Olympus OM-1n

 

 

Olympus OM-1n

 

Designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, the Olympus OM-1 was produced to challenge the Nikon F range of cameras by producing a smaller, lighter and quieter 35mm SLR.  It was first launched in 1972 as the M-1, but after a complaint from Leica it was renamed the OM-1: the OM-1n is a later version that has extra flash functions. This is an all mechanical manual camera with the batteries only required to power the TTL exposure metering, this being  indicated by a needle in the viewfinder. There is no other information in the viewfinder i.e. the selected shutter speed and aperture, unlike the Pentax MX and Nikon FM which have indicators for these settings.

 

The name Zuiko, pronounced Z(u)weeko, is an abbreviation for the Olympus optical plant written in Chinese and can be translated as "Golden Light".

 

A superb camera complemented by the range of excellent Olympus Zuiko lenses.

 

 

Winders & Motor Drives

The OM-1n above is shown fitted whit the Olympus Winder 2.  This gives a continuous shooting rate of 2.5 frames per second (fps).  The earlier Winder 1 just allowed for a single frame advance.  The MD-1 and MD-2 motor drive units would give 5 fps.  The MD-2 gave more shooting options which are shown in a LCD display.  Power came from a rechargeable NiCad battery pack or from 12 X AA batteries housed in a vertical grip.

 

 

Camera Evolution

Soon after the OM-1 was introduced in 1972, it was updated in 1973 to give it the capability to accept a winder or motor drive.  A small “MD” badge was fitted on the front of these models.  It was further updated in 1979 into the OM-1n which came with a detachable hot shoe already fitted, earlier OM-1 models came without a hot shoe, which provided better communication with the Olympus "T" flash system.  The OM-1n was finally discontinued in 1987 which ended the production of Olympus manual mechanical SLRs.

 

 

 

Olympus OM-1n Gallery

 

 

Watendlath

 

 

 

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