Another Olympus, this time the OM30. I have never tried one before, or even held one. So I was quite excited to see it in a junk bin. It didn’t have a lens attached, but right next to it was a slightly battered OM lens. I put one on the other and said take my money. Here is the thing, I put two items together, but I was only charged for one. The cashier just charged me the larger amount. As I put them together it became one item. I didn’t know, I didn’t agree, but the price stuck. Lucky me.

I already have the OM10 and OM20, now the OM30. I just need the OM40 for the set. The 30 was released in 1983 and had an autofocus feature for one lens only, this is not that lens. The right lens for autofocusing can also use a trigger mechanism. I have seen those for sale on eBay, and I can see why they could be useful, but not without the right lens. The f2/f4 button on the front of the body is also for that lens, but again, kind of useless to me without it. Unlike the OM10, this version has a manual speed selector built in. The viewfinder also tells you the speed selection for the auto setting. Another cool tool in the viewfinder is the green, yes it is focused square. If you are not in focus there is a red arrow, telling you which way to turn the barrel. This tool would be linked to the focusing trigger if I had one.

For me, it is a bit superfluous but still cool. You can find more technical details here, plus a photo of the autofocus lens.

I enjoyed using it. Even with the lens, it is light and small, I would compare it to the Pentax ME Super. I think I prefer the Pentax though.

I took this camera with me on a drive around some snowy shrines. Here are my test shots.

A lovely walk and a lovely camera, with a super lens. A great find.