Hi Don, welcome to the OM fold. If you're going to keep the OM-1
(always wise to have a mechanical camera) you should consider sending it
off to John Hermanson (http://zuiko.com) for a CLA (cleaning,
lubrication and adjustment). The 25 year old grease has probably set up
a bit, springs may not have the right tension, etc, etc. In particular,
the foam light seals around the camera back are probably beginning to
deteriorate. They turn to gooey mush. The same for the foam pads that
serve as shock absorbers for the mirror as it flips up. Also, very
important on some OM-1's is that the pentaprism may have foam around
it. If this foam begins to deteriorate it can ruin the silvering on the
pentaprism. So, have the OM-1 CLA'd before it turns into an expensive
repair. As part of the CLA price JH will also convert your OM-1 to use
silver oxide batteries (1.55V) instead of the hard to find and
environmentally unfriendly mercury batteries (1.35V). Battery
substitution charts will show a 1.5V alkaline battery as a suitable
replacement for the mercury battery but don't believe it. The increased
voltage will cause the light meter to read incorrectly. JH's conversion
job corrects this problem.
The OM-2s might also benefit from a CLA or foam replacement but the 2s
is probably only about 15 years old instead of 25.
Welcome to the club. I should get the 357 batteries you and others
ordered in early next week.
Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Don wrote:
I am new to photography, and the list. So far I have a OM-1 that was
bought back in the 1970's for my daughter who was taking a photography
class in high school at the time. My grandson and I found the camera in
the basement in an old milk crate and resurrected it. I took some very
good pictures with it on my vacation this year, and have acquired an
interest in photography. So much so that I just bought an OM2S Program
from eBay!
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