Talk:Olympus OM-1
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[edit] First person
This article contains significant material written in the first person. This needs rewriting in an encyclopedic tone. Bb3cxv 13:08, 9 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Camerapedia
I added a bit on the camera history from Camerapedia, therefore as part of the Wiki stuff, I hope I am legally premitted to copy the whole page, the page needs cleanup though. Willirennen 16:08, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] POV
This does not belong on the page. It is written in the first person, is not neutral, and cites no references. I am adding it here to see if there are any salvageable parts. Zepheus 17:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Owner's POV
The Olympus OM-1 is a manually operated 35 mm SLR camera, part of the Olympus OM system. When it was first released, Olympus claimed it to be the smallest/lightest 35mm SLR, and the quietest and most vibration-free SLR on the market. It also featured a large and bright viewfinder of high quality that still stands up well when compared to many of today's cameras.
All of the main picture-taking controls are arranged as rotary controls around the lens axis. The aperture was outermost on an OM lens, with the focus being a broad ring of knurled rubber that was very easy to use. Shutter speed was controlled using a ring on the body just behind the lens mount, rather than the traditional knob on the top of the body. So, one's left hand controlled all of the adjustments, and the right hand operated the shutter-release and wind-on.
Wind-on was a weakness of the OM-1. The stroke of the wind-on lever was too long; it was too easy to not push the very lightweight lever far enough and leave the shutter uncocked. However, the wind-on worked on a ratchet, so it could be done with several short strokes. This was not sorted until the OM-3/4 came along, but they put on size and weight when compared with the OM-1/2 that went before.
Upon its release many found the OM-1 difficult to categorize. The archetypal profesional camera at the time was the Nikon F2, an extremely versatile but also quite heavy 35mm SLR. The OM-1 offered a fully featured alternative with less weight and a smaller size. It was adopted as the standard camera system of National Geographic Magazine because of its size and optical quality.
Despite this smaller size the OM-1 was a very robust camera, many of which are still in use.
The OM-1 is also quite popular as a platform for amateur astrophotography because of its all mechanical operation, compact form-factor and mirror lock-up function.
