olympus om-1 and focusing screens/flip mirrors

i am fairly new to astronomy, and a absolute amateur to astrophotography,
but managed to get the bug and now have all the basic stuff, ie: scope,
olympus om-1, t-ring, etc.
the focusing screen that comes standard with the om-1 is way to matte for a
good view through the viewfinder. they say to either get the 1-8, 1-12, or
the beatte intenscreen. as these screens run upwards of 70.00 each, which is
the best (read clearest) to go after? the olympus versions are no longer
made i understand.
also, is a meade flip mirror worth the 250 dollar investment, or is there
another maker of flip mirrors out there less expensive, and will it solve
the focussing screen issues and make fosussing easier?
thanks.
john

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 00:12:05 GMT, "shawn o'deal" wrote:

i am fairly new to astronomy, and a absolute amateur to astrophotography,
but managed to get the bug and now have all the basic stuff, ie: scope,
olympus om-1, t-ring, etc.
the focusing screen that comes standard with the om-1 is way to matte for a
good view through the viewfinder. they say to either get the 1-8, 1-12, or
the beatte intenscreen. as these screens run upwards of 70.00 each, which is
the best (read clearest) to go after? the olympus versions are no longer
made i understand.
also, is a meade flip mirror worth the 250 dollar investment, or is there
another maker of flip mirrors out there less expensive, and will it solve
the focussing screen issues and make fosussing easier?
thanks.
john

I would say to clean and shine your OM-1 carefully and put it under a glass
display: that camera has a real historical value! It was the first widely
available ultra-compact high quality 35mm camera.

For the focussing screen, maybe you can find somewhere some mica or plexiglass
that you can cut to the correct dimension...

If you are that new to astro-photography, maybe you should try a CCD camera
first. Shorter exposure time ( more forgiving of small aligment errors ) and no
fussing with chemicals.
Good night!

Benoît Morrissette

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 00:12:05 GMT, "shawn o'deal" wrote:

i am fairly new to astronomy, and a absolute amateur to astrophotography,
but managed to get the bug and now have all the basic stuff, ie: scope,
olympus om-1, t-ring, etc.
the focusing screen that comes standard with the om-1 is way to matte for a
good view through the viewfinder. they say to either get the 1-8, 1-12, or
the beatte intenscreen. as these screens run upwards of 70.00 each, which is
the best (read clearest) to go after? the olympus versions are no longer
made i understand.
also, is a meade flip mirror worth the 250 dollar investment, or is there
another maker of flip mirrors out there less expensive, and will it solve
the focussing screen issues and make fosussing easier?
thanks.
john

I would say to clean and shine your OM-1 carefully and put it under a glass
display: that camera has a real historical value! It was the first widely
available ultra-compact high quality 35mm camera.

For the focussing screen, maybe you can find somewhere some mica or plexiglass
that you can cut to the correct dimension...

If you are that new to astro-photography, maybe you should try a CCD camera
first. Shorter exposure time ( more forgiving of small aligment errors ) and no
fussing with chemicals.
Good night!

Benoît Morrissette