OM, I've become a Zuikoholic!

A friend is getting re-married next month and wants me to photograph his wedding on film but wants nothing too fancy or too dear on my part, so I decided to go with Oly OM 35mm gear instead of the Hassy and Mamiya C330 of my wedding photography days of the 1980s and 1990s.

I want something lightweight in the camera bag of SLRdoom.

I figure two OM1 bodies, a 50mm lens and a 28mm lens and maybe the 85mm, plus two flash units and plenty of medium speed colour film should round out the kit. I will break my own rule and "No tripod" for this shoot, for portability's sake.
Good luck and enjoy it!
 
I didn't realise the om would work on the nikon mount thought it wouldn't reach infinity?

there is a difference of roughly 0.5mm between the two, the other way around would be iffy though.

the flange focal distance of the OM mount is 46mm and the F mount is 46.5mm.
 
A friend is getting re-married next month and wants me to photograph his wedding on film but wants nothing too fancy or too dear on my part, so I decided to go with Oly OM 35mm gear instead of the Hassy and Mamiya C330 of my wedding photography days of the 1980s and 1990s.

I want something lightweight in the camera bag of SLRdoom.

I figure two OM1 bodies, a 50mm lens and a 28mm lens and maybe the 85mm, plus two flash units and plenty of medium speed colour film should round out the kit. I will break my own rule and "No tripod" for this shoot, for portability's sake.

Hi,

At the last one I did, a long, long time ago, my wife wandered about with the XA2 and got some excellent shots that I could never have got. I guess the XA2 isn't so intimidating as a 'big' SLR.

Regards, David
 
An OM-1 with 50mm 1.8 popped on a local classifields at 50€, with an easy haggle down to 40€. I am debating on and off whether getting it.
That cash lets me shoot a bit of film, and my original body has an overdue CLA. Still, these cameras are nice jewels but it also may require its own overhaul.

Must resist the GAS. I regret missing out on an OM2 w/ 50 1.4 kit for 30€, dang. Perhaps I'll keep thinking until it's gone for good, ha! I'm still seeing P.Giannakis' 15GBP OM deal!
All 35mm I shoot on an F80 but it doesn't have he classic feeling.
 
I bought an OM2n with 50mm 1.8 mij months ago and my affinity for the camera was almost immediate once I got the 1-4 screen and a metal lens hood (1.8 isn't great at flare control). The camera's a near perfect piece of engineering imo so it's very hard for me to find any fault with it other than the lack of an AE lock and the difficulty of seeing the meter at night. The meter on this camera is unbelievable...I've learned to trust it wholeheartedly. Here are a few photos from the summer that I uploaded to flickr. All scanned on a v600.



Rabbit by ColinG., on Flickr

TheCatalpa by ColinG., on Flickr

TheParkWoods by ColinG., on Flickr

A 50mm 1.4 lens (>1.1 million) and the 1-10 screen are on their way this week. I read about and/or ogle Olympus OM gear online everyday...Zuikoholicism has become a perversion of sorts, one that grows the more I use and ogle my OM2n.
 
OM gear is the only equipment that gives me GAS. I really don't need another OM body, but there is an OM3 with 50mm 1.4 on my local craigslist for $350. I'm really having a hard time not adding it to my kit.
 
Taken with OM-2 and 50mm f1.4
med_U61496I1483910746.SEQ.0.jpg
 
I came upon a post about a soft release doing damage to an Olympus OM2n shutter mechanism and from further searching, found this: http://zuiko.com/web_5__20150924_029.htm on John Hermanson's site.

I've been using a soft release on my OM2n since summer of 2016. I may stop, though the camera feels incomplete without it. If a soft release can damage, can a cable release do the same? I have recently gotten into night photography where I exclusively use a cable release. Thoughts?
 
I came upon a post about a soft release doing damage to an Olympus OM2n shutter mechanism and from further searching, found this: http://zuiko.com/web_5__20150924_029.htm on John Hermanson's site.

I've been using a soft release on my OM2n since summer of 2016. I may stop, though the camera feels incomplete without it. If a soft release can damage, can a cable release do the same? I have recently gotten into night photography where I exclusively use a cable release. Thoughts?
Thanks for the link.
I didn't know a soft release could do that and that explains why I saw a broken latch in an OM-1. I had to change it and it isn't an easy task.
I've used a soft release in the past in other cameras and couldn't get used to it or see any benefit to it. It only adds height and I was loosing sensibility to the point I was pressing the shutter a moment later than intended.
So, I don't recommend you use it.
 
Hello. I have and using two OM2 cameras and few beautiful lenses but spot metering and brighter meter reading in viewfinder of OM4 sounds like it would be very helpful to me (n low light situations I cannot see meter needle in my OM2). But I have no any expirience with it so if someone have it would be great to hear how exactly functions spot metering in OM4 and is it complicated to use?
I had OM1 and now OM2 and these cameras are joy to use especially with beautiful 50 1.4, 24 2.8 and 85 f2.0
Thanks
 
Hi. The OM4 meters the same as the OM2, average, unless you push the spot meter button. The spot you choose in your picture will be exposed as middle grey (in black and white terms), so if you choose to spot meter someone's face in a backlit situation, the face will appear well-exposed, while overexposing the surrounding area in the picture. This is a basic explanation of spot metering.
By the way, if you are buying an OM4 try and find out if it has an upgraded circuit ( the battery-check beep doesn't time out after 30 seconds), otherwise you will be buying a lot of batteries.
The newer model OM4T(i) doesn't have this problem.
Cheers,
Jan
 
Hello. I have and using two OM2 cameras and few beautiful lenses but spot metering and brighter meter reading in viewfinder of OM4 sounds like it would be very helpful to me...

Another (cheaper) option is an OM-2S (or OM-2SP, same thing). Despite the 2 in the name, it is a later camera that uses the OM4 chassis but with a simplified spot light meter. The OM-4 has a mutil-spot mode that lets you trigger it multiple times (this has advantages in complete lighting situations). The OM-2S is just a regular spot (works just as Jajong described it).

Also, just like the 4 (or 3, which is identical to the 4 except that it uses a mechanical shutter instead of electronically timed) is that if you leave it in Auto mode, it'll do scene averaging just like your OM-2. If you want scene averaging but with full manual, just half press the shutter in Auto mode and it will read out the light value in the view finder, then you switch to manual mode. It's very simple and quick - obviously I'm a big fan.

I don't know if all the 2S or SP models got the circuit upgrade, but I think they did (someone correct me). Mine is pretty good on batteries; no camera that uses SR44 batteries is great, they just don't hold that much electricity. On the plus side you can buy energizer "357/303" batteries in 5 packs off amazon for the price of a single SR44 at my local pharmacy, and they take up no room in a camera bag so there's no reason not to have plenty of spares with you.
 
Thank you very much guys, this is exactly kind of information ive been looking for.I am familiar with spot metering on digi cameras but wanted to know how it works on OM4. Thing is I have offered OM4 body and winder for great price but I am undecided because I allready have enough OM2 bodys but,....spot, 3200 iso and illuminated meter needle would be very handy to have on OM so....:)
 
Hi,

The OM-4 spot metering can do a clever trick; if you think the wife/girlfriend's face is more important than the background then you can take 2 spot readings on her face and one on a typical bit of background and it will average them out for you with - obviously - twice as much emphasis on her face. It will take and hold and average up to eight readings.

Regards, David
 
David Hughes that sounds interesting. I did not tested it to see if it has the upgraded power but I had very little time so I drove for a half hour to a guy who is selling this camera and then he told me that suddenly it wont fire the shutter allthou he said before that it is in perfect condition! Grrrrrr
 
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