I purchased my first OM-1 with a 50 1.8 and vivitar flash in high school (1977)
when I was on annual staff. I soon added the 75-150 zoom and a winder and a
sigma 24 mm lens. My daughter now has that original OM-1, winder, flash & 50
1.8. I selected the camera after comparing it to almost everything else out
there. The Om was my first SLR and first pro camera. (I moved up from an old
Argus C-3) In addition to the fact that (at the time) the Oly stuff was a bit
more affordable than comparable stuff from other major manufacturers there were
two things that attracted me to the camera. First was how compact and light the
system was, the second was the control layout, which I thought made more sense
than any other camera I had handled. In particular I thought the shutter speed
ring around the bayonet mount was pure genius (still do!) It put all the
controls (speed, aperture, and focusing in the reach of the left hand so that
your right hand was ready to fire the shutter at will.
I shot on annual both in high school and college. Years later I replaced the
sigma with a Zuiko 24, added a motor drive, bellows, 80 f4 macro T32 and OM2 &
OM2s body and a few other goodies, all purchased used from a local camera shop.
Over the years other goodies have been added, a few have been stolen, and a
couple items damaged BER. The current collection contains OM1N, OM2, OM2S, and
TWO OM-4s. Lenses consist of 24, 35, 50, 85, 135 300, 75-150, 35-70 Zuikos, 50
and 80 macro zuikos, and a recently purchased 28-200 Tamron. I also have a
Vivitar 2X convertor and a soligor 1.5x convertor. The collection is rounded out
via the Auto bellows & slide copier, a full set of auto extension tubes, T#2 &
T20 flashes with a bunch of flash cords, ect.
My only real regret regarding the oly stuff is that I did not buy myself a 40 f2
when they were first available (for about $95.00 at my local shop). Actually I
regret that I didn't buy as many as I could get my hands on! :)
Jim Couch
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