Olympus: OM2 Vs. OM1

One Major Difference

• The OM1 and the OM2 were similar models that took the same lenses, but they differed significantly with the light meter. The OM1 had completely manual metering, while the OM2 had a new and advanced semi-automatic exposure system. In fact, this Olympus model was the first SLR to use a TTL (through the lens) semi-automatic metering system.

Another Small Innovation

• One additional benefit of the OM2 was the exposure compensation dial that was connected to the film speed dial. This little device allowed the picture taker to adjust the exposure by letting in more or less light than what the meter read. The OM1 lacked this handy device.

Fully Automatic

• In 1984 Olympus released the OM2N, which featured fully automatic, semi-automatic and manual metering systems all within the same camera. All you had to do was choose the mode, make any manual adjustments and shoot. With the semi-automatic mode, all that was necessary was an aperture selection and the camera would do the rest. The automatic mode made this one step unnecessary, for all you had to do point, focus and shoot.