You still use an OM1?

 When I first started to get back into film photography c.2019, putting photos up on Instagram seemed a logical idea. I had found a load of other photography accounts, and my daily feed was mostly their output. But then things started to change... Fast forward a few years, and my Instagram feed is full of videos of dodgy football decisions, cars being driven badly, pickpockets in action, plus adverts for all sorts of gadgets I never knew I needed. Where have all the photos gone? Then there was the matter of Instagram's owner being rather close to the political turmoil going on in the USA. I had already left Twitter/X - maybe it was time to move on from here too. So I was interested to hear about the world of Pixelfed, which at first glance looks a bit like Instagram used to - mostly photos and artwork, but without the adverts, videos, and everything else you have to scroll through. It is actually a decentralised product - in effect anybody can set up a Pixelfed server, and link it ...

 It's been a while, but my photographic journey has been taking me into the dangerous rabbit hole of cheap cameras. I have bought, tried, tested, and mostly sold, several candidates for the role of "shove it in a bag and take it anywhere" camera. I think I have finally settled on the Pentax Pino 35, and you can read about it on the excellent 35mmc site here .  But now I am back to the world of the OM1, and they have accompanied me on a few recent trips. The M1 had its first real outing (after a test film when I bought it) to Mevagissey and The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. I can't be certain, but I think the lens for the harbour debris shot was the Zuiko 24mm, and the flowers were shot with the Zuiko 35mm. Meanwhile the all-black OM1 tried to look inconspicuous at an Anti-Racism rally in York. This sort of event is always good for photos, often because of the banners and placards which people are holding. Here are a few of the best from that day. The lens was t...

 If you have read the previous posts, you will know that having three cameras is better than having one. While OM1s and 2s have come and gone over the last couple of years, three seems to have been the average number kept at any one time.  One of the earliest posts mentioned the fairly elusive Olympus M1, the very first version of the OM1, renamed after the people at Leica pointed out that their M1 got there first. Around 50,000 M1 bodies were made before the name change, and while they do appear for sale, mostly in Japan, the prices are pretty steep compared to the run of the mill OM1. So when an M1 came up for sale in this country, all apparently working well, and for only a bit more than normal, I dived in. The date codes under the film pressure plate say it was made in December 1972, about seven months after production began, and shortly before the name change in early '73. And does it work as promised? Yes it does. The light meter is slightly out, but I think setting the ...

 After last year's relative success with the OM1 and a T32 flash gun (decent exposures, and no complaints about being blinded from the family), this time I brought out the OM2, to make use of its fully auto option. Just set the camera to Auto (no need to set a shutter speed), the aperture to a recommended f/5.6, and let the camera do the rest.  Once again, the results were pretty good. I will only show one of the many "family opening presents" shots, as it is the one which people like best. As well as a growing grandson, it shows that the musical tastes of my son (on the right) have matured to the point of liking Bruce Springsteen, which is well worth celebrating. Meanwhile, out in the garden, last year's Christmas tree was decorated again.

As I hinted a couple of posts ago, not all of the recent OM photos were taken with an OM1.  My experiment with flash at Christmas got me thinking. I had a T32 flash gun, which works well in a manual sort of way on the OM1, but on later models it can be fully automatic. So...hello and welcome to a nice OM2N.  All working smoothly so far, an Auto mode if I am feeling lazy, and Manual if I want to recreate the OM1 experience.  Meanwhile the OM1 with the non-working meter has moved on to a new owner. I'm sure it will have a long and happy life, never needing another battery.

Just a quick one, mainly so I don't forget it myself. A couple of less than perfect buying experiences have revolved around the reliability of the OM1's light meter. Something I learned along the way is a test to see if the meter is calibrated correctly. With the meter switched OFF, turn the shutter speed to B, the film speed to 1600, and the aperture to f8. The needle in the viewfinder should be level. Apparently, small adjustments can be made if it is slightly up or down (don't ask me how). If it is way out, it may be beyond help.