Oly OM1/1n or 2/2n?

Chris101 said:
Correction: (Un-modified) OM-1 and 1n use zinc air batteries, as you cannot buy the older mercury cells in the US.
Click to expand...

it is nice to have the OM-1👎's converted though, uses the same batteries as the other OM's then (if you happen to have a couple) and a bunch of other cameras..i find the batteries are easy to find anywhere as well, supermarket or small country general stores, service stations etc, being used for a variety of other small electronic gismo's, or you can pinch one out of someone's calculator if you have too haha
 
mfunnell said:
One thing to think on with the OM-1/1n is how well your wife might like the shutter speed control on the OMs on a manual-only camera. I love my OMs, and have used my OM-20 and OM-4T over many years. But I find the shutter ring a pure PITA, and hate using my (recently acquired and thankfully cheap) OM-1 because of that. Others don't find it a problem, or even like it, but I pretty much use my OMs only in AE (except when on tripod) because of that.

It might not be a problem for your wife, but then again it might be.

...Mike
Click to expand...

Mike, i think if you dont like the shutter ring (on an OM) then its probably not that much of an asset/benefit to choose the OM2 anyway, of course you can just use it on auto, but really, if you dont like it you are never going to like using the camera in manual mode so it denies you that choice, way of working or feature

a pentax mx , just as small,compact, pretty nice looking, has ALL the info in the finder, might be a better choice (for shutter speed on top, mech-manual camera), lenses in K mount are cheap too, also it doesnt need battery conversion or use the zinc Wein cell batteries. for an auto version probably the pentax LX or program A, though the Pentax Program A doesnt look as sleek as an OM, to me they look like a little 'Transformer' Decepticon's 😀

The question of choosing between OM-1's and OM-2's often comes up, although theres clearly nothing wrong with asking the question and lots of people obviously want to know..

its probably just me, but i always think its a little weird because they are different cameras to me, perhaps before deciding on a brand i would of thought people would already have made the decision whether they want an all manual-mech camera; for a variety of reasons e.g. being in control, simplicity (not to be confused with 'easy'), learning/teaching the aspects of photog/lighting etc, student, non reliant on batteries or electronics failing, cold whether benifits etc.

as opposed to the uses and/or benefits of a semi auto electronic camera with the option of working on manual-not that a learner will use the manual functions if it has a setting for auto-let face it-they dont bother. but that may be the only way someone is persuaded to take up an interest in film photography so its still a good choice in that respect
 
I found an OM-1 in perfect condition in my basement, to this day I do not know where it came from but I love it. Best egonomics of any SLR I know. Based on the following link http://www.16-9.net/lens_tests/24mmcup/final/24mm_final1.html I immediately went out and got the 24mm 2.8 lens. It is perhaps my best wide angle lens. Olympus should be less concerned with bring back the Pen and put more effort in bringing back the OM.
 
Prices are so low that you should buy both. It's your wife -- she deserves to try both and make the choice herself.

That said, if she's not a photographer, then she might like using the OM-2 better, because it offers autoexposure. If she's an experienced photographer and wants only manual control, then I would select the OM-1. The OM-2 has the advantage of offering both autoexposure and manual exposure and the drawback of being battery-dependent.
 
chippy said:
Mike, i think if you dont like the shutter ring (on an OM) then its probably not that much of an asset/benefit to choose the OM2 anyway, of course you can just use it on auto, but really, if you dont like it you are never going to like using the camera in manual mode so it denies you that choice, way of working or feature
Click to expand...
Well, for the longest time I used spot and multi-spot metering on my OM-4T as my way of "taking control", and when I use it (which probably isn't often enough) I still do that, as it's second-nature to me by now. However, not that long ago I was caught with a set of dud batteries (the OM-4T can drain batteries pretty easily if you forget to disable things by setting it to "B"ulb) and my backup batteries were dead also (probably way too long in the camera bag). Working from the 1/60th mechanical speed didn't work well at all with the light I had - so I thought to use an OM-1 as a backup (tried it out with a beater I picked up very cheaply). Which is OK, for the purpose, but I wouldn't use the thing by preference because I just plain don't like the shutter control.
chippy said:
a pentax mx , just as small,compact, pretty nice looking, has ALL the info in the finder, might be a better choice (for shutter speed on top, mech-manual camera), lenses in K mount are cheap too, also it doesnt need battery conversion or use the zinc Wein cell batteries. for an auto version probably the pentax LX or program A, though the Pentax Program A doesnt look as sleek as an OM, to me they look like a little 'Transformer' Decepticon's 😀
Click to expand...
Well, I had a similar thought, but went in a different direction. It was a good excuse for GAS: I just got back from picking up a decent user black Nikon FM3a I found for a good price on the 'bay from a guy here in Sydney. I haven't put film through it yet, but it feels nice in the hand and the aperture and shutter controls work pretty much the way I want them to.

...Mike
 
Last edited:
chippy said:
David, all the shoes have that tendency to crack, all pretty much made from exactly the same material (difference is pins/contacts and the direction they screw on) , get one thats good and take of it 😉🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks. My one was cracked and thrown away - it was on a secondhand camera and I seldom use flash. But had the T20 and flash extender with the long sold OM10.

Difficult to remember as I'm going from dozens and dozens on display and used now and then (but mostly dusted) to a half dozen or so that get used properly. Trying to decide is dreadfull...

Regards, David
 
mfunnell said:
Well, for the longest time I used spot and multi-spot metering on my OM-4T as my way of "taking control", and when I use it (which probably isn't often enough) I still do that, as it's second-nature to me by now. However, not that long ago I was caught with a set of dud batteries (the OM-4T can drain batteries pretty easily if you forget to disable things by setting it to "B"ulb) and my backup batteries were dead also (probably way too long in the camera bag). Working from the 1/60th mechanical speed didn't work well at all with the light I had - so I thought to use an OM-1 as a backup (tried it out with a beater I picked up very cheaply). Which is OK, for the purpose, but I wouldn't use the thing by preference because I just plain don't like the shutter control.

Well, I had a similar thought, but went in a different direction. It was a good excuse for GAS: I just got back from picking up a decent user black Nikon FM3a I found for a good price on the 'bay from a guy here in Sydney. I haven't put film through it yet, but it feels nice in the hand and the aperture and shutter controls work pretty much the way I want them to.

...Mike
Click to expand...

David, actually its one of those myths that spread, that setting to 1/60 or B stops the battery drain. you have to remove the batteries if you want to ensure no drain. the 4Ti is improved over the first 4's though in respect to minimising the battery drain. depending on usage though (and cold temps) the batteries can still drain faster than expected i.e. shooting a number of long exposures, using the viewfinder illuminator etc, also generic brand batteries are rumoured to not last long at all.

FM3a is a great choice, enjoy! i think it was only the other day/week before some threads begun with FM3a recently, someone was mentioning that the OM speed dial didnt fit well with them , and i suggested the Fm3a, one of my favs for mech 35mm's, the OM's still have some features that outdo the FM3a but they are generally at the specialised end (long auto exposer times for example) and most users wont have need for them. the hybrid shutter on those is practically like buying both an OM-1 and an OM-2 in the one camera (only other hybrid shutter that comes to mind atm is the pentax LX), not to mention its cheaper than buying both OM1+2, if you take into account reasonable purchase prices, CLA's and postage..at the end you still have a much newer camera so it should last many years, thats not to say if a FM3a was the same age as the OM's it wouldnt need work, and maybe more difficult to fix than an OM1 or probably 2, but most of them just dont or wont have had the same amount of film through them nowadays (being a recent camera naturally) with most people (working for money) using digital to replace the 35mm format-excellent back up camera for them though--if they still care to carry a few rolls of celluloid!

sounds like i am knocking the OM's but i am not, I just have an unbiased view is all, i like them all for their positive attributes. i have the OM-3Ti as well for example, and for it you could buy a few FM3a, OM1 or 2's, or a leica M6 or even MP!...very sweet camera though, arguably the ultimate pure mechanical 35mm slr camera
 
chippy said:
David, actually its one of those myths that spread, that setting to 1/60 or B stops the battery drain. you have to remove the batteries if you want to ensure no drain.
Click to expand...

It's partially true - it doesn't stop the quiescent current drain (very small in the 4Ti so batteries normally last many months). However it does stop the meter switching on if the shutter release is accidentally depressed while the camera's in a case or bag and thereby increasing the drain. I once flattened a set of Mamiya 6 batteries by forgetting to switch the camera off, and then storing something on top of the bag which kept the meter switched on!

Regards
Richard
 
yeah, true Richard, apologies for the oversight, possible thats where the rumours started, that it doesn't drain the batteries at all...
 
Richard Ross said:
It's partially true - it doesn't stop the quiescent current drain (very small in the 4Ti so batteries normally last many months). However it does stop the meter switching on if the shutter release is accidentally depressed while the camera's in a case or bag and thereby increasing the drain.
Click to expand...
Richard, that's exactly the issue I was referring to and which Andrew acknowledged as well.

chippy said:
FM3a is a great choice, enjoy! i think it was only the other day/week before some threads begun with FM3a recently, someone was mentioning that the OM speed dial didnt fit well with them , and i suggested the Fm3a, one of my favs for mech 35mm's,
Click to expand...

Andrew, I think that was me - and I took your advice!

chippy said:
the OM's still have some features that outdo the FM3a but they are generally at the specialised end (long auto exposer times for example) [...]

sounds like i am knocking the OM's but i am not, I just have an unbiased view is all, i like them all for their positive attributes.
Click to expand...

As do I. Nothing is ever going to displace my OM-4T from my affections. Despite its quirks (including infuriating battery drain and that damned shutter ring) I've used it for so many years that I've internalised its operation (aside from full manual). While the OM-1 didn't do it for me, I can already tell that the FM3a will. That's despite the fact that "everything is backwards" from mounting the lens to the aperture ring being behind the focus ring to focus turning the "wrong" way. I can already tell that won't matter to me. (In fact, the only thing I would criticise the FM3a for so far is the nasty fragile-seeming DOF preview lever, which seems too ticky-tacky for an otherwise entirely solid-seeming camera.)

But I can also see why those things might matter to others. As with so many things in photography, taste and "fit" matter - and will differ from person to person.

Where my initial comment came from (which subsequently may have derailed discussion from the OP's question, so I'm working hard to bring back on-topic) was about exactly that: does a quirk of the camera matter to it's intended recipient or not.

If the OP's wife likes or simply doesn't care about the shutter ring on OMs then all is well and good. If she doesn't like the shutter control then perhaps a camera where it doesn't matter (ie. the OM-2/2n/2s/4/4t) might be a better fit than an OM-1/1n/(maybe even) 3t. Or, as in my case, another camera entirely.

...Mike
 
Interesting thoughts all.

I hadn't thought about the shutter ring. I'm not so sure that she'll like it. In fact, I'm not even sure that I've used a camera with one, so I wouldn't be able to compare it in my mind to one with controls on the top.
 
Talking battery drain; the OM1 takes Wein cells or, cheaper, hearing aid ones (with the old washer from the Wein cell for shape) and both are - if I remember correctly - zinc air. So ½ hour to get them up to speed once the sticky cover is removed and then a gradual running down regardless of use.

The sticky things aren't always air tight and so hearing aid ones sometimes last a day or two. But, otho, they are very very cheap.

Regards, David

PS As for the shutter ring - there's far worse and far less logical on digitals...
 
jpa66, its all swings and roundabout, 6 of one and half a dozen of the other--hows that for being definitive!

but really no one can know for sure what camera your wife would get along with better, as Mike said very well 'taste and fit' varies from person to person as do subtle (and not so subtle) difference in features, more particularly if a person has spent time and become accustomed to using a particular camera before.

the speed ring location on OM's gets mentioned quite often by people that have a background with using the older film SLRs, because all the major brands kept their speed dial on the top close to where the gears often are....not really from people coming from using cameras from about canon EOS systems up to the modern digital's in use today, because of course there are already so many other things different already, the speed dial location doesn't always occur to them.

to try and show the other side of the coin, many people like the speed setting on the front, the speed and aperture both click in one step clicks in the same direction as each other so its easy to maintain the same light values just by feel, but change settings without looking at the camera or removing your eye from the finder. these and focus are performed with the left hand while the right is left free to fire the shutter and wind on, your left thumb slides across the top to flick the light meter on or off, its not a fiddly little switch and reminds me of how one automatically flicks the safety on or off on a firearm, it becomes intuitive.

apparently Mr. M that designed the OM's put the ring on the front because it more easily allowed the shutter mechs to be placed down the bottom of the camera, like the early Leica's from which he was said to be inspired by in this way, placing the mechs down the bottom helped the camera to be made compact. it was also believed that it was a better position for the speed settings. I tend to think that some people with large hands or dare i say thick fingers probably are more prone to not liking the dial on the front, its relatively thin and has two (hmm cant think of a better term) lugs that you grip to turn, with big fingers it might be a difficult to grip for some, or even find those two lugs, on the fly, if you are not used to the camera, once you have become used to it, you tend to know where they are without a problem, without looking...one cant really be gender specific here, so just a broad generalization, but i find more often than not females dont have a problem with it at all and quite like it.

at the end of the day, these cameras are used cameras and priced accordingly, you cant go far wrong by purchasing one, giving it a try for month or 10, you can always resell it for about what you paid, for the price of some postage you get to try em. if its a gift you cant go wrong with an OM, they look and feel sexy 😀 😀
 
To answer the original question: I suggest either a 1N or 2N, they both have all the factory improvements that went in during production of the 1 and 2. The OM-2/2N always used silver oxide batteries. Shutter is battery dependent and will only work on B without them. OM-1/1N used mercury cells, long discontinued. Mechanical shutter, no battery required. I suggest MR9 adapter with 386 silver oxide battery in this case or weincell in emergencies. When I do a 1/1N overhaul, I build the MR9 diode into the meter circuit. OM-1 can be up to 36 years old now, 1N up to 28 or so. All 1N have foam pressing against the pentaprism which should be removed to prevent coating damage. Many OM-1 will show prism damage at this point. All 1/1N need new slot foam and mirror bumpers at this point. John
 
Thanks for all the input, everyone. It seems like the OM system has quite a following.

I've decided that I'm not going to get one for my wife, though. Knowing her as well as I do, I'm sure that she'll hate changing the shutter speed via the ring. She'd probably end up not using it at all.

JP
 
jpa66 said:
Thanks for all the input, everyone. It seems like the OM system has quite a following.

I've decided that I'm not going to get one for my wife, though. Knowing her as well as I do, I'm sure that she'll hate changing the shutter speed via the ring. She'd probably end up not using it at all.

JP
Click to expand...
When I switched from Canon to OM as my main slr system (back in the 80s) I hated changing the shutter speed via the ring as well. "What kind of stupid camera puts the controls like that!" I thought.

After a couple days, I wondered why I ever thought it should be on a knob on top in the first place. It quickly becomes intuitive.

Some of the Nikons are the same size as the OM cameras and have the dial on top though. Like the FG (plus it's considerably lighter.)
 
I actually think she'd like the OM-2n. The option of aperture-priority makes whatever tedium the shutter-speed ring might present rather moot.

Better still, you might seek out an OM-2S Program: all that OM-2 goodness, plus the ability to work in Program mode with most any OM lens. (Galfriend has had one for years.)

bonwcam.jpg

She, and the OM-2S.


- Barrett
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom