Manual scanned and put online free of charge by Mike Butkus, whose library runs on donations. The link opens his model page, where you can download the PDF.
Getting started
Battery It only powers the light meter. Unscrew the compartment cover under the body with a coin and fit a 1.35 V PX625 (or EPX625) mercury battery, + facing out. Screw it back firmly: the wrong way round, the meter won’t work.
Loading Pull the rewind knob upwards to open the back. Put in the cartridge, push the knob back down, slip the film leader into a slot in the take-up spool and advance the film: the perforations must engage on both rows of teeth. Close until it clicks, then gently turn the crank clockwise to take up the slack in the film.
Sensitivity Pull the film advance lever out slightly, press the release button and turn the ASA ring, around the shutter button, until your film’s value lines up with the black line: from ISO 25 to 1600 (ASA). Let go of the button and check that the ring no longer moves.
Your first photo Advance and fire until you read “1” on the counter. The rewind knob should turn. Set the meter switch to ON, choose the shutter speed on the ring at the base of the lens, then turn the aperture ring until the needle is centred in the viewfinder. Focus with the split-image rangefinder or the microprisms, and shoot.
Rewinding At the end of the roll, don’t force the advance lever. Turn the rewind release lever, on the front, to the “R” mark, unfold the crank and turn it in the direction of the arrow until it turns freely. Pull the knob to open the back, out of direct sunlight.
What it can do
Shutter speeds from 1 s to 1/1000 s, plus B: the shutter stays open as long as you press. Slower than 1/30 s, the manual recommends a cable release or a tripod.
Through-the-lens metering at full aperture, by two CdS cells placed either side of the eyepiece. It favours the centre of the image.
A lever self-timer, from 4 to 12 s: turn it about 180° anticlockwise, then flip the start lever.
An interchangeable focusing screen: the manual lists eleven others besides the original 1-13, changed through the bayonet with the dedicated tool.
Good to know
Set the meter switch back to OFF when you’re not using it: the battery lasts longer, about a year according to the manual.
The shutter speed ring should only be set on the click stops. The aperture ring accepts intermediate positions.
If the needle doesn’t move, check the meter switch, then the battery: present, the right way round, not flat.
Against the light, the meter darkens your subject: move closer to meter on it, or open up by one stop.
For long storage: shutter uncocked, meter off, battery removed, and never above 50 °C.
Which lenses?
The mount is the Olympus OM bayonet. Line up the red dots on the lens and the body, then turn clockwise until it clicks, without pressing the release button.
To remove the lens, press that button and turn the other way. Put the front and rear caps back on, and a body cap if you store the body without a lens.
With extension tubes or a bellows, the automatic aperture is disengaged: meter stopped down.
Most Zuiko OM lenses, from 21 to 200 mm, take 49 mm filters.
The flash
The shoe isn’t fixed: an accessory shoe screws into the socket on the prism. Remove it when no flash is mounted on it.
With electronic flash, set 1/60 s or slower. With an automatic flash, set 1/60 s and the aperture the flash asks for.
A flash with no shoe contact connects by its cord to the body’s sync socket.
OM-1n specifications
Format
135 film, 24 × 36 mm frames
Mount
Olympus OM bayonet
Standard lens
Zuiko Auto-S 50 mm f/1.8, 6 elements in 5 groups, focusing down to 45 cm, 49 mm filters
Shutter
focal-plane, from 1 s to 1/1000 s and B
Viewfinder
pentaprism, 97% coverage, 0.92× magnification with the 50 mm
Focusing
manual, interchangeable focusing screen (original 1-13: microprisms and split-image rangefinder)
Metering
two through-the-lens CdS cells, at full aperture, needle in the viewfinder, from EV 2 to EV 17 (ISO 100, f/1.4)
Sensitivity
ISO 25 to 1600 (ASA)
Flash
screw-on shoe, sync socket, electronic flash at 1/60 s and slower
Power
1.35 V PX625 (EPX625) mercury battery, for the light meter only
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