Hi, Olympians! I just bought, on 10-day trial and a 3-month warrantee, an
OM-2 with 2 lenses. I got it from a local repairman with a good
reputation. I've been reading some of the excellent Olympus FAQs and
information on the Web. I'll be running some film through it in the next
few days. Meantime, I'm looking for a little more information from people
who've actually used the same equipment. Let me describe the equipment, and
then I'll ask a few questions.
The body is an OM-2, with the pre-1978 heavily center-weighted meter
pattern on the shutter. It looks almost new. The shutter sounds clean and
the slow speeds sound right.
Unfortunately, I just found two things wrong with it:
1. I noticed some inconsistencies between Auto and Manual meter readings,
and after playing with the camera for a while, I think I know why. The
meter switch is probably dirty or bad in some way. On "Auto," the meter
will sometimes go up and down 1 to 2.5 stops' worth when the camera is
pointed at the same spot on a blank wall. This occurs at light levels
ranging from a sunlit house wall to typical indoor room lighting. The
"Check" LED blinks or goes off randomly when the switch is in the "Check"
position, and I can make it do this by moving the switch slightly back and
forth.
2. The self-timer "creeps" even when set but not yet started, so I have to
hold the lever fully downwards until I'm ready to start it running.
Otherwise, I only get 4-5 seconds delay instead of 12.
Obviously, these must be fixed or I'm not keeping the camera.
The normal lens has the following inscription: OLYMPUS OM-SYSTEM G.ZUIKO
AUTO-S 1:1.4 F=50mm 366340. This lens is in mint condition, no scratches,
no marks, no wear, controls are smooth as silk. I don't know if it
originally came with the camera or not. I don't know if it is
multi-coated. If I look at reflections from a standard 60w incandescent
light bulb, the reflection from the front element is yellow, and internal
reflections are yellow, violet and light blue.
The wide angle lens has the following inscription: OLYMPUS OM-SYSTEM
G.ZUIKO AUTO-W 1:2.8 F=35mm 132276. The lens may have been dropped with a
filter present (or perhaps a filter was cross-threaded). The ouside of the
filter ring appears *very* slightly out of circular, just counterclockwise
of the word "AUTO." There are four tiny burrs on the threads, and four
corresponding marks on the metal face of the lens just outside the word
"AUTO." However, I can install and remove 49mm filters without binding.
The lens has a tiny bit of circular play, maybe 0.25 mm, if I hold the
silver depth-of-field scale and attempt to rotate the filter ring. The
focusing mount is pretty smooth, though not totally like new--infinity to 3
ft. has slightly less friction than the rest of the range. Ditto the f-stop
ring.
What I paid: $249 for the OM-2 body, $70 for the 50mm f/1.4, and $106 for
the 35mm f/2.8. I also got (thrown in) a neck strap, a couple of skylight
filters, a polarizer, caps, and a flash extension cord.
I picked Olympus for several reasons:
1. Optical quality--Zuikos have an excellent reputation.
2. OMs have the nicest, brightest SLR viewfinder I've seen, and it's
better than many for a glasses wearer.
3. Quiet, reliable electronic shutter.
4. Light weight
Now, the questions:
* Most important: If the repairman will fix the meter switch and self
timer without charge, should I keep the body, or are the problems
sufficient evidence that I should stay away from this body?
* If I return the body, should I keep the lenses and look for another OM body?
* Are my lenses multi-coated? One article said if you see green
reflections, they are, another said green or blue. I see some blue and
violet reflections internally, but no green, and the primary reflection off
the front element is yellow. Maybe someone can tell from the lens
inscription, serial number and reflection descriptions above.
* If the lenses are not multicoated, how much difference will it really
make in practical terms? I don't usually shoot straight into the sun or
into bare light bulbs, and I always use a lens hood.
* Looking over the lens tests on the Web, the 50mm f/1.4 has tested out so
many different ways that it can be anything from a dog to a diamond :-)
Some of the Modern Photography numbers are really off the wall, and I don't
know how to compare 1970s and 1984+ figures. I do some indoor work without
flash, and it's very cloudy in Seattle 9 months of the year. Is the f/1.4
OK for general photography, or would I be better off trying to get a f/1.8
instead (the dealer has several, I haven't seen them yet).
* Up until now, I've been using an old Leica screw-mount IIIf with 35mm
f/3.5 Summaron, 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor, and 90mm f/4 Elmar. (No, they are NOT
for sale). There are many inconveniences to this old system, and it's just
not worth adjusting the shutter every year any more. How will my Zuikos
compare, optically, to my c. 1950 Leitz and Nikkor rangefinder lenses?
* How cold can it get before the silver oxide batteries' voltage drops
enough to make the shutter unreliable?
* What speed does the shutter operate in when the meter is in the "off"
position (it appears to work)? This is distinct from when there are no
batteries at all, and the camera won't work.
* The OM-2 body has the letters "MD" at the lower right section of the body
faceplate. What does this mean? Did the camera originally have a motor
drive?
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
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- Peter - : | | | | | | | |
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