Old School Film SLR Choices
Over the last few days I’ve been in a frantic shopping spree mood. I’m looking for a small SLR for general use. It has to be light and mostly, if not all, mechanical.
I started my search with the iconic Olympus OM-1. The placement of the shutter speed selection is a part of the lens mount so you are always only a movement away from aperture and shutter settings. The only problem I had with this camera is the lack of viewfinder indicators of shutter and aperture but it is reputed as one of the brightest and largest viewfinders of their time and even by todays standards. The lack of VF indicators wasn’t a deal breaker though as I have read that after a bit of use you get the feel for the settings with the help of some design aid based on a 1/30 mid point. Perfect for me as I use 1/30 to 1/125 most of the time. Love that motion blur in my street shots. This camera is all mechanical with only a light meter requiring a 1.3v battery and not much else. No auto settings, just you and the metal.
Other cameras I looked at included the Nikon FM3n with its auto this and that. It looks like a real solid well designed camera with great shutter speed range unlike most other SLR’s of the time. It does rely on batteries for most things to work and it really is a fair bit bigger than the OM-1. As tempting as their glass range is and the well designed feel, it is too big and I just know it’ll end up on the shelf more than around my neck.
The Pentax MX got a quick look in. It’s a very samll camera in direct competition with the OM-1. Most of the settings are the same but slight differences in control placement and viewfinder were enough to put me off. Besides, you can’t compare the Zuiko glass of the Olympus to the range Pentax has. I’m afraid I didn’t spend too much time on this one.
At this stage I feel I should mention that I’m a Canon man and they at least deserved a bit of my time. That’s all they got. Their electronic cpu controlled offerings of the time were fantastic and a break through which we should all be glad for but they just weren’t what I was looking for in a film SLR. You are the weakest link Canon.
Next and by far the most tempting was the Minolta XD. Labeled the XD in Japan, XD-11 in USA and XD-7 elsewhere. It is a gorgeous camera rivaling the OM in size. It offered the very first shutter priority mode as well as aperture priority beating out Canon and Nikon. The viewfinder, although not as big and bright as the OM-1, displayed a lot of information via LED’s which also served as battery level indicators. This camera really is a nice unit and I can see myself buying one when I find a good example. They don’t seem to pop up on eBay that often and parts look like a problem. Their lenses are respectable and the fact that I already have 4 terrific lenses for my Minolta SRT 102 made this a very easy decision.
Only I read this…
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Sid Reed from Dallas, Texas, USA
Item: Olympus OM-1 (1972)
Interests: fine art,landscape,portraits,wildlife
sid_reed@yahoo.com
The OM-1 does not set what speed of film you are using automatically. It cannot load the film itself, nor rewind the film itself. It cannot set the shutter or aperture by itself. It cannot auto-focus. The only electronics are a simple light meter that tells you if you have the exposure set correctly, and it is not always correct (when the subject is back-lit, for example). If you lose the cover that goes over the opening that the Winder/Motor Drive attaches to, you most likely will not be able to replace it (they are rare). There is no built-in flash. The hot shoe for the flash gets lost easily. You cannot easily find new lenses for it anymore. It has been out of production for years. It is no longer supported by the manufacturer. It does not beep, chirp, whistle, blink, or buzz, ever, for any reason.
It just hums - like any exceedingly wonderful work of a master craftsman hums.
The OM-1 is a work of art for creating works of art. It is one of those rare tools that become a part of you, an extension of yourself, after you have used it awhile. And that is why some people refer to their OM-1’s so fondly, as if they are talking about a friend. They are.
I bought the one that I own in 1978, in Dallas, Texas. I still use it, and am quite fond of it, despite also having two digital cameras and an OM-4Ti.
Sometimes it is just the simple pleasures that one needs. This is a camera for those times.
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The above is a review found on www.camerareview.com. It, along with a whole lot of other research, helped me make my decision to invest in the Olympus OM-1 and the Zuiko lens system. eBay here we come.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Yeah, that was a pretty similar thought process i went through actually and ended up with the OM series. I couldnt be happier and dont regret it for a second. The only bad thing is that i’m constantly on the lookout for more lenses and bodies =/ .
I’ll add a couple points to that pretty “romantic” (but accurate) view of the OM1.
You can find winder/motor drive covers quite easily. There are two people you can get them from, but they end up being about $30 for a tiny bit of metal and it hardly seems worth it. You can just cover it with anything really, tape, a piece of plastic cut to size, or even just by putting the camera in its half case.
The hot shoes dont get lost easily, mainly because they can be a pain to take off (and put on). They can get cracked easily though, but rarely to the extent they cant be used anymore. I actually take all of mine off as i dont use a flash on my OM bodies antmore (have in the past, and its amazingly accurate).
And yes, the light metering options dont include a spot meter or anything fancy, but you learn to live without it very easily, and can compensate exposure setting yourself if you think you need to.
The OM1 (and entire OM single digit range) are truely an amazing series of cameras. You better get one!
P.S. I’m looking at some OM > EOS lens adapters, could be fun using zuiko glass on the DSLR. You’ll be able to do that too