A collector's item?
When this camera came out. It created quite a stir. Even today, this camera doesn't look old.
The O-Product came out in 1988. It is a pretty new concept for a new camera to be labeled as a designer item and sold in limited edition. Under the hood it is based on a very simple Olympus P&S model. The price however is much higher than its mass market sibling.
I knew about this camera before it went into market and I had the opportunity to get one. I actually passed. I hated to become one of those “collectors” who only put their cameras on a display case and never shoot anything with them. What a waste. I later on came across with a few used O-Product in Hong Kong for fair prices. It was around 1996. I looked at this camera again and think, heck, it is still a very cool camera. I knew at that time if I waited again it will be more and more difficult to get one. So I got it.
For the record I did shot quite a few rolls of film with this camera. I didn’t use it much because the aluminum body is prone to all kinds of scratch and dings. To my knowledge this is probably the only camera body with an aluminum case. This camera and the Ecru are the only “collector’s” cameras I bought but didn’t use much. If Olympus decides to make a digital O-Product I’ll be the first in line to get one… but please, make it in titanium this time.
Lens cover
The bold lever in the front opens and closes the lens cover.
The flash unit is simply beautiful