Olympus OM-2n
It would be a good compare the Olympus OM-2n with OM-1n that you have just used! That was the line Russell was spinning me. What he really meant was, I will keep giving you OM systems until you admit they are the greatest 35mm SLR ever made! Visually there isn’t that much difference, a few extra positions on the on/off switch; the asa dial of which I thought was a rather attractive feature was now an exposure compensation dial with the asa inset. Not much else really. Inside though it is a different beast, no longer an all manual camera where the batteries just powered the meter, this has an electronic shutter and a fancy pants metering system. Now, I am a technophobe and have no interest in writing techy reviews, but from what I can gather from a quick read and ear wigging a conversation between Erik and Sandeep, when in auto/aperture priority; it meters as normal then at that split second you press the shutter it meters off some fancy pants panel behind the film and makes the precise adjustment! My head exploded at this point so I just settled for knowing it should be good.
The unit I had in particular had just had a full professional service and was in very good condition, I noted Olympus had accidentally put the shutter speed selector around the lens mount again so some fumbling would be inevitable. A standard 50mm f1.8 lens was mounted on the front with a hood and a few filters to play with. I loaded the second half of the Kentmere 400 left over from last time, I again rated this at 250 for like for like comparison of the OM-1 set, this time I would be developing in Bergger PMK stain developer in the hope of taming the ugly grain.
The week chosen to run the test roll was bookended by storm Dennis and Jorge, wet and wind and interspersed by a bout of illness. I got it done though, I didn’t get down into the low shutter speeds but they sound spot on. I used both meter options with manual and aperture priority. Again I found the experience very satisfying, a sweet little camera indeed. Looking at the results I can’t see a lot of difference on the meters, suffice to say it meter very well indeed. The PMK worked well at calming the grain to where I personally can live with it, well worth little experimentation.
Which is better? OM1n or OM2n? Its a personal choice, both are very good. I gather the latter is very good for slide film, the former probably suits the traditionalist. I fully expect an OM3 next, the natural progression, right?
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By Ashley
