Olympus I S - 1

[desertratt]

I recently managed to acquire an Olympus I S -1 SLR through a sort of a blunder on my part. I have two other Olympus cameras, a digital and a film, and generally find the Olympus lenses to be fine. Anyone have experience with this unusual item I picked up and the built-in zoom it has?

[TheFlyingCamera]

Great optics - I've seen plenty of shots taken with them. Somewhat limited with the zoom range (no wider than 35mm without an accessory wide-angle lens), big, heavy, and generally kind of slow to operate (zoom is slow, as is auto-focus). As long as you're not trying to shoot action shots, they're fine, though.

[flatulent1]

I had an IS-1 back when it was still available new, kept it for only a few months. The concept was pretty cool, but it just wasn't flexible enough so I sold it. I bought an IS-3 last year, essentially the same camera, nothing's changed in 20 years except I'm older and more open-minded. The camera is rather slow to operate, but the optics are excellent, as is the metering, color fidelity, etc. I think it's certainly worth blowing a few rolls of film through, just for the experience if nothing else.

[desertratt]

Hey, dudes, thanks. It is such a "zoomy" looking camera I could not resist bidding on it. I have more than a dozen film cameras but nothing that looks quite like this one. I simply adore old Canon rangefinders and love my Yashica LYNX 14. I also bought an old MinoltaSLR this week, too. Gotta stop....

[flatulent1]

Yeah, I know, I have a small but growing accumulation of oddities myself. Two that bear avoiding are the Canon Photura (lousy image quality; I gave mine away and never want to see it again) and Minolta Riva Zoom 105i (set it on an outdoor cafe table in passing and kept going). The IS-1, 2, and 3 are gems by comparison.

[TheFlyingCamera]

The better IS in the IS system for all-around shooting is the IS-10. It had a 28-110 zoom and was more compact than the 1/2/3. Still not a sports shooter, but reasonable. And the zoom and focus were somewhat faster.

[flatulent1]

Dammit, now you have me hankering after yet another camera!

Resist the urge. Resist the urge. Resist...

[TheFlyingCamera]

You should be able to pick up an IS-10 for below $50.

[flatulent1]

You're not helping any!

[TheFlyingCamera]

Here- even better, and Olympus IS-50 (newer, slightly longer zoom range):

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem...temID=11460922

it could be yours for $6 plus shipping!