I do not take battery-dependent vintage cameras on
trips, as time is not forgiving regarding old circuits. The Olympus Om-2n is
one of these cameras that have a great reputation for its unique metering
system and mine had worked very well the few times I have used it. So this
weekend I left the older all-mechanical Om-1 on the shelf, loaded the Om-2 with
100ASA Arista EDU film, and took along the Zuiko 50mm 1.4 and Zuiko 100mm 2.8
for a test of the Om-2 meter.
Here are the two legendary cameras that revolutionised
the size of an SLR in the 1980s. I had always felt like holding a rangefinder,
not a vintage SLR, camera when I tried the Om-2n after using the Om-1.
My experiment was to test how the 50mm 1.4 would
perform outdoor on a sunny day opened to f2.0 and f 2.8 by challenging the
electronic metering system even if the shutter goes to only 1/1000th
of a second. To further the “manipulation” of camera and film, I pushed the 100
ASA film to ASA 200, and set the exposure compensation to -1.
The performances were outdoor, in areas between the
Arts center’s building so there was enough shade and sunlight to also test the latitude
forgiveness of the Arista film. I specifically aimed at compositions that would
encompass the transition of gray, as well as enhance the black tones through
the pushing of the ASA setting from 100 to 200.
A. The
photo atop the page: I saw few people using cameras as most used their phones.
Also, there seemed to be one official photographer carrying a belt full of
lenses and a digital camera. He was very professional and photogenic, so I
waited for the moment when both of these attributes came together.
I took this photo with the Zuiko 100mm at f2.8. It
was in full sun and he raised his camera to take a panoramic shot of the brass
band and the crow.
B. The
crowd listening to the brass band: Again taken with the Zuiko 100mm at f2.8, I
wanted to see how the background would be blurred by the lens wide open. The
edges are soft, as expected, and the metering of the full sun to shades is washed
out and problematic (see the shoes of the woman in the foreground.) I could
have burned that area during the exposure under the enlarger, but left it as is
since I was experimenting with the camera.
C. A
glimpse at the brass band: The sun was shining on the tuba and both the brass
on the reflected light on the player’s face gave the perfect test moment. The OM-2
electronic meter did delightfully well to produce a vintage photo with a
vintage film.
D. The
Zuiko 50mm and the singer in the shade of two buildings: I took this one at
f2.0. There are no apparent distortions on the corners, although the shoes of
the singer are washed out... But I like the contrast, the brick wall, and the
transition of the gray to black.
E. The
photographer, again! Well, since I
started with the photographer, it is only appropriate to end with him. This one
is with the 50mm at f1.4, and it shows the depth of field challenges using a
fast lens. I was about to take a second photo of the singer as she was
finishing her song, and the photographer rushed in front of me as if to be in
the photo as well. Interestingly, the woman’s arm in the air complements well
with the photo I had taken of the photographer with both his arms up holding
his camera.
Was my experiment worthwhile?
I think so.
First, the vintage character the Zuiko lenses
produce is delightful. I had used the 100mm lens on my Om-1 before, but rarely
needed to use the 50mm f1.4 to replace the pancake size 50mm f1.8, which is
lighter and sharper than the f1.4 nut not adequate for most indoor shots on the
Ok-1.
Second, albeit the expected softness on the edges,
both lenses did remarkably well wide open in the outdoors. The sharpness of the
lens, from an “artistic” point of view, is more than acceptable t the center.
Third, the metering system is indeed amazingly more
sophisticated than the old center-weighted selenium meter on the Om-1 which
became popular in 1969 with the Nikon F. Work can be done in the darkroom to
address some of the transition of grays, but there is no comparison with the
metering of the Om-2n.
One issue remains: Why the camera and lenses did not
like the shoes of the women in my photos?
And that, surely requires another testing session.
September 13, 2026
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2026
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