“I think you’re getting obsessed” my wife said when I told her about my latest impulse purchase, an Olympus OM2n. It was to good of a deal to pass up! She’s right though.
I had fallen in love with my bequeathed OM2 SP, but wanted to have the manual interface and functionality of the OM1 as well as some of the auto exposure electronics that the SP has. The OM2n seemed to deliver it all.
A kit had come up on a well known auction site with a best offer option and a buy it now price of £100.00 including a couple of Vivitar third party lenses (28mm and a 70-200 zoom) as well as the standard 50mm f1.8, an Olympus flash, all in a retro semi hard case and with a brown leather “ever-ready” case. It looked lovely, caught up in the moment I offered, first bid refused, second accepted. Oops! 😉
It all arrived safely, but with the potential for light seals needing replacement (I haven’t had this done as yet, and probably won’t till it’s absolutely necessary) and a sticky aperture on the 50mm all was well. After a full service on just the lens at Luton Camera Repair Service, all is now working beautifully. I’ve run a few rolls through this one so far, mostly colour, mostly Portra 400, making me even more impressed by the OM series generally. Since this addition to the family, I’ve picked up a bargain 50mm f1.4 as my standard lens, great for street portraits that I love doing when I get the opportunity. A couple are below.
The OM2n also has a few tricks up its sleeve too. Automatic slower shutter speeds up to 120 seconds for use in low light that you can’t get manually, for example. I’ve benefitted from the slow speeds on a dark workshop shoot in particularly low light that’s provided, in my opinion, satisfying results.
I have completely fallen for the OM range now. It is small enough to carry all day and a joy to operate, has one of the biggest, brightest viewfinders I’ve used, a smooth film advance and a most satisfying shutter sound. For the price these go for even fully serviced, I am smitten.
Now, how about looking for a nice OM1 to extend the line up…..
If you would like to keep in touch with my work, visit any of the following.
www.julianhiggsphoto.com
www.instagram.com/julian.higgs
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Robert M Gambill on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Djh on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Alex on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Comment posted: 19/12/2018
Neil on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 20/12/2018
Comment posted: 20/12/2018
Comment posted: 20/12/2018
Comment posted: 20/12/2018
Manuel on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 21/12/2018
I can make two recommandations: First: The foam above the pentaprism should be removed as soon as possible. After all these years since the camera was produced, the foam starts to disintegrate. The greasy foam particles damage the pentaprism coating. Second: It's always best to use silver oxide SR44 batteries because alkaline ones might burn the cameras meter. The SR44ones give a correct meter reading as well.
http://olympus.dementix.org/Hardware/tutorials/FoamRemoval/index.html
and a Tutorial on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HFpUX1NlJo
Comment posted: 21/12/2018
Lori Brooks on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 26/12/2018
My instagram has some pictures of the cameras as well as some of the other camera's in my expanding collection.
Tony Oresteen on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 26/12/2018
The OM-1 & OM-2 are solid cameras but they do need service now & then. The place to send them to is Camtech. John Hermanson used to work for Olympus and has worked on OM cameras for since 1977. John also ships internationally He now does it part time but it is well worth the wait to have John service your OM body. He's done all of mine & a few lenses & motor drives. When he services an OM-1 he converts the meter to use a 1.5V DC silver oxide battery.
http://www.zuiko.com/
[email protected]
Highly recommended. BTW, I'm just a customer of John's.
Comment posted: 26/12/2018
Camera Review Blog No. 120 – Olympus OM-2n – Alex Luyckx | Blog on 5 Frames With An Olympus OM2n SLR & Ilford HP5- By Julian Higgs
Comment posted: 01/06/2020