OLYMPUS OM-1n

THE CAMERA:

I've had this camera since 1979. It was my third SLR camera during my teen years. I used to look at all the photo magazines of the time and fell in love with it's sleek look and great features. Originally called the M-1 in 1974, Leica camera company put up a fuss so it was re-named OM-1. I can't find an exact date when the OM-1n was introduced but I think it was around 1978. it is virtually the same camera except for a better film advance lever and a flash ready light in the viewfinder.

It is manually adjusted with the help of a simple needle-center meter in the viewfinder. It is operable without a battery. The shutter select "ring" is on the lens mount like old school rangefinders. This was done to aid in not having to take your eye off of the subject through the viewfinder as much. With practice you can easily change shutter-aperture or both at the same time while looking at your subject. My favorite feature was the replaceable viewfinder screens and the lock-up mirror which helped cut down on camera shake at slow shutter speeds. I got the "Winder-1" with it and thank God the salesman talked me into a skylite filter "as insurance". And a good thing to because one day I leaned over to get a drink from a fountain and wham, camera swung right into it. The filter ($15) saved my beautiful lens. That filter is still on it today.

This camera followed me to Germany during a stint in the Army in 1983-1986. I was in the Louvre in Paris one day and sat down to rest on a bench (huge fricking place) and got up and proceeded on my way. I was a good 200 yards away and realized I left my camera sitting on the bench. I (walked as fast as I could) ran back to the bench and there it was, right where I left it.

FIXES:

It has sat in it's camera bag for the last 25 years or so. I checked on it about 10 years ago and it was fine, the original battery still worked! My recent jones for vintage cameras had me praying it was ok. When I checked it did have a dead battery but no leakage what so-ever. I was disappointed that the light seals had deteriorated. I had no idea what to do, the fellow at the camera shop said it was an $80 fix. After acquiring a couple rangefinders on eBay with the same problem, I read up on it and easily fixed the problem with a strip of black felt near the hinge and latch and some black yarn in the door grooves... about .05¢ from my wife's craft room! I've since fixed three other cameras that way. There were no other problems, the thing has only got a few miniscule war wounds from our travels.

MANUAL: Olympus OM1n owners manual

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