Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
When all the other OM's are dead and buried due to lack of replacement parts the OM-1 should be the final survivor methinks ... it's the M3 of the OM range due to it's utter simplicity and should be repairable well into the future.
kshapero
South Florida Man
I remember them. They were weird and very plastic. Real losers.what are these ?
sparrow6224
Well-known
Chris has had the OM4T since he was 18 and keep in mind, he's 87 now. Helluva camera.
Meanwhile I walked to my bag and pulled out my OM 3 which I have not used in a long while but intend to use next week and the battery was fine and the meter all good. I disagree that the highlight/shadow/spot metering system isn't suitable for manual use -- I find it gives me the kind of flexibility and information a really good hand held meter would give me; I can expose accordingly; indeed I can (somewhat) use the zone system, moving my medium gray up and down to account for highlights and shadows.
And none of this gets at the lenses -- which are simply spectacular in my experience. My OM 35mm f/2 is the best SLR 35mm lens I've ever used.
That said, I do agree if that you don't want that level of metering you are best off with a 1n or 2n. It was the metering that attracted me in the first place, and I found little joy in the 4T's automation -- I'm getting more and more allergic to that level of half automation (Aperture priority AE). Give me the whole bit (auto focus, auto exposure, etc, as with an F100 Nikon or a DSLR) or leave me be to figure it out myself. The in-between cameras have started to confuse me. Call it old age. So I sold the 4T and kept the OM3.
These are super well made professional cameras used by many pros in the late 70s early 80s before AF came in and you shouldn't -- as most of us have not -- encounter any reliability issues.
Meanwhile I walked to my bag and pulled out my OM 3 which I have not used in a long while but intend to use next week and the battery was fine and the meter all good. I disagree that the highlight/shadow/spot metering system isn't suitable for manual use -- I find it gives me the kind of flexibility and information a really good hand held meter would give me; I can expose accordingly; indeed I can (somewhat) use the zone system, moving my medium gray up and down to account for highlights and shadows.
And none of this gets at the lenses -- which are simply spectacular in my experience. My OM 35mm f/2 is the best SLR 35mm lens I've ever used.
That said, I do agree if that you don't want that level of metering you are best off with a 1n or 2n. It was the metering that attracted me in the first place, and I found little joy in the 4T's automation -- I'm getting more and more allergic to that level of half automation (Aperture priority AE). Give me the whole bit (auto focus, auto exposure, etc, as with an F100 Nikon or a DSLR) or leave me be to figure it out myself. The in-between cameras have started to confuse me. Call it old age. So I sold the 4T and kept the OM3.
These are super well made professional cameras used by many pros in the late 70s early 80s before AF came in and you shouldn't -- as most of us have not -- encounter any reliability issues.
gavinlg
Veteran
I don't think I'd call the OM line unreliable either. I've had 3 or 4 and all have worked perfectly despite them being unserviced and completely beat up. They're my fave japanese SLR by far.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
LOLOLOLOL! Well I am trying to be less of a grumpy old man, but sometimes my inner 87 yr old comes out.
I agree with all this ^^^^ I use the 4T just because I couldn't afford OM-3 bodies when I got my 4t bodies, they go for a premium (especially the 3Ti!) because of collector interest....but I never use mine in auto mode. Manual mode works just like the OM-3 but without the cool mechanical shutter sounds. Love the spot meter system. <3
Freakscene
Obscure member
Eventually everything breaks. The most susceptible elements are the electronics. In an OM3/ti without the electronics you have a very nice meterless mechanical SLR. I'd say that's pretty sustainable, probably as long as you can get 35mm film.
The mechanical link between the shutterspeed dial and the internal mechanism that actually changed the shutterspeeds - a plastic cog - kept slipping in my OM3ti - so I sold it, and all my OM lenses, for a ridiculously huge price. Got my first Leica with that money. This is not statistically significant, and almost everything I own seems to break, so maybe I'm just very, very good at breaking things. To illustrate breakages, my Leica R story is here:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1606381&postcount=41
Marty
The mechanical link between the shutterspeed dial and the internal mechanism that actually changed the shutterspeeds - a plastic cog - kept slipping in my OM3ti - so I sold it, and all my OM lenses, for a ridiculously huge price. Got my first Leica with that money. This is not statistically significant, and almost everything I own seems to break, so maybe I'm just very, very good at breaking things. To illustrate breakages, my Leica R story is here:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1606381&postcount=41
Marty
Ade-oh
Well-known
It isn't 'unsuitable' but I always found it too fiddly, and thus it got in the way of my quest to capture all those decisive moments which flit past
. I'm sure that if one adopted a more deliberate approach to photography than I have, it would be entirely suitable.On a general point, the internet seems to be knee deep in suggestions that this camera or that camera is unreliable, or that this lens or that lens is soft, or whatever. Very few of them seem to be true: I've owned various different brands of camera over the years and none of them have ever gone seriously wrong, mostly, I suspect, because I'm moderately careful with them. As for lenses, my experience is that most modern lenses are sharp enough for my purposes. I owned a few crappy zooms in the 80s but those days are long gone.
Lilserenity
Well-known
Well up to now my OM2ns have been really reliable, bit of a glitch on one of them at the moment, hoping to find out how its repair is going, but bear in mind this is an OM that has been dropped on to hard tiled floors (3' in McDonalds once), tarmac (2' off the ground in a football stadium) and paving slabs (4' or so drop...) and still worked until I noticed intermittent banding on frames, I'd say they're pretty damn tough.
Every camera has problems, I used to have an EOS 5 (not D) and the mode dial went on that, the EOS 3 I had would suffer mirror lock up on some lenses or have errors (admittedly these were 3rd party lenses, but it was a shame as the Sigma 24mm was a good lens.) My Autocord has had a jammed aperture and so forth. On the whole I have found my OMs to be the most consistent performers.
That said, it sounds like the money would be better spent on an OM1 or OM4Ti, because at least with the latter you do have AE and a mechanical 1/60th speed if all else fails, and if you're willing to trust electronics, the OM2/2n are fab, and I really mean that.
Every camera has problems, I used to have an EOS 5 (not D) and the mode dial went on that, the EOS 3 I had would suffer mirror lock up on some lenses or have errors (admittedly these were 3rd party lenses, but it was a shame as the Sigma 24mm was a good lens.) My Autocord has had a jammed aperture and so forth. On the whole I have found my OMs to be the most consistent performers.
That said, it sounds like the money would be better spent on an OM1 or OM4Ti, because at least with the latter you do have AE and a mechanical 1/60th speed if all else fails, and if you're willing to trust electronics, the OM2/2n are fab, and I really mean that.
John Hermanson
Well-known
If an OM-3/3Ti is in full working order, buy it and enjoy it. If it hasn't been dunked, dropped, tampered, you should have years of fun with it. Service after the fact if not done properly can cause years of ongoing problems, and some may blame the manufacturer, then the entire line. A shop that's not trained might say "bad circuit, (insert brand here) is known for that".
OM-10 is no camera to judge the OM system by. Plastic top and bottom, plastic shutter curtain shafts. Came out at the same time as all plastic Canon AV-1 and metal but crappy Nikon EM . OM-2N, 4Ti, 3Ti gorgeous and very reliable.
OM-10 is no camera to judge the OM system by. Plastic top and bottom, plastic shutter curtain shafts. Came out at the same time as all plastic Canon AV-1 and metal but crappy Nikon EM . OM-2N, 4Ti, 3Ti gorgeous and very reliable.
FTography
Contains Sarcasm
Metering multiple spots you can go even further as you can meter for black, meter for white, and several gray tones in between. That allows you to control very well, how the tones and zones are represented in the shot.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Side grip, 2-13 focusing screen, took the battery out whenever I'm done shooting.
5 years with me, many rolls, zero hiccups.
It may visit John H. eventually, but I'm not worried about it.
John Hermanson
Well-known
I have a 2-13 screen in my original OM-2. Used in conjunction with the 50mm f2 Macro, focus really pops. I love it. John