OM-4 give away ... if you answer my question correctly.

I'd say it's because the OM-1 is the SLR version of everything the Leica M tries to accomplish. Compact, unobtrusive, reliable, dead simple to operate, and a great selection of lenses. It's got everything you need and absolutely nothing else you don't, and it strives to excel at the few simple things it does. (you just have to look through the massive viewfinder to see that!)

These qualities shared by the Leica M and the OM-1 are not what everyone is looking for in a camera. However, if they are, you really can't find anything better!
 
Answer #1: Because it's the only SLR ever inducted as an honorary rangefinder in a Rangefinder Forum.

Answer #2: Because OM-1 is elegance wrapped in simplicity.

Answer #3: Because today, *everyone* can afford to own one and use it.
 
RFFer Marcr1230 from 2009 when Maitani died:

marcr1230 said:
I love the shutter speed ring around the lens mount. It lets you keep one hand the shutter and use the other for focus, aperture and shutter, all without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. The relatively small size, the system scope and the quality glass make it a go-to film kit.
Click to expand...

yOshihisa Maitani = 1
 
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Well I havent used one but we all know that its small size and simplicity makes it a good competitor to a rangefinder. However nobody mentioned about the possibility to use the legendary OM lenses...So I hope to get the OM4 and one of those lenses with this answer 😛
 
The OM1 is legendary because not only does it packs all the goodness of other cameras of its day into a small package, it does so with class and a timeless design.

I picked up one recently in pretty borderline ugly condition and it's still a brilliant camera to hold. I also own a OM2n in much better condition. I would go as far as to say that the entire OM line is beautiful. It also set the pace for other SLRs, including the Pentax ME, which came five years after the OM-1.

People often say things are the "Leica of X" and in the case of the OM-1, I think it pretty much earns that designation.
 
Because it has all the qualities of the M system (acknowledged by many here to be the 'best') - small size, discreet operation, great build and lenses, without the troublesome and unreliable rangefinder that has crippled that system for so many years. ;-)
 
Enumerating the benefits of the OM1 can get tedious, and starts to sound like an advertisement from the 1980s. An OM4 sounds nice, but would mean time away from shooting my OM1. So just give your camera to Lynnb, his reason rocks!
 
Because I sold mine years ago in favor of Nikon, but still have a Olympus Auto-S 50mm f1.8 "Made in Japan" sitting on my desk & it needs a home.
 
Because my OM-1 is held together by duct tape and elastic bands, but it still works better... and I like it better than the Nikon F, FTN, and FM I used to own.

9518581210_c4e98649db_o.jpg
 
I've never own an Olympus OM-anything, nor really remember looking through a nice clean viewfinder with a bright lens...but I was given a non-working OM-2 Spot/Program that had seen water (a lot)...
I have the glass prism from that camera and it's very impressive, clean and bright...
So my long winded answer is it has a very bright viewfinder...

Send a PM for my mailing address...thanks...
 
Here is what I like to say at RFF meets:

1 - because it was the first compact SLR.
2 - because it's the ideal M2 companion.

However, the simple truth is:

3 - because I can use it when I'm drunk.
4 - and because it's a chick magnet.

Roland.
 
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