Olympus OM-1, did I pay a fair price?

[Andy K]

Last week my old OM-10 gave up the ghost, something with the electronics is fouled up and now the shutter speeds are not firing properly, even with the manual adapter. As OM-10s are reasonably cheap I figured I'd chase one down on the 'bay. Instead I noticed a nice looking, and according to the seller, perfectly working OM-1. I know the OM-1 is a manual camera with a battery only required for the meter, this suits me perfectly!
So I went for it and won it half an hour or so ago for £38 (not including postage). Did I pay a fair price?
Also does anyone know about the batteries for the OM-1? Is it ok to use 1.5v cells in it instead of the old 1.3v? And how much would this affect the metering?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

Andy.

Ps. Here's the auction: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7521242969&fromMakeTrack=true

 

[philldresser]

Andy

Any camera as solid as an OM-1 for the price of a good meal must be worth it. A body only price would normally fetch £60 to £100 depending on condition so I think you did OK. Look forward to seeing some results

Phill

 

[clogz]

Good price, no doubt. Any battery problems: Dead Link Removed or www.rolleicamera.com/sales for battery adapters. http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/html/olylinks.htmlral all info you'll ever need on the the OM system.

 

[unohuu]

kind of depends what you want to do with the camera. if it would have been more expensive to get the old one repaired and you wanted to use that camera and you do not want to worry about it being always near death when you are using and ... it was worth the price you paid to replace the camera. i have a stable full of old cameras, including a near new Nikon FG i purchased just a couple of days ago (Thanks to all who contributed thoughts as i am now searching for good useable lenses for this camera). my wife does not fret over how much she spends annually on new plant stock or new shoes or her hair appointments. in turn i do not worry about the expenditures on the equipment that i purchase and use. sorry for the complicated answer to the simple question.

Luke

 

[gnashings]

As far as the meter is concerned, look at the sites provided in one of the preceeding posts - while I do not have experience with your particular camera, I have had a wein cellin a Canonet QL17, and been very happy with it. It is a bit more expensive, but it may be an option to the adapters, depending on how much you use the camera (the downside of Wien cells is that they deteriorate without use much faster than regular bateries unless the air-holes are covered)

 

[wclavey]

I have a collection of OM-1 and OM-2 bodies, all dating back to the mid-late 1970s. Your price sounds fairly good to me. My expectation is that, unless I purchased a used body from someplace like KEH or a private seller whose maintenance/repair work I trust, I'm going to have to have it CLA'ed, probably sooner rather than later.

For an OM-1, you will need to use a replacement battery, most likely, unless the mercury batteries are still available in England. The adapter identified above is good (and necessary: a difference of a few 1/10s volt can make the meter readings screwy), but spending $30US on the adapter puts you 30% of the way to the coast of a CLA at someplace like Camtech (http://www.zuiko.com/) where the CLA will permanently correct the OM-1 so that an adapter is not necessary.

If you can afford it, I would get the whole thing checked out and timed, seals replaced, meter aligned, battery changed-over and be done with it. When I have violated my rule, and not gotten it done, I usually regret it. (BTW, I have no connection with Camtech other than the fact that I have used them and they have one of my OM-1s even as we speak - - my oldest from 1977).

...More free advice... and worth every penny.

Westley

 

[titrisol]

there is a place with a wealth of info on the Olympus OM line:
olympus.dementia.org/

enjoy

 

[Blighty]

You jammy git! I wish I could find one at that price!!

 

[Dave Parker]

Alls I can say Andy, if your comfortable with the price you paid, then what does it matter what we say?

Dave

 

[Dan Fromm]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

 

[Claire Senft]

If you are worried about paying a fair price, send the seller an additional $50.00

 

[Andy K]

I asked because I wasn't sure of the camera's worth and didn't know if I'd paid too much or bagged a bargain (it seems the latter is the case), I actually bid £70 but won with £38.

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I've decided to order an MR-9 adapter from The Small Battery Company here in the UK.

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_mr9_adapter.htm

Not cheap but it's a once only purchase and means I'll be able to use the easily available 386 (1.35v) cells instead.

Luke, I will probably use it for my every day SLR and as it has mirror lock-up it will become my favoured tool for macro work, which I quite enjoy. (see album here: http://photobucket.com/albums/v223/Minitar1/Olympus%20OM10%20Colour/19-04-05%20Minolta%20VX100%20Macro%20fungus%20ornaments/? )

 

[Gerald Koch]

Check out the following site, it details how to correct the mercury battery problem with the OM-1's.

http://olympus.dementia.org/Hardware/PDFs/OM1DiodeVer2_1C.pdf

 

[modafoto]

Also does anyone know about the batteries for the OM-1? Is it ok to use 1.5v cells in it instead of the old 1.3v? And how much would this affect the metering?

I got my OM-1 for 280 DKR ($45, £25) with a f/1.8 50 mm lens. Great condition. But £38 is a great price, too.
I use 1.5 volt cells and the meter under-exposes by 1/3 stop. I set the ISO rating to 1/3 stop lower (e.g. ISO 400 is rated as ISO 320) and that fixes the wrong metering.
I use no converter or Zinc-Air cells as I am happy with the way I got my OM-1 working.

Morten

 

[Andy K]

Thanks Morten.
The camera arrived this morning, it is actually an OM-1n. In very good, clean condition with everything looking and sounding normal. It still has its original hotshoe.
It does not have a 'split image' focussing screen, instead it has just a central microprism circle. I'm pleased about this because when using longer lenses part of the old split image used to 'black out' on my OM-10. I also think it makes manual focussing quicker.
I like the exposure controls being around the lens (aperture, speed), this seems so much more intuitive than having some on the lens and some on the top plate.
The film advance is smooth, and the shutter is so quiet compared to the Om-10!
I think I'm going to enjoy this camera!

 

[John Hermanson]

If the OM-1 is really in good working order, that is a good price. It will likely need new foam around the back cover. Check the hinge foam for stickiness. If it is gooey, this and the foam in the slots may not keep light out as well as it used to. The 1.55v alkaline batteries (625A, 625U) will throw the meter off 2-3 stops (causing underexposure, dark slides, thin negatives).

Last week my old OM-10 gave up the ghost, something with the electronics is fouled up and now the shutter speeds are not firing properly, even with the manual adapter. As OM-10s are reasonably cheap I figured I'd chase one down on the 'bay. Instead I noticed a nice looking, and according to the seller, perfectly working OM-1. I know the OM-1 is a manual camera with a battery only required for the meter, this suits me perfectly!
So I went for it and won it half an hour or so ago for £38 (not including postage). Did I pay a fair price?
Also does anyone know about the batteries for the OM-1? Is it ok to use 1.5v cells in it instead of the old 1.3v? And how much would this affect the metering?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

Andy.

Ps. Here's the auction: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7521242969&fromMakeTrack=true

 

[Paul Sorensen]

The Wein cell is basically a zinc air hearing aid battery with a ring around it so it fits in the camera. My battery solution was to buy the Wein cell and a supply of the appropriate sized zinc air hearing aid cells (I forget the number, maybe 625?). When the Wein cell dies, I pop out the battery in the middle and replace it with the hearing aid cells. I have done this on my Yashicamat, OM-1, and Luna Pro with great results. Altough the batteries don't last as long as others, they are super cheap and readily available.

 

[micek]

Andy, 38 pounds for the closest thing there is to a Leica in the world of SLRs is a great price. Luton Camera Repair specialize in Olympus cameras -if you ever need a CLA or repair. www.lutoncameras.co.uk