Olympus OM-1 Card Slot Settings: Standard, Auto Switch, and Dual Modes

The Olympus OM-1 has two SD card slots. It’s not required that you fill both of them — the camera will work just fine with only one SD card. But there are advantages do filling them both.

Specifically, it gives you flexibility on how the slots are used. You can:

• Record only to a specific card
• Record in sequence, starting on one card and them automatically moving onto the next one when the first one is full
• Save two versions of each image with different sizes and compression ratios, one type to each card
• Save duplicate versions of each image as a real-time backup

Here’s a rundown of the options you have for choosing how the memory card slots behave when you have both of them filled.

Changing the card slot settings on the Olympus OM-1

You can find this setting on the camera’s menu under:

Wrench/Spanner Icon > 1. Card/Folder/File > Card Slot Settings

It’s right next to the card formatting setting.

Card slot setting options on the Olympus OM-1

Standard

This is the default setting. It records only to the designated card. This sometimes causes confusion (including for me), because it won’t roll over automatically to the next card when the first card fills up (which is, to me, a more logical default setting).

Auto Switch

This will automatically roll over to the second card when the first card fills up.

Dual Independent Down

Saves to both cards applying their respective settings. If one card becomes full, the other cannot be saved to either.

Dual Independent Up

Saves to both cards applying their respective settings. Even if one card becomes full, the other can be saved to.

Dual Same Up

Saves to both cards applying same settings. Even if one card becomes full, the other card still be saved to.

Dual Same Down

Saves to both cards applying same settings. If one card becomes full, the other cannot be saved to either.

SD cards for the Olympus OM-1

I’ve put together a much more detailed post on recommendations for SD cards for the Olympus for the OM-1 separately. But here’s the quick version.

The OM-1 has two SD card slots. It’s not required to fill both slots — the camera will work just fine with only one memory card — but there are advantages to doing so.

You can use SDHC or SDXC. As a practical matter, SDXC cards are probably the more logical choice simply because that designation applies to SD cards with storage capacities of 64GB and up.

Both SD card slots in the OM-1 are UHS-II slots. So to take full advantage of the camera’s capabilities, it makes sense to use UHS-II SD cards in this camera.

Price & availability of the Olympus OM-1

The Olympus OM-1 has an MSRP of $2199 for the body. It’s also available bundled with an impressive OM SYSTEM M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO II kits lens (MSRP of $2799 on the bundle).

Olympus OM-1 accessories

These are the model numbers for the official accessories for the Olympus OM-1.

• Battery: BLX-1 lithium-ion rechargeable battery
• External Charger: BCX-1 (or SBCX-1, which includes a spare battery)
• USB-AC Adapter: F-7AC AC wall adapter
• Grip/Extended Battery Holder: HLD-10 grip
• Remote: RM-WR1 wireless remote control
• Eyecup: EP-18
• Flash:
  • FL-LM3 electronic flash (the smallest of the flash units)
  • FL-900R electronic flash unit
  • FL-700WR electronic flash unit
  • STF-8 macro flash
  • FC-WR wireless commander
  • FR-WR wireless receiver

Related

• SD card recommendations for the Olympus OM-1