Found my dad's old Olympus OM-2n SLR Camera

[Chriscross3234]

I've always wanted to get into photography, however, I am a college kid with no major spending cash for a DSLR + lens. My dad told me he has an old SLR camera and after some digging around, it is an Olympus OM-2n SLR with a 50mm lens and it's in great condition. So far I've been on the web learning about the basics of photography and cameras, like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO/ASA film speed. So far I have a few questions, keep in mind I'm very new to photography, so go easy on me :

I bought 35mm 400 speed film, does this mean that the ASA setting on the camera must stay at 400 at all times? I know DSLR's and PnS's have adjustable ISO/ASA, but I'm guessing this isn't the case for film, right?

A more broad question, what are the capabilities of this camera? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 35mm film the same standard film that was in all classic film cameras? Does this mean that the only photos I can print with this camera are the standard 4"x6" photos? Or will I be able to print bigger and higher quality prints?

Would it be smart to buy more lens for this camera? Ebay has some lens that look fairly cheap, and I would like to get into photography that involved macro shots or city/landscape shots. Are lens for this camera compatible with modern DSLRs?

Last question, do the printing places offer high quality digital copies of photos taken from this camera?

 

[ElFenix]

8x10s enlargements work just fine with 35mm film. if your film is good enough and your lens is good enough (those old olympus lenses tend to be very good), much larger enlargements are possible. especially if the printing is done with optical equipment (nowadays they often scan the film in and then print from computers, so you can be limited by the quality of the scan).

when paying for scans, the resolution of scanning is dependent on the lab. good send-away labs will guarantee the resolution (often 6 mp). local drug store usually scans to a resolution suitable for emailing without any extra work (i.e. low res).

you can change the ISO/ASA setting on the camera to whatever you like. in doing so, you'll 'trick' the meter. if you set it one stop slower, to 200, the camera will overexpose the film. if you set it to one stop faster, to 800, the camera will underexpose the film. you can use that to your advantage depending on the circumstances. for example, suppose you're outside at the dog park. there are two dogs playing on the grass, one white, and one black. the camera can practically nail the exposure of the grass. but if you point the camera at the white dog, it has no clue that the light didn't change, just the subject. so it'll underexpose the scene if left to its own devices. with the black dog, it'll overexpose.


the OM2 is perfectly capable of being learned on, and you'll probably learn more about the science and art of photography if you use it rather than machine gunning a digicam.

no modern camera can operate an OM lens, unfortunately. but using adapters is common (particularly amongst 5D users) and then focus and stop the aperture down manually (mostly it's canon users that do this, as a) larger installed base of full frame digital cameras-the 5D, and b) canon's register distance is shorter than the OM's, so you can focus to infinity without modification. nikons won't do that). there are enough people using them on OM and on 5D bodies that they're not as inexpensive as high quality lenses from un-useful mounts might be, but it's much cheaper than buying a new canon L lens. plus the OM lenses are generally tiny.

 

[foghorn67]

Hell, getting your own B&W lab for a couple hundred bucks can be easy. I'm sure the price of enlargement lenses went down a ton. (Just guessing).
My local shop accidentally sold me an awesome Nikkor lens as part of a cheapie student kit. I called them up asking about it, and they were embarrassed, but told me "finders keepers". But this was 15 years ago, when people gave a damn about their own labs.
Olympus of these mounts are plentiful. Take your time shopping in the c-lists and ebay,etc. I routinely see deals on these when scouring for other lenses.
I might go film crazy in a few weeks.
I want either a Minolta or an Olympus, a Pentax 645, and the Canon T90 that I could never afford back then.

 

[ElFenix]

T90s are starting to wear out, unfortunately.

 

[Chriscross3234]

Thanks for the replies. I'm having lots of fun learning about the camera and photography in general. I got my first films developed at Walgreen's 1 hour photo and I got some pretty good photos! I definitely have a ways to go before learning the absolute correct settings for each situation. It looks like there is a local printing shop that does 35mm negative scans up to 4000 dpi (18 Megapixels) for fairly cheap. Ebay has a lot of OM lens for very cheap, there are some nice macro and wide angle lens for only $50. This looks like to be my new favorite hobby... besides building PCs of course .

 

[Chriscross3234]

How important is the actual film ASA speeds? I bought two 800 films and two 400 films, will using the 800 film in higher light settings (such as outside on a sunny day) automatically give me grainy film? I know that shutter speed is an important factor for each respective speed, will a shorter shutter speed create less grain? Should I also be using exposure compensation for the 800 film, in higher light, as well?

 

[foghorn67]

How important is the actual film ASA speeds? I bought two 800 films and two 400 films, will using the 800 film in higher light settings (such as outside on a sunny day) automatically give me grainy film? I know that shutter speed is an important factor for each respective speed, will a shorter shutter speed create less grain? Should I also be using exposure compensation for the 800 film, in higher light, as well?

For a few years, 800 speed had almost every advantage because Kodak and Fuji kept advancing the technology behind the emulsions reserved for 800 as far as color negative work went. Then they brought all the advancements to 400 and 100 than 200. Of course when it comes to Kodak this is applicable to Gold series only. The first wunderwhizbang last hurruh was the Royal Gold 400, then it went to Gold Max 800.
Then after digital, Kodak went and confused any film shooter left in the world by re-working their branding. Right now, I don't know what is what.
However, there is a difference on enlargements that can be noticeable. For well exposed 8x10's and anything smaller, there WAS no difference in grain.
Saturation was a different animal though. Some colors went a tad mute, but the shadow detail was breathtaking.
I never shot anything else above 400. Agfa and Konica were horrible at high speed.
I say this with love though. Agfa 100 and Kodak Royal Gold 100 were my go to films for color negatives.
Slide film was Kodak Ektachrome Elite 100, and Fuji Provia 100. I appreciated Velvia, but that was a tad too limited in scope. Forget shooting people with it.
It's all changed now with branding shuffling.
i do believe that Ektachrome and Provia advanced a few steps after I ditched film.
B&W, I was an Ilford guy.

 

[Chriscross3234]

Yeah, I think learning to use this old SLR will require a lot of trial and error between settings and different films. Unfortunately, in order to see the results I have to pay $7/roll and wait a couple of hours to see my photos. Makes me wish I had a DSLR .

 

[ElFenix]

Yeah, I think learning to use this old SLR will require a lot of trial and error between settings and different films. Unfortunately, in order to see the results I have to pay $7/roll and wait a couple of hours to see my photos. Makes me wish I had a DSLR .

costco processing is a couple bucks less than that.