New Toy!
Yep, got another Olympus camera. This deal was too good to pass up. Its the OMSP (spot/program). Quite similar to my OM2n, however this has a few extra nifty features. First of all the most obvious one is that it has a spot meter for tricky lighting conditions. Yeah, its not as advanced as modern day metered cameras, but its still pretty decent. I’ve managed fine without spot metering in the past, but this new addition will create a few more opportunities now. Secondly it has an an LCD meter display instead of the meter needle in the OM2n. This should make things a hell of alot easier when shooting at night, as it’s given me problems in the past. Also it has a built in hot shoe, as opposed to the removable ones that were prone to cracking (mine never has though). Plus a full auto and a program mode, which i’ll try out eventually. Oh and last but not least, its black, which is just cool 
All of this, and its still the same size as my OM2n. The OM2SP (or OM2S) have never gained the same popularity as the OM1(n),OM2(n),OM3Ti and OM4Ti series cameras. They have the reputation of being unreliable, or eating up batteries etc. But im not sure how accurate these claims are, and i’ve spoken to professional camera repairers who in their far greater experience than mine agree. It may of got this reputation because it’s more or less based on the OM4 which contains some circuitry that cannot really be replaced if it fails. Because of that, it all of a sudden becomes a camera prone to faults, which is false. They do drain batteris doing nothing however, but i never store mine with the batteries in them anyway.
I think alot of the time camera geeks like to rubbish brands, models, techniques, etc for the sake of it. This is pretty clear on just about any camera forum or bulletin board you visit. The general consensus decides “yeah thats rubbish”, then opinionated keyboard warriors perpetuate the misconception, so someone says “i heard this isnt any good” “yeah i heard that too, must be true”. The Internet never lies hey! Generally these are same type of people who enjoy taking photos of brick walls and comparing barrel distortion and pixel density(for digital cameras), instead of going out to take photos of things with any real value/interest. Sure theres nothign wrong with comparing and testing equipment, but if thats all you do then you need to get a life. Anyway, enough talking crap. The more people think they’re no good, the cheaper i can get them for 
Here it is here, with a pristine 35-70mm zoom & lens hood, and pristine Sunpak Auto flash.. Actually everything is pristine, i doubt the camera has been used more than a few times. It also came with a huge amount of brochures and booklets all in this awesome retro bag that i’ll have to try and get a photo of.
Here are some quick photos of it all
Group shot:
New camera = new light seals… Actually these ones were pretty decent and probably would of been ok, But i had all the stuff infront of me so decided to change them all. Used nail polish remover this time to get rid of the old stuck on foam which worked so much better than the stuff i used last time…
Was pretty late at night, and the light in my room is useless so i had to shoot this at 800 iso.. Ugly digital grain galore… (You may notice i took the Gold sticker off the body, it was shitting me)
3 Responses to “New Toy!”
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Hi, I saw this post on Google and had to comment. I’m about to enroll in a photography class next semester in my high school. I’ve got experience with digital SLRs but not so much with film. After doing some research and looking at photos taken with the camera, I’ve decided I want to purchase an OM2SP but for the life of me I cannot find many places to buy them. USA ebay only has a few for sale. Anyway, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind telling me where you purchased yours? Thanks for your time.
Hi mate, congrats for wanting to give film photography a go.
Most of the gear i’ve got has been acquired through friends, op shops/charity stores, and sites like ebay.
Online auction sites will mean that you probably have more choice, but you’ll also be competing with many other people, and theres no way to really check the camera before you buy it (having to rely on small photos). You have to think of it as bit of a gamble sometime, and weigh the pros and cons.
Seeing and testing the camera in person will always be better.
Is there a reason why you chose the OM2SP? I’ve been very happy with mine, but they’re not the most common model around, and alot seem to have battery issues. You could try and expend your search to include other OM’s like the OM1, OM2, OM4 etc. I think an OM2/2n is a great camera for starting out, the aperture priority mode can be really handy and mine have been very reliable. It’s the camera body I use the most.
Anyway, good luck with your search.
Have fun!
Cheers
I have to comment on the battery issue. I had an OM-4 and still have an OM-4ti. One or both cameras went dead after traveling to a race. The mistery battery drain was caused by the sensitive shutterbutton. There is no on/off on these camera’s. When stuffed in a bag something might cause the shutterbutton to depress slightly thus activating the metering=powerdrain. The cure I found is to store the camera with the shutterspeedring turned and locked to the 1/60 or B setting. This deactivates the electronic circuitry. Now accidentally pressing the shutterbutton will not activate metering.
The 2-SP reported battery drain issue might stem from this problem. People left it in a bag for some time but something in the bag pressed the shutterbutton.
Chip