Olympus OM-2n

[IK13]

Got one of these yesterday.

How in the world do you hold this cute little SLR steady? 😡
With 100mm/2.8 I'm all over the place...

 

[oscroft]

Got one of these yesterday.
How in the world do you hold this cute little SLR steady?
With 100mm/2.8 I'm all over the place...

Many congrats - the OM2n is my favourite SLR (although the OM1n is close). And the Zuiko 100/2.8 is possibly my favourite ever SLR lens.

As for holding it steady, are you new to SLRs? The standard way to hold it is to cup the lens (and so take the weight of the camera) in your left hand (using the fingers of your left hand for changing the aperture, and in the case of an Olympus SLR, the shutter speed too), and then hold your right hand around the shutter release for shooting and winding. The pics at the top of the page here show the classic SLR hold.

 

[shadowfox]

Got one of these yesterday.

How in the world do you hold this cute little SLR steady? 😡
With 100mm/2.8 I'm all over the place...

hmmm, the OM2 is small but quite heavy.
The 100mm/2.8 is very compact but also not feather-like.

So it should be steady already.

Are you one of those Big and Tall guys? 🙂

 

[IK13]

Are you one of those Big and Tall guys? 🙂

Yup, I am.
And no - this is not at all my first SLR . It is my first Olympus SLR though...

I just can't get a comfortable grip on the camera to hold it steady. No matter what I do the strap pin and the self-timer seems to remind me too much of themselves...

 

[BillBingham2]

Add a winder to it. It bulks and makes it heavier, it up but does help.

I'm not big or tall, but did not go with the OM-1 back in 75 because it did not feel as good as the Nikkormat FTn did. I have an OM-1 now and it still just feels too small. Smaller than my M6 come to think of it.

B2 (;->

 

[windraider]

If you got big hands & long fingers, suggest that you put the palm of your left hand at the base of the camera and use your thumb & index finger to control focusing, aperture & shutter speed when necessary. Right hand - thumb cocked behind film advance lever, index finger on shutter release, middle & ring finger + palm gripping on the right side of the camera (little finger dangling like holding a teacup🙂 )

It takes a little practice to get use to the small body, kinda of like a mini RF camera where you focus with one finger.

But it sure is alot of fun to surprise others by pulling out a full system slr from a small pouch or coat pocket when all they were suspecting was a point & shoot😀 .

 

[Bill58]

Maybe you could try one of the leicagoodies.com slings? I use them on my Nikon EMs.

 

[nobbylon]

shhhh, you will drive prices up! Over the last couple of months i've managed to get a great kit together, OM1, OM1n(black), 24, 50(f1.4), 85(f2), and a lovely 180(2.8) all for less than it would cost for a user M3 body.
ps thanks to Tim and Joe for the lenses I've had from you both.

 

[wongyboi]

My OM-2N, 35mm f/2 and 50mmf/1.8 are on the way. Wanted a 50 f/1.4 but for the price i snagged these up I'm quite happy.

 

[Sonnar2]

If you don't like small SLRs then obviously OLYMPUS is a wrong choice. The lenses are also quite expensive because of rarer number than, say Pentax or Nikon. I'm not quite sure about their quality in total comparison. Pentax also have small compact lenses (SMC-M) but usually the (earlier) larger build SMC-K gains higher rep. As a lens designer you have to die one death, either you can compromize weight vs. optical correction or vice versa. You can't optimize both at a time...

 

[oscroft]

The lenses are also quite expensive because of rarer number than, say Pentax or Nikon

That's not my experience - one of the reasons I went for OM rather than Nikon is because Zuiko lenses in great condition can be had from eBay for significantly less money that Nikkors. There also doesn't seem to be a lot of difference in price between Zuiko lenses and Pentax ones.

 

[shadowfox]

As a lens designer you have to die one death, either you can compromize weight vs. optical correction or vice versa. You can't optimize both at a time...

Is that so? then the 85/2 Zuiko must be a magical lens then 🙂, because it's very small, light, and the quality of pictures from it is amazing. Yes, I've compared it with Nikkor 85/1.8, the Zuiko wins.

And wait, it doesn't stop there, have you tried the 100/2.8 and compare it with other manufacturer's 100/2.8 (or 3.5 for that matter) ?

 

[Sonnar2]

The Nikkor 1.8/85 is a nice portrait lens, but was a living dinosaur at its time, both in volume and lens design..
On the other hand, the Oly 85/2 is mostly used with portaiture too. Great optical correction isn't what you need there, even top-models looking ugly shot with "perfect" corrected lenses. And just design-wise, you cant expect much from a 5-element Ernostar at f/2. But they did everything right with the lens. Zeiss two years earlier than Olympus made a severe mistake to offer their great Rolleiflex-Sonnar just with f/2.8 in order not to sell something overstretched... as far as tests and comparisons are concerned I found some results somewhere on the web which sounds realistic to me... therefore, to me (as a potential byuer not a seller) 🙂 Olympus glass looks quite good rated.. my Nikkor Non-AI lenses of the late sixties (great to use even with AE on the Nikkormat EL) were the cheapest I ever bought...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Is that so? then the 85/2 Zuiko must be a magical lens then 🙂, because it's very small, light, and the quality of pictures from it is amazing. Yes, I've compared it with Nikkor 85/1.8, the Zuiko wins.

And wait, it doesn't stop there, have you tried the 100/2.8 and compare it with other manufacturer's 100/2.8 (or 3.5 for that matter) ?

I have the Zuijo 100 f2.8 and 85 f2 lenses as well as the AF-Nikkor 85 f1.8. The Zuiko 100 and the Nikkor 85 are both sharper than the Zuiko 85, but the Zuiko 85 has better bokeh then the nikkor and in my opinion makes nicer portraits. The 100 f2.8 Zuiko is an incredibly sharp lens, especially when they are going so cheap now compared to the 85, and it has nice bokeh too.