Pretty nice looking except for that scratched in name on the back.
Can't complain about the price either. But it might be wise to send it
to John for a CLA. It'll come back working like new for sure... smooth.
The 2s has what you'll see in Gary Reese's lens tests
<http://web.archive.org/web/20050208000949/members.aol.com/olympusom/lenstests/default.htm>
as "mirror and aperture pre-fire". When the camera is put on self-timer
(a constant 10 seconds) the mirror and aperture activation arm are
released when the shutter button is depressed. As Gary discovered in
his tests, shooting with an OM-1 with mirror lock-up didn't help much
with vibration... especially with the 200/4 which seems to have a
sympathetic vibration. The real vibration culprit is not the mirror but
the aperture arm. Releasing both 10 seconds before the shutter fires as
the OM-2s does allows all vibrations to completely settle down before
the shutter opens. And, as someone else mentioned already, wet ware
(hands pressing down on top of the camera) or a bean bag or what have
you can also help if you can't use the self-timer.
One very important point for OM-2s users is never to use alkaline
batteries. Always use silver oxide. The 2s is the beginning of OM
cameras that have no off switch. Since they are *always* on they fit
Maitani's ideal of having a camera that's always ready to take a
picture. However, Olympus had not yet figured out how to make a really
low drain circuit until the OM-4T. The OM-2s and the OM-4 (but not the
T or Ti) have relatively high drain circuits. If you use alkaline
batteries (even when the camera is sitting on the shelf) their voltage
level drops fairly rapidly and falls below the minimum voltage the
camera's battery checker is looking for. But silver oxide batteries are
built specifically for the type of application (like watches and these
cameras) which are putting a small but constant drain on the battery.
Even though they may not be able to deliver much current silver oxide
batteries maintain their nominal voltage right up until they just fall
over dead.
If you put alkaline batteries in an OM-2s you can expect them to go
(apparently) dead within about 6 weeks just sitting on the shelf. They
may still be able to power something else but the camera will consider
them goners. IIRC what JH told me, the camera needs a minimum of 2.2
volts. If you use silver oxide batteries you may get 6-9 months of use
rather than 6 weeks. I owned my 2s for 8 years and rarely used it
because I thought it had a short circuit. That was before I found this
list and discovered the importance of silver oxide batteries. Now you
know too. :-)
Chuck Norcutt
Nicholas Herndon wrote:
>> The following photograph illustrates the type of scene where an incident
>> meter is golden.
>
>> http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=468&Itemid=1
>
>
> Ah, meters are overrated! Sometimes I like to use print film and
> guess on the exposure, it makes shooting a whole lot more fun:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/pooroldpunch/3241162929/in/set-72157614019019494
> (Nikkormat FTn w/ Nikkor 28/3.5 non ai, Superia 100. metering: my
> eyes and some guesswork. looks overexposed by about a stop, stop and
> a half, but it ended up working for this particular photo.)
>
> Speaking of metering...
> So in a moment of weakness, I bought this:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380233327037&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
>
> I am keen on having a film camera capable of spot metering. I also
> like the fact that it has a built in hot shoe. I have also heard
> (from this list and elsewhere) that the OM-2s is one of the best OMs
> for controlling shutter vibration, while the OM-1 is one of the worst.
> Can anyone confirm or deny this? Also, how does the OM-2s do with
> low light exposures compared to the OM-2n, which is simply marvelous
> in this regard?
--
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