-1 has a great deal to offer. It's one of the smallest, lightest full system SLR's ever built, making it ideal for backpacking and street photography, and it is surprisingly tough (often considered on par with the tanklike Nikon F2, save the shutter issue for pro's), to which I can attest. I've been hiking with this rig for years in all kinds of goofy places and I've NEVER experiened a mechanical failure. Ever. The lens system is renowned for both its amazing quality and very small size (most zuikos are half the size competators lenses of the same format), and although the selection is narrower than Nikkor or M-42 mount lenses, Zuiko has most of the bases covered, so unless you're looking for something very specific, you should be fine with Zuiko glass. Another point on the lenses, when Olympus was first designing the OM system, they brought in a bunch of optical engineers from Germany (e.g. Zeiss Jena) to design their glass, and not surprisingly, the Zuiko lineup has a decidedly Teutonic flavor, with optical properties more similar to Zeiss than Nikkor. Following their Germanic optical engineering strengths, the Zuiko primes (not zooms) are some of the best in the business, and the fast ones continue to fetch high prices on the used market, as many are superior to modern, new primes. The OM-1 is also considered by many astrophotographers to be the best body in the business, ever, because it has a "mirror-lockup" feature. I have never used this, so I can't speak about it, but if astrophotography is your bag, google it. When you look at a manual camera, you should probably make the call based more on the available lenses than the body itself, but if you like the Zuiko glass, you can rest assured that the OM-1 body will perform, probably beyond your expectations. These are very tough, well designed, and well built cameras, and they are both easy and enjoyable to operate. An example with new seals, foam, and preferably an MR-9 battery adapter should truck along for decades without fuss.Read full review
I bought an OM1n Camera in 1979 new, then had it taken from me later in life . This Camera looks new again . Everything works as it should . Just have to install light seals and b ready to go . Thanks so much , I am elated ! 😬 Kiehl Nelsen
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Very clean, and only a small ding beyond the damage to the lens frame that was mentioned. The only issue with it is the 1 second shutter speed is shorter than the half second, but that's not much of an issue. I'm not going to be taking many low shutter speed photos on an SLR without a tripod anyways. Extremely quick delivery and otherwise in great condition!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The Olympus OM-1n Film Camera is a real classic. The totally mechanical mode of the OM-1n does make it so versatile and reliable. I enjoy using the Sunny 16 Exposure guide again. The metering system of this camera is awesome. It is quite accurate, almost fool proof so to say. But of course, the metering is not perfect. In difficult lighting situations or to produce the proper lighting effect, the photographer is still the best judge. The OM-1n is using the now discontinued Mercury 1.35 volt battery. As a substitute, I am now using some hearing aid batteries which last a good couple of months. I improvised a rubber ring so seat the hearing aid battery properly into the battery well. So far, that is quite a cool arrangement when I want to use the meter of the camera. I am again enjoying that "sense of mystery" that film provides!Read full review
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