As others have said, the prisms from the OM-10 and 20(G) are the same os
those in the OM-1(n) and 2(n). They have the advantage that they never
had prism foam and so are almost always perfect.
Taking the top off is not particularly difficult, but not obvious. The 3
things that have to come off are the film advance lever, the rewind
crank and screws under it and the hot shoe connecter
Film advance lever: The shiny black top piece is just a trim peice that
is glued on the top of the real nut that holds the lever on. teh trim
piece may be removes py pressing firmly and turning with an
appropriately sized rubber stopper. Most tools used to try to turn it
will slip and scratch it, although there are custom tools for it. The
nut under it ideally requires a spanner wrench, custom or adjustable,
but I removed my first couple with a snap ring tool rather easily.
The rewind knob is trickier. DO NOT try to remove the little screw under
the flip up lever. The whole knob unscrews from the shaft below that
goes into the film cartridge. the only trick is that the 'ears on this
part are rather easily damaged, so you must find something that will
firmly grasp the shaft above the ears without scratching it. Hold the
shaft firmly and unscrew the knob with your hand. Pay attention to how
the little pin and spring that hold the flip-up lever are put on the
bottom of the knob, as they can fall out.
The hot shoe connector is simply held to the top with the chrome nut
that screws on to it. A spanner is ideal, but it's usually not on too
tight and improvised means should work.
Replacing the prism is not particularly difficult for those mechanically
inclined, comfortable working with smallish things and who have tools
like small cross point screwdrivers, fine needle nosed pliers, etc.
There are several variations of prism mounting but they are all pretty
obvious.
If the prism damage is not too bad and is from rotting foam removing the
protective black paint and the silvering under it, a through cleaning of
the damaged area with alcohol will render the prism quite useable again.
Not as good as a new one, but amazingly good. I used rubbing alcohol,
but denatured may work. The alcohol will dissolve the damaged
foam/paint/silvering, but not the undamaged part. The trick is to REALLY
clean the glass, and especially the edges of the undamaged area. In the
dark with the camera top on, the refractive index of the prism glass and
the angle at which the image light strikes it are such that it is
reflected virtually as well as with the silvering in place.
I'm not recommending any course of action, just passing on what worked
for me. I have lots of tools and am mechanically adept, but untrained in
camera repair.
Moose
Trevor Urlwin wrote:
Hello all,
I have an OM1n with a slightly damaged pentaprism. It is excellent in
all other respects.
I would like to have it fixed, however I live in Indonesia and I am
not confident I can find a camera technician I trust enough to do the
job for me.
I have read the material on the Hardware Resource page, especially the
Camera Craftsman article. (Thanks to the people/person who made this
excellent resouce available). I think it may be possible for me to
exchange the prism myself if I could locate a prism or a parts camera
from which I could remove one.
Does anyone have either of these that they would be interested in selling?
I also need the basic instruction on how to remove the top cover of
the OM1. I realize that this may sound silly coming from someone who
thinks he can do something once he is inside, but the articles I have
read not unreasonably assume this ability.
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