(Extracted from the 10th September 1994 edition of the weekly UK photo
magazine "Amateur Photographer". The "Woodbines" mentioned in the text are
a legendary brand of cancer stick (cigarette) that used to be available in
the UK. Review by Trevor Smith.)
Is it the coolest camera in the world, or an eccentric? AP examines the
appeal of the 20-year-old Olympus OM2.
Picture this: I'm in the shop, it's a very cold Tuesday morning, raining
moggies and mutts, when in walks a silver-haired lady who tells me she is
going on holiday, she has 60 UK pounds to spend, and wants an easy-to-use
camera.
I take my selling head out of its box, blow off the cobwebs, and start to
demo suitable cameras. Everything went well until I showed her an Olympus
AF2S. I was not prepared for what happened next -- I was into my
easy-to-load routine when suddenly she said: "David Bailey uses one of
these, doesn't he?"
I wasn't going to be thrown off my stride that easily, but she came at me
again: "He does though, doesn't he? I've seen him on TV". I couldn't
breathe. I knew that if I laughed I would lose the sale, but afterwards
when I had time to think about it I realised what a powerful ad campaign
Olympus had run during the 1970's.
Olympus ads made every Olympus owner feel superior to other camera owners
(except perhaps Leica users). While Olympus owners were the suave,
sophisticated type, Nikon users were usually Woodbine-puffing,
brown-ale-supping press hacks. You were somebody if you had an OM2 -- you
could go into the big department stores: "I'm sorry, your American Express
card is no good here. Oh! Olympus OM2, that'll do nicely".
Patrick Lichfield, David Bailey, and Chris Bonnington were all users --
Olympus people were cool, successful, led terribly exciting lives, and if
you bought an OM2 you were part of this jetset.
I remember the first ads for the OM2. Though I'd never seen one in the
flesh, it was the camera my ego needed. I was the sad owner of a Practica
L2, my credibility needed an uplift, and I thought my life wouldn't be
complete until I owned one.
How would you describe an OM2 to a non-camera user? Well, the design is
slightly eccentric; if you were to compare a car with this camera it would
have to be a Citroen from the same period -- well built but a touch odd.
Take the shutter speed dial, for instance. It's around the lens mount, not
a new idea but a little strange. Fire the shutter after you have removed
the batteries and you are into reset-shutter-and-mirror territory -- very
strange. And where is the hotshoe? Oh yes, here it is, it's in my pocket --
very, very strange. What's going on in the viewfinder? When turned to
autoexposure a match needle and shutter-speed display show speeds from 1
second to 1/1000 second. However, when you switch to manual the needle
stays but the display changes; all the speeds disappear leaving just a
plus/minus -- cor! my brain hurts...
A potted history of the camera goes like this. It was introduced at
Photokina in 1974, but didn't filter through to world markets until late
1975. It has similar body dimensions to its sister camera, the OM1.
Despite having automatic exposure as well as being fully manual, it is only
slightly heavier than the OM1. The meter reads the exposure required off a
special reflective pattern on the first shutter blind (and from the film
surface during long exposures) when used in automatic mode (aperture
priority).
The metering system uses two CdS sensors to estimate the shutter speed, but
also has two silicon blue sensors that read the light reflected off the
first shutter blind, or off the film when long exposures are used. During
manual exposure, only the CdS sensors are used. The shutter is
electronically controlled and will not work without batteries. If the
shutter is fired with the batteries removed, or the batteries are dead, the
camera locks up and needs to be reset before replacements are fitted. This
involves pressing the reset button, which is located below the lens behind
the shutter-speed control.
Shutter speeds are 1 second to 1/1000 second in manual, and 60 seconds to
1/1000 second in auto mode. The camera has a clockwork self-timer but no
mirror lock up facility, which is surprising as the OM1 had one. Flash sync
speed is 1/60 second, which seems leisurely now but was adequate at the
time. A dedicated flash existed, but to attach the gun to the camera via
the accessory shoe you had first to attach the shoe to the camera: it
screwed into a socket on top of the pentaprism. A flash sync socket allowed
a flash to be fired off-camera.
The OM2 was well catered for on the accessory front with a 250 film back,
Recordata back, motordrive, slide copier, auto bellows, and a wide choice of
lenses ranging from 8mm to 1000mm. For shooting architecture a shift lens
was available, and for close-ups a macro lens was available.
You probably know the brand name of Olympus lenses is Zuiko, but did you
know that in Japan Zuiko means "blissful light"? Where I come from in
Manchester, if someone says anything remotely like Zuiko there is usually a
large amount of alcohol involved.
In March 1979 the OM2 evolved into the OM2N -- basically the same camera
with only a few minor upgrades. In February 1985 its final guise was the
OM2SP -- this version featured spot metering and a program mode. This
camera was as eccentric as its predeccessors; the spot meter can only be
used when the camera is switched to manual. The bitter end came in October
1987 when production ceased.
The OM4Ti has now taken its place, leaving the OM2 as history, but it
shouldn't be discarded and ignored. For all its eccentricities this camera
is a beaut -- there is always room for something of true class in this
world, and this classic still holds its head up with the best. It was
always a favourite with the fashion photographers, and like an old pair of
jeans it is still comfortable and you don't want to part with it. Apart
from your electronic wonder autofocus SLR, it can still run ahead of the
pack and with the quality of build should be able to do so for some time to
come.
It was entitled to call itself a pro camera, and if only Olympus could have
found somewhere to hang the mobile phone maybe it could have become a
favourite with the yuppies and extended its production life. I never owned
on OM2 -- I couldn't afford one, and several cameras later I became a
Woodbine puffer. What happened to my old silver-haired lady? She bought
the AF2S.
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