Film A grip for the Olympus OM1

[Cerita]

Just getting into film photography, so I got myself a lovely OM1 (oh what a lovely camera), but I am so used to having grips on my Pen F and EM5II, I miss one on the OM1. Does anyone know of a grip for it please? I have Googled but nothing, and on Ebay I see the motor winders but they look so big and bulky (because I guess they are).

 

[BromV]

Congratulations on getting one of the truly great SLRs. I checked my old OM-2 manual, and the closest thing looks like the Motor Drive 1. It does look big, but maybe it's not as big as it looks.

If you like to tinker, you could probably put together something using an aluminum plate and a dowel, attached to the tripod socket.

Regards,
BV

 

[Cerita]

Congratulations on getting one of the truly great SLRs. I checked my old OM-2 manual, and the closest thing looks like the Motor Drive 1. It does look big, but maybe it's not as big as it looks.

If you like to tinker, you could probably put together something using an aluminum plate and a dowel, attached to the tripod socket.

Regards,
BV

Thank you! I am really looking forward to using it, and the great thing is the light meter works! Not sure what kind of battery it has, I hope it's not over voltage to cause it to give wrong readings, but I have to try it out ot know. I have a roll of Portra 4OO, which I am sure is expired (it was thrown in with the camera), I'll load it up tonight.

I should just buy one of those drives if I find one for cheap and see how big they really are. I also wrote to JB Designs to see if they take custom orders, they make those gorgeous wooden hand grips!

 

[phigmov]

Not sure what kind of battery it has, I hope it's not over voltage to cause it to give wrong readings, but I have to try it out ot know.

My battery cheat-sheet (I keep a Google Doc to track these):

pen ft px-625 1.35v
pen s px-625 1.35v

35 sp px-625 1.35v

om-1 px-625 1.35v
om-2 epx-76 or v-76 or sr-44 silver oxide 1.5v x2
om-4 epx-76 or v-76 or sr-44 silver oxide 1.5v x2
nikon f3 epx-76 or v-76 or sr-44 silver oxide 1.5v x2
nikon fe epx-76 or v-76 or sr-44 silver oxide 1.5v x2

pentax k1000 epx-76 or v-76 or sr-44 silver oxide 1.5v

konica hexar af 2CR5 6v

sr = silver oxide = expensive/longer lasting
lr = lithium oxide = cheaper/doesn’t last as long

Note that the 625 cell was usually Mercury so difficult/impossible to source the original - plenty of alternatives available but can have a different power-curve. Its definitely worthwhile comparing the metering in an old camera with a digital equivalent (eg your digital camera or hand-held meter with the same aperture, shutter, iso values) as a cross-check to save frustration when you see the finished negs, prints or scans. If the battery or meter is off, you can usually use exposure compensation or just set the film-speed accordingly to allow for a different voltage.

 

[kennethcooke]

This is an excellent resume of Olympus OM1n cameras, I used to have a couple of OM2n's and I also had an OM3 which was superb. They were my mountain cameras which became very popular when Chris Bonnington's Everest NW Face team were issues with them, each team member was issued with a couple. Very reliable, robust and superb bright viewfinder

Olympus OM1 SLR camera - Part I