Some time ago the media office at work had a cupboard cleanout and I was lucky enough to get my hands on their old film camera. It's an Olympus OM-1 that was manufactured somewhere between 1975-1979 (going on the information on this site)

Olympus OM1

The initial learning curve was pretty steep, but it has been very interesting learning how to use a film fully manual only camera. There are a few things that can trip you up when coming to film from a digital camera, getting my hands on a manual was a good start. The OM1 manual can be found in a few places, but this site is one of the best references I am seen.

  • On a digital camera it is better to underexpose, but with film is is better to lean towards overexpose
  • On the OM1, the modern batteries aren't the correct voltage, so the meter will read a little high, some suggestions on how to tackle this can be found here
  • Figuring out how to load the film properly takes a little trial and error, its a good idea to start with the cheapest film you have
  • The camera I picked up had some light leaks, these were resolved by picking up a suitable light seal kit from eBay. This is another good reason to start with cheap film, to check for light leak problems on an untested camera