Re: [Leica] Olympus OM cameras

["JeffS" <segawa@netone.com>]

I owned an OM-1md w/28mm Zuiko for awhile. It was cheap, and with the
assistance of C. J. Rumbo of Photosphere, cleaned it up and refoamed it (no
wonder a CLA costs-refoaming is fussy business). It was a good performer and
nicely made, but I'd disagree with Tom's assesment of the finder, as I found
it squinty, and I found the camera too full of sharp angles which were not
too comfy. Internally, it's very clever and sometimes, ingeniously simple.
Film speed settings, for instance, simply pull a string, which pivots the
entire meter movement. Then there's that air-damped reflex mirror.

I got to briefly try out the OM-3T, and felt that they had fixed most of
what bugged me in the OM-1, but it's expensive, and my impression is that
Olympus has let the OM-line go stale. I think a Leicafied OM-3, with Leica's
ongoing lens development, would be a camera worth having! In many
dimensions, it's quite a bit smaller than an M6, however, and this would
cause Leica's marketing department some headaches, particularly now that the
M6TTL has gained a bit of bloat.

Jeff

- -----Original Message-----
From: Tom Bryant <tbryant@pars5.gsfc.nasa.gov>
>    They [speaking of the Olympus OM-1] were and are phenomenal cameras.
You could see the whole screen with
>glasses on, they were tiny, compared to, say a Nikon FTn, almost as quiet
as
>an Alpa, and they had interchangeable screens.  My brother still has one,
and
>loves it.  They do focus the "Leica" way.