Enthused by Don Morley’s endorsement of Olympus in the 1980s, I got to thinking of all the cameras I had owned, right from the first Agfa Silette back in the sixties. I wish I had kept all my cameras and lenses but there is now a painless way of tickling the nostalgia: Buy ’em back. I had a particular soft spot for the Olympus OM1, which I owned in the early ’70s, and the little OM10 I bought later around 1980. The OM10 was the simpler version of the OM1, intended for less experienced photographers. It was aperture priority with the speed being set automatically. An add-on accessory was necessary if you wanted full manual control, with the ability to set both speed and aperture.
When this happy thought came into my head I was sitting in a Virgin train on the way up north. To fill the time I decided to check out eBay on the iPad mini. I soon realised OM10s are plentiful and I in no time I had signed up for a good-condition example for under £50. This seems small beer for a fully functioning 35mm camera, even after 40 years.
As the train pulled into the station I got the acknowledgement and realised the seller was only a few miles away. So over I went the same to pick up the new toy. TheOM10 proved to be in excellent condition and, as far as I can tell, in full working order, serviced by the vendor and fitted with a new battery. The lens is perfect and I am looking forward to running my first spool of Tri-X.
A similar-age Leica M3 with 50mm lens would set you back over £1,000, so this lovely example of the OM10 is something of a bargain way to get back into film photography. It has a light meter, too.