OM-2/2n have never had battery issues. OM-2s which had the issue, is actually closer to OM-4 in terms of its innards. 2s and 4 did have battery drain issues and while Olympus incorporated a fix for OM-4 (which involved replacing a circuit board), there was no such fix available for OM-2s. Had three OM-4, two OM-2s. Of all those cameras, only one OM-4 had a newer ciecuit board and was free from battery drain.
OM-2/2n have never had battery issues. OM-2s which had the issue, is actually closer to OM-4 in terms of its innards. 2s and 4 did have battery drain issues and while Olympus incorporated a fix for OM-4 (which involved replacing a circuit board), there was no such fix available for OM-2s. Had three OM-4, two OM-2s. Of all those cameras, only one OM-4 had a newer ciecuit board and was free from battery drain.
Way back in the very early 80's I worked at a synthetic natural gas plant ( we made synthetic natural gas because all the political pundits said NG would be deplete by 1990). I was a big camera buff and the chemistry department came to me wanting to do pictures of before and after resin through a microscope. People don't realize it but back then to determine the exposure from a flash (necessary with the high magnification in a microscope) you had to do a who lot of math and trial and error with the available flash technology. But Olympus had just came out with off the film flash automatic exposure. The company bought me all the equipment and I made thousands of perfectly exposed pictures of resin at about 400x magnification. I could never have done it with my Nikon equipment.View attachment 334147
I have other cameras whose meters are always on. It doesn't seem that difficult to take the batteries out when I'm not using them. The OM2n, on the other hand, has a very shallow battery compartment cap slot that makes it difficult to remove and replace. I'm considering making a key out of J-B Weld for it.
My Pen FT is like that. To turn off the meter you need to attach the lens cap, whether the shutter is cocked or not. Really bad design IMO.
It's a shame, because when I carry my cameras out, I leave the lens caps at home. The Leica M5's meter stays on when the shutter is cocked, and turns off if the lens is capped. But it also turns off the moment you take a pic - shutter now uncocked.
How much did that feature cost to get?
One Leica M5. So... $10.
Just for the record, I find the meter system in my OM-2n is so good that I never use it in Manual match-needle mode. If your camera is working correctly, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by those first ten frames you shot in Auto.
In a situation like that, I'd just leave it in Auto and manipulate the f-stops until the camera set a speed of 1/500 itself.
Not that there anything wrong with match-needle metering, I've done it countless times since we got our first TTL meter camera, a Nikkormat FT, in 1965!
Looks like John Hermanson can sell you another OM-2 back. But they're not cheap, and you'll have to swap in your current back's pressure plate yourself.
CORRECTION: These are listed as No Longer Available. I'd still write and ask him, John's a great guy.
Alternatively... look for a busted parts-only OM camera for a few bucks. There are plenty out there:
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I don't know about the US but in the UK used backs often pop up on Ebay for £10 or so (probably from cameras being parted out); both the plain ones (OM1) and the ones with a holder for the film box end as a memo (OM2, 3 and 4) but either will fit as they are all interchangeable.
Thanks for the link to Jane Brown's work. That's exactly the kind of photography I admire the most. Amazing.
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