I've been keeping an eye out for a OM-1 for a while after foolishly passing up an opportunity to get one at a good price a couple of years ago. I've had a FTL for some years and was interested to compare the OM-1 to its predecessor. Also Jane Bown used one for many years and I've wondered what it was about them that kept her with them for so long.
Late last month I stopped at a local recycle store which also recovers usable items from a landfill site. The manager, knowing I always have an eye out for film cameras mentioned some had just got to the shop off the tip face where they had been thrown away with some rubbish—did I want to take a look? I looked—and came home with these three cameras and a couple of extra items.
From top: OM-1 & Zuiko 50mm f/1.8; OM-4 & Zuiko 24mm f/2.8; Yashica Campus RF.
The OM-4 is almost mint but was locked up. On getting it home I removed the battery cover, installed a new battery into the pristine, but previously empty battery compartment and it sprang into life. It appears to function perfectly and I've just run a test roll of APX 100 through it. The 24mm had the most superficial layer of fungus behind the filter on its front glass which has cleaned off without any trace of it remaining.
The OM-1 was only slightly more problematic. It had an issue with the shutter release not self returning that I quickly sorted out. I've yet to install a battery into it but expect the meter to work. There's a little deterioration visible in the pentaprism, nowhere near enough to prevent use. I believe I have a parts OM series body in stock, so I'm hoping the prism from that can be a donor.
The 50mm Zuiko lens belonging to the OM-1 had rather more haze and fungus present than the 24mm. I stripped the optics completely. Some haze in the middle glass resisted conventional lens cleaners. Happily, gently swabbing the affected glass with a cotton tip with a trace of acetone removed it completely. It's also been stripped down to have its helicals re-greased. More care than usual was needed to thread a couple of lens mountings into place cleanly without cross-threading but otherwise I found it to be a very easy lens to work on. It's fairly conventional; although, unlike many German lenses I've repaired, the makers name ring is not just decorative, but is also the means of retaining the front filter ring and aperture control ring in position. Here's an image of the front and middle optics awaiting final cleaning and re-installation. The rear optics came out after the pic.
Both OM cameras came with good original ever ready cases and there was also an additional focus screen, small dedicated Olympus flash for the OM-4, and an OM Zuiko 35–105mm zoom.
