OM-1 antique store find

aroth87 · Jan 8, 2013

I like to browse antique shops looking for cameras and found my best score yet this weekend. Tucked back on a shelf was an Olympus OM-1 with 50/1.8 and Varimagni viewfinder. When I first looked through the finder it was black, so I ran it through a couple of shutter speeds and the finder was still black. Took off the lens and realized mirror lock up was engaged. Once I flipped the mirror back down I looked through the viewfinder and couldn't get anything in focus. Checked the lens and it had a close up filter attached. I turned the meter on and it worked as well. After checking the make sure the lens stopped down properly I looked at the price tag. $8.75!

I don't have any other Olympus gear but decided that the price was too good to pass up. When I went to the register I found out the vendor was giving 10% off everything so I ended up paying $8.56 for it. I'm not sure how long it had been there but I'm guessing the strange looking viewfinder and mirror being locked up deterred most casual shoppers. I still haven't finished my first roll but its been enjoyable to use. The shutter speeds being around the lens mount is neat but I wish I could see the settings in the viewfinder like my Nikon FE. And the lens doesn't focus as smoothly as my Nikkors but seems well built. The thing I really like is the Varimagni finder, whoever had it before obviously used the camera for close up work and I think I'll give it a try too. I guess its time to check out Zuiko prices

Adam

Cold · Jan 8, 2013

Nice score.

I occasionally drive past one of those "flea-market-antique-shop-buy-sell-etc" places on the weekends and always say to myself that I should stop, but I never do.

Nick Merritt · Jan 8, 2013

Indeed, a great score! This weekend I came across the Nikon version of the Varimagni (DR-3) for $5 -- a very handy item, I must say, but I sure didn't get the deal you did. You'll like the OM-1 a lot.

henry finley · Jan 8, 2013

I still think the 50 dollar price I paid on the Hasselblad 500C body 2 weeks ago on ebay was as good as it gets. The upper back door wouldn't go all the way up. No big deal. Let the mirror foam rot away and this is bound to happen. So I fixed it. Now it's perfect.

Les Sarile · Jan 8, 2013

The OM Varimagni Finder is a fantastic accessory - right angle and 2.5X magnifier. It is very useful as it fits a lot of different cameras and brands. If you check the prices on the great auction site you will see that you scored huge just on that alone!

AgX · Jan 8, 2013

To find just a body including an angular finder seems a rarity to me.

nsurit · Jan 8, 2013

When you decide you are in fact in love with it, send it to John at zuiko.com for a CLA and conversion to modern batteries. I have a huge stable of OM gear which includes all the single digit bodies and most of the Zuiko lenses. This week I'm shooting with an OM 1 and the Zuiko 28mm f3.5. Great cameras and glass.

zsas · Jan 9, 2013

Congrats!

Vonder · Jan 9, 2013

My recent junk-shop store trip had a bit of the opposite. I saw a Minolta Maxxum 7000 hanging there for $32 (they sell for even less on eBay!) and a SRT-201 in a glass case for somewhere around $22.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 9, 2013

Sounds like a great find.

Jeff

mr rusty · Jan 9, 2013

Well done! OM-1n is my main shooter along with OM-2. Agree that a CLA and conversion to take SR44 cells is a good investment. If you don't know already, the foam on OMs goes icky just like on all other cameras and while the foam in the film door and mirror buffers is easy to replace, there was also a wedge of foam under the top cover over the prism which degrades and irreparably takes the silvering off the prism. Shows up as blotches usually along the bottom edge of the view finder. Fortunately the prisms are the same as the (cheap) OM10 so not too big a deal to sort if yours is already bad. If not, and still looks good, but the door/mirror foams are sticky, I wouldn't hang around too long............

Les Sarile · Jan 9, 2013

aroth87 said:
The shutter speeds being around the lens mount is neat . . .
Adam

As a Nikon user you should know that the earlier Nikkormats used this configuration before the OMs.

Too bad if your only other cameras are Nikons as that seems to be the only brand of cameras I have that the OM Varimagni Finder will not properly fit.

aroth87 · Jan 9, 2013

Yeah, I was aware Olympus weren't the only ones to put the shutter speeds there, I'd just never seen one in person. Also, did you take a picture of my OM-1, because mine has almost identical paint wear on the back hinge

Thanks for the suggestion to zuiko.com, everything on the camera seems not quite as smooth as my FE. If I decide to use it more I'll definitely send it in for a CLA, if only for the battery conversion. The battery that's in it still has juice but I know its only a matter of time.

So between having mirror lock up and the Varimagni I'm thinking it might be fun to try some close up/macro work with the camera. I've got the 55 Micro for Nikon and the working distance is pretty short, so the 50/3.5 is probably out for now and the 90 Macro is way out of my price range. Has anyone used a 135mm on extenstion tubes? KEH's selection is pretty small across the board right now.

Adam

wblynch · Jan 9, 2013

I have used OM-10's as prism donors but OM-10's almost always come back to life with new batteries and I hate parting out working cameras.

Nowadays I find broken OM-PC's and OM-2SP's are cheaper.

Chris Nielsen · Jan 9, 2013

aroth87 said:
Yeah, I was aware Olympus weren't the only ones to put the shutter speeds there, I'd just never seen one in person. Also, did you take a picture of my OM-1, because mine has almost identical paint wear on the back hinge

Thanks for the suggestion to zuiko.com, everything on the camera seems not quite as smooth as my FE. If I decide to use it more I'll definitely send it in for a CLA, if only for the battery conversion. The battery that's in it still has juice but I know its only a matter of time.

So between having mirror lock up and the Varimagni I'm thinking it might be fun to try some close up/macro work with the camera. I've got the 55 Micro for Nikon and the working distance is pretty short, so the 50/3.5 is probably out for now and the 90 Macro is way out of my price range. Has anyone used a 135mm on extenstion tubes? KEH's selection is pretty small across the board right now.

Adam

Regarding it not being as smooth - the OM2N that Camtech overhauled plus the 50mm that I had lubed locally are the smoothest things I have ever used so I am sure your machine can be too

Les Sarile · Jan 9, 2013

For macro work I have the Kiron 105mm f2.8 macro lens as well as the Olympus Autobellows. Of course practically anything on extensions or bellows will be macros anyway.

Vaughn · Jan 9, 2013

The times I used an OM1 showed my it has a mirror-lock up. Perhaps a beefier pod would have helped, but a lot of shake from the mirror on longish exposures. Congrat!

Vaughn

thuggins · Jan 19, 2013

Les Sarile said:
The OM Varimagni Finder is a fantastic accessory - right angle and 2.5X magnifier. It is very useful as it fits a lot of different cameras and brands. If you check the prices on the great auction site you will see that you scored huge just on that alone!

Note that the Varimagni Finder has its own focus, and if this is not set right your image will be out of focus. And it is, unfortunately, difficult to get set right. I have two or them and they have gotten very little use because of that drawback.

Les Sarile · Jan 19, 2013

The Olympus Varimagni Finder is the most versatile accessory I have as it not only provides right angle and 2.5X magnification for my OM bodies but it fits and works correctly for a number of my other bodies such as the Canon EOS, Pentax K, M & LX and various Minoltas.

This finder has a diopter range of −7 to +3 and if properly set, will allow you to achieve much better critical focus then without it. Specs and Instructions for proper use can be found at -> Olympus Varimagni Finder

OM-1 antique store find

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