Black OM-1 about to go stateside.

[Keith]

i loved both the 100 and the oly 85, great lenses and small too.

I came very close to snapping up your OM gear when you sold it all a while ago Joe ... I wish I had in some ways, it was a fabulous kit with some great lens choices but the freight would have been a killer to OZ! 🙂

 

[Keith]

One of the things that has always given my OM-1 preference over my OM-2 was the viewfinder ... the OM-2 always seemed a bit dim and dirty compared to the OM-1 and I figured the prism was probably the culprit ... not so! The other night I salvaged the screen out of a somewhat trashed OM I found at the local dump a while ago ... popped it in my OM-2 and voila, perfect! The screen out of the OM-2 didn't look that that bad but the difference is amazing!

 

[ChrisN]

Good point Keith - My OM1 and one of the OM2s have both got prism rot, and that makes them less fun to use. I read once that the prism from the OM10 can be swapped in - can anyone confirm?

 

[HuubL]

Good point Keith - My OM1 and one of the OM2s have both got prism rot, and that makes them less fun to use. I read once that the prism from the OM10 can be swapped in - can anyone confirm?

What is prism rot? Do you mean the little microprisms in the screen? The screens are plastic, aren't they? Plastic supposedly doesn't deteriorate...

 

[ruben]

It is remarkable how these OM love threads can go on and on and repeat themselves. For the record I must declare that the OM system remains my main one. I wonder if above all this cult flows from the compactness concept. Not that compactness is the only good thing here, but I still wonder if we were still here driving our boats to the OM syrens had they been the same but not compact as they are.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[ChrisN]

Sorry - I was referring to coating damage to the reflective coating on the prism, caused by the foam padding deteriorating (over the top of the prism, under the top cover). This is unfortunately fairly common in the OM1 and earlier OM2. There's a short description on John Hermanson's site (at http://www.zuiko.com/index_028.htm)

 

[Igor.Burshteyn]

Keith,
You encourage me 🙂 I have 50mm f2 macro, 18mm and 16mm OM lenses that would benefit from CLA/restoration work. My OM1 would love cleaning/prism replacement, as well.

 

[John Hermanson]

Another big improvement (though it does affect manual meter needle position) is adding an Olympus 2-4 or 2-13 screen. For proper fit, you have to clip off half of the screen tab (Olympus attempt to prevent you from using it in an OM-1 or 2). Screens are 2/3rds of a stop brighter than the plain screens and with certain lenses really make the focus point -pop-. Some people also report focus problems with certain lenses. John

 

[carlb]

Using an OM 10 prism on an OM 1

Using an OM 10 prism on an OM 1

Good point Keith - My OM1 and one of the OM2s have both got prism rot, and that makes them less fun to use. I read once that the prism from the OM10 can be swapped in - can anyone confirm?

This is correct

 

[Doug]

Using an OM 10 prism on an OM 1

Using an OM 10 prism on an OM 1

This is correct

Surprising; isn't the OM 10 the model made for Olympus by Cosina?

 

[sevres_babylone]

isn't the OM 10 the model made for Olympus by Cosina?

No, I think you are thinking of the OM-2000.

 

[carlb]

Surprising; isn't the OM 10 the model made for Olympus by Cosina?

There are some old threads about this somewhere on the net, you should be able to find them with a little bit of googling. I remember that one is on photonet and John has posted a reply in the thread that lists which prisms from lower-level Oly's will fit the OM 1.

I bought a pristine prism from an OM 10 for $10 and had it swapped into my OM 1