Olympus OM-2 SP power issues

JohnSpam · May 7, 2023

Hello,

I have recently found a great condition OM 2 sp which has been performing flawlessly until a couple of days ago.

The mirror got stuck in the up position, battery check and lcd do not work anymore and the lamp doesn't turn on. Initially I thought the battery ran out so I got a replacement. When I was screwing the battery cover on, with the new batteries in there was a short beep so I tried battery check which made one beep for about 2 seconds and then the intermittent beeps as if the batteries were almost dead. And that was it.

I have found an incomplete service notes manual which sort of makes me thing I will have to take the camera apart to fix it but I am hoping someone might have had the same experience and can tell me otherwise.

Thank you.

MattKing · May 7, 2023

Try another set of batteries - silver oxide if possible.
You wouldn't be the first to have bought "new" batteries that are low in power right out of the packaging.
And welcome to Photrio.

lobitar · May 7, 2023

Both the OM 2sp and the OM 4 /4Ti are known to latently have battery/power issues. I have experienced rather fast (i.e. very fast!) power drain from an OM 2sp; and the sort of problem you delineate I have experienced with a couple of OM 4's. Sadly I know no remedies. Hopefully someone else does.

Algo después · May 7, 2023

lobitar said:
Both the OM 2sp and the OM 4 /4Ti are known to latently have battery/power issues. I have experienced rather fast (i.e. very fast!) power drain from an OM 2sp; and the sort of problem you delineate I have experienced with a couple of OM 4's. Sadly I know no remedies. Hopefully someone else does.

AFAIK, the OM models with the voltage leakage issue were on various Om2 sp and OM4, not all. With the Om4 Ti, this issue had been fixed.

The annoying solution: remove the batteries at the end of the day

M-88 · May 8, 2023

JohnSpam said:
I have found an incomplete service notes manual which sort of makes me thing I will have to take the camera apart to fix it but I am hoping someone might have had the same experience and can tell me otherwise.

Battery drain issue found in OM-2S/SP and OM-4 are related to circuit board. And while Olympus replaced circuit boards on some (some, not all) OM-4, they didn't bother much with it on semi-amateur oriented OM-2S. I would advise not to take it apart - unless you have a fresh, updated circuit board, there's simply nothing you can do.

Use silver oxide batteries, remove them at the end of the day and keep a pair of spares with you whenever you're taking a camera - that's the only fix.

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P.S. Before someone incorrectly suggests to set shutter dial to "B", in order to save battery: this does NOT actually work and it saves no power. It's been tested and proven wrong.

Ramensan · Sep 20, 2023

M-88 said:
Battery drain issue found in OM-2S/SP and OM-4 are related to circuit board. And while Olympus replaced circuit boards on some (some, not all) OM-4, they didn't bother much with it on semi-amateur oriented OM-2S. I would advise not to take it apart - unless you have a fresh, updated circuit board, there's simply nothing you can do.

Use silver oxide batteries, remove them at the end of the day and keep a pair of spares with you whenever you're taking a camera - that's the only fix.

----------

P.S. Before someone incorrectly suggests to set shutter dial to "B", in order to save battery: this does NOT actually work and it saves no power. It's been tested and proven wrong.

Thank you for this information I was fully prepared to put it in B mode Just got an OM-2S as my first film camera. I really want to focus on double exposure and that dial is too sexy hopefully mine is one of the few that doesn’t have this issue. Thanks again!

Ramensan · Sep 20, 2023

I had to make an account just to reply to this Happy to be part of the community

MattKing · Sep 20, 2023

Welcome to Photrio!
Some of us have had great results from our OM-2s/OM-2Sp cameras.
I've had this one since I bought it new, as a current item in the OM catalogue.
I took this to memorialize the last rolls of Kodachrome I ran through it, just before the end of 2010, when Kodachrome processing was discontinued.
As you can see, the camera has had some use

Ramensan · Sep 20, 2023

MattKing said:
Welcome to Photrio!
Some of us have had great results from our OM-2s/OM-2Sp cameras.
I've had this one since I bought it new, as a current item in the OM catalogue.
I took this to memorialize the last rolls of Kodachrome I ran through it, just before the end of 2010, when Kodachrome processing was discontinued.
As you can see, the camera has had some use
View attachment 349469

I can’t wait till mine gets some edge to it I got one for 100 dollars with the lens after a few weeks of looking and I feel incredibly lucky. I’m going to get some Kodak 200 and Ilford B&W to start!

M-88 · Sep 21, 2023

Ramensan said:
Thank you for this information I was fully prepared to put it in B mode Just got an OM-2S as my first film camera. I really want to focus on double exposure and that dial is too sexy hopefully mine is one of the few that doesn’t have this issue. Thanks again!

Make sure that it has no "shutter capping" or "shutter bouncing" issue. Typically you'll know after developing your first roll. Three out of four OM-2S that went through my hands had this issue.

Edit: I can sense your excitement, it's evident from your post. I wish I was about to discover OM system, it's an incredible adventure. Still regret selling it, especially the 100 mm f/2.8 prime.

Olympus OM-2 SP power issues

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