OM1 Viewfinder gunge

[jesse1dog]

I knew my pristine OM1 needed new seals so ordered a pack from Jon Goodman. When I got the camera out to do a check through I now see that I have gunge in the viewfinder. It seems that some of the rotten seal has got onto the prism. 'Experts' tell me that this is almost impossible to clean off without destroying the surface and that the answer is a replacement prism.
This makes a certain sense.
But is this correct?

Doesn't sound a job for a ham fisted bloke like me either.
I know it can't be difficult because it can be done!
What's the general feeling?

 

[clintock]

I have about six om bodies where the foam has eaten the prism mirror coating.
There is a picture festooned step by step on the internet somewhere showing how to get at the innards and at least stop the progession of the damage. Somewhere I also have located a formula for making the solution to put silver onto glass, like old mirrors have. My hope is I can get the time someday soon to batch all my damaged prisms and re-silver the un-silvered spots (I'm fully aware that the original mirror deposit is most likely aluminum, but doing this with aluminum requires a vacuum chamber, while the silver method only a pan, solution and some wax).
The race is on to see if I actually ever get around to this before I go blind or stop pumping blood.
The best way I've heard is to scrounge for broken omPC and OM10 bodies and do a prism transplant, but those seem to be drying up with the newfound popularity of the om1,2,3 ...

 

[Xmas]

You will only lose the bottom of the finders image, but unless you have been tardy it wont have got to the image 24x36 image area yet, it will distract but wont alter your shots.

Do it now, or post it off now.

Noel

 

[clintock]

Here's the page/site whatever with the howto-
http://olympus.dementia.org/Hardware/tutorials/OM-1CoverRemoval/index.html

 

[Trius]

It's a known problem with the original OM-1 (corrected in later versions) ... often people replace the prism with one from an OM-10, since if an OM-10 needs major repairs, it's not worth the expense.

 

[jesse1dog]

I am constantly amazed at the depth of knowledge of members and the readiness to give advice. I seem to remember that the sign of an educated person is not what they know but that they know where to go for answers and information.
Thanks Clintock.
The OM pages you directed me to are quite staggering in detail and clarity.
Whether I have the dexterity, ability and cofidence to tackle that prism cleaning I'm not sure but I will print out the pages for reference.

 

[John Bragg]

I notice that the camera illustrated in the how to pages , is in fact an Olympus M1, and if my memory serves correctly, this was the designated name before a certain other camera company objected. There can not have been many produced with the M1 designation ???

 

[Peter_Jones]

It's a known problem with the original OM-1 (corrected in later versions) ... often people replace the prism with one from an OM-10, since if an OM-10 needs major repairs, it's not worth the expense.

I have a couple of knackered OM10s for that very purpose 🙂

 

[Trius]

The M1 and original OM-1 are the same in terms of construction, so there would be no difference in terms of the work that's illustrated.

But you are right, were not many M-1s distributed. When they show up on ePay they go for some pretty silly money, as do the lenses designed "M System".

The OM pages that Mark Dapoz has, plus all the other contributions from other knowledgeable OM users are, indeed, quite amazing. It's a very good group.