Condition: Excellent

Olympus OM-2 OM2 body (Faulty)

Excellent cosmetic condition, body jammed, meter etc working

Shutter will fire on a B setting only!!

Supplied with a Olympus body cap and neck strap

General Olympus OM-2 Information

OM-2 is the automatic version of the OM-1, presented officially in 1975 at the 31st Photo Salon in Paris. An OM-2 prototype was displayed in a showcase at the 1974 Photokina in Cologne, but none of its features were announced. Externally it is a close twin to the OM-1 (especially compared to later OM cameras) but the shutter is electronic and the exposure is either automatic (aperture priority) or metered-manual. As well, it introduces silicon blue diodes to the series--these are metering elements that operate faster than CdS cells and have a greater lens--this is necessary, as meter readings are taken very quickly in automatic mode.

The camera has a four-way switch on the top plate which selects between three shooting modes and activates the battery check. There is a manual mode and two automatic modes: "manual" is center-the-needle metered-manual, "auto" mode has full aperture-priority AE with slow speeds, and when the switch is in "off" position, the shutter will still fire in aperture-priority mode, but with the speed limited to about 1/30th or above to save battery, and there will be no metering indication in the viewfinder -- this is because the OM-2 has two sets of metering cells: those used to passively indicate the exposure information to the photographer, and those which are active during aperture-priority operation. When the camera is "off," the former set of cells are deactivated, but the latter set will still be activated during exposure.

The reason for the two sets of cells is this: while the former allow the exposure to be indicated for the photographer in both automatic and manual modes, the latter set actually determine the exact exposure in automatic mode. They are pointed backwards towards the shutter, and thus only operate while the mirror is up. The shutter curtain has a computer-generated pattern of white and black squares on it, representing an ideal weighting for a mathematically "average" photographic scene. Reflected light coming off this pattern allows the camera to meter the exposure when the mirror is up. When short speeds are indicated, the only significant metering is that done by reflected light off the curtain, as on the Leica M6. When longer speeds are indicated, (1/45th sec and longer) the camera will continue metering reflected light off the surface of the film and compensate for any variation of light; this is called off-the-film (OTF) metering.

There is a transparency held to one side of the focusing screen, with the shutter speed and two arrow marks which serves as the indicator for the meter needle: when in automatic mode, this transparency is slid mechanically all the way into frame and the needle shows the shutter speed that the preview cells anticipate will be selected. In manual mode, a small tab on the edge of the transparency is slid into the frame, showing the two arrow marks. Centering the needle between these two marks gives metered exposure using the preview cells, without involving the OTF cells. When the camera is in "off" mode, the needle is relaxed and the transparency is slid completely out of sight.

A small light on the back of the camera lights when the switch is pushed past "auto" into "check," assuming the batteries are fresh.

There is no AE lock for backlighting compensation--instead, the dial on top of the camera has been replaced with an exposure compensation dial (the film speed is set by a smaller dial inside this one, as on the shutter speed dials of many SLR's) which essentially allows the photographer to change the the metered film speed without losing track of the actual film speed. This is often necessary for backlit subjects in conditions where it is inconvenient to use manual mode. By overexposing a full stop from the metered exposure, a moderately backlit subject will be brought back into correct exposure.

Manual mode is identical in functionality to the OM-1, in that the needle will be centered between two marks when the combination of aperture and shutter speed matches the average light level of the scene (the compensation will still be applied). The camera meters wide open in this mode.

If the film is advanced while the shutter is open, the shutter will close and the mirror will lock up to indicate that there has been an error. If the mirror is locked up the shutter can be reset and the mirror unlocked by pushing the shutter dial past B to the "reset" position. This only applies to this original model of OM-2 (see below).

The exposure sensor also controls the flash exposure when using a compatible flash; this is called through-the-lens (TTL) flash automation or OTF flash exposure.

The OM-2 was the first camera to have OTF metering of any kind (a Minolta patent licensed to Olympus). The TTL flash automation greatly simplifies flash exposure, and was quickly adopted by most other SLR camera makers, while OTF metering was also adopted by some competitors, like the Pentax LX. The Olympus Quick Auto 310 flashgun was designed for the OM-2, which unfortunately is not compatible with the T series flash units introduced in 1979 together with the new OM-1n and OM-2n.

Camera House Price: £34.00

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The Olympus OM-2 OM2 body (Faulty) is shown in Spares & Repairs.

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