The OM 2 Spot/Program is a mid 80s version of the OM 2, slightly remodelled on the body. Out goes the removable hot shoe, mechanical self timer, and front mounted film rewind button. The internals have changed a bit including the type of foam used so it doesn’t degrade and damage the prism as it did on earlier models of the S1 and S2, still a job I need to sort on my OM 2n, when the correct tools arrive. Comparing the 2 you can see the cosmetic differences but they are very similar in size so still both nice compact SLR film cameras.
So Hivers is this one is definitely keeper, It looks gorgeous, sold as untested body on eBay with a really low starting price so a cheeky low bid punt and I won.
One nice feature is the mechanical 60th second shutter so if your battery’s die it’s not a total waste of the day because the camera is locked. The hot shoe is now fixed, the timer is electronic, and the rewind moves to the top of the camera. Mostly it all black and looks sexy as hell.
The bigger differences are ones you can’t see in the electronics. Where the OM—2n has aperture priority and manual modes the SP has a fully auto Program mode which sets the speed and aperture, aperture priority and manual. In manual the exposure is also Spot centre weighted. There is no off position on mode dial and camera is supposed to auto off after about 120 seconds but this is a common failing and they can eat battery’s.
One small job is to sort the missing cover on the flash slave, these are available in Germany but I’m going to have a go at 3D printing one. Never having printed threads before it’s a bit of a learning curve and not a great place to start as its really fine but I’ll see how it goes
A new set of SR44 battery’s and every thing seems to be working as it should. The battery hasn’t died after a few days and locked the shutter one of the common faults with the Spot/Program. So Hivers, I guess it’s time to drop a roll of film in and give it a test to check the speeds and aperture settings are more or less where they should be.