Olympus OM-2 and Ilford FP4

 My Olympus OM-2 has been a favourite camera of mine since I bought it in an estate sale a couple of years back. I have often spoken of my OM-1 being my dream camera since childhood, but the OM-2 comes a very close second. I had taken it out a few weeks back to use it during a recent walk around town, but it jammed and I couldn't get it to wind on nor release the shutter. This would make anyone tear their hair out, but as I don't have much left I sent it to my friend Pierro at PPP Cameras to get it repaired.

Pierro was the chap who serviced my OM-1 for a very reasonable price and I didn't hesitate in arranging for him to take a look at my poorly OM-2. Booking a repair at PPP Cameras is a very easy process, you simply fill out the form on his website giving your details and a brief description of the symptoms your poorly camera is exhibiting. Pierro then gives you a date when he will be able to fit it into his busy schedule and it's up to you to make sure it gets delivered in time for the appointment.

When the day of my appointment arrived Pierro sent me an email with his apppraisal of the problem and a price for the repair. Aparently some debris had got in to works and caused my OM-2 to jam. I told him I was happy for him to proceed and Pierro fixed my OM-2 for a very reasonable price. A few days later I received my OM-2 back via Royal Mail and it is working beautifully once again. All I had to do was load a roll of Ilford FP4 and head out for a photowalk.

I intended to shoot some behind the scenes photos for a photo challenge hosted by Jason Avery, the driving force behind #CameraChallenge on Twitter. The challenge involved taking B&W photos on the theme of "seasons" in week 1, developing the film in  week 2 and showing them in week 3. I had planned to use my Goodman Zone Z1 for the challenge with a few behind the scenes shots for good measure. That's not how it turned out for me.

For whatever reason, either my hamfistedness or just sheer bad luck, I made a right pigs ear of my first roll of Fomapan 400 for the challenge shot with my Z1. Light leaks were plentiful and I had 10 images I simply couldn't use. I was in trouble, but time was on my side and I headed out again a day or two later and made a concentrated effort to produce some medium format images for the challenge. I must have upset the Photography Gods as this roll of Fomapan 400 was even worse than my first attempt.

By the time I had developed the film is was too late to go out again and I resigned myself to having to give the challenge a miss. I was getting a bit fed up of failing and decided a change of cameras was in order to rediscover my mojo. I began emptying my camera bag out and sat beneath my dark cloth was my OM-2 with half a roll of exposed FP4. I had forgotten it was in my bag as I put all my thought into getting some results with the Z1. Was salvation at hand?

As it was developing week I cut the film out of my OM-2 and developed it in Kodak HC-110 dilution H and to my relief I had photos I could use for show and tell week. I scanned the film with my Ion Slides2PC scanner and I was a bit disappointed with the scans. They didn't look good at all. This challenge has seriously tested my patience so I changed tack and using my Pixl-Latr, an A5 led light pad and my smart phone, I tried again.

Never underestimate the value of a smart phone with a decent camera built in. My Nokia 5.3 not only took sharp images of my negatives, it retained a heck of a lot more detail than the 5mp camera in my Ion Slides2PC did. I soon had them processed with Affinity Photo and I was finally happy to share them with the film community on Twitter who also took part in #CameraChallenge.

Here are a few of my images shot with my OM-2 and Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 lens. I have placed them in an album on Flickr for you to see in full resolution via the link below. If you like my photos, I have a Ko-Fi account where you can support me and help me continue My Journey into Photography via the a link below. There's is also a link to Pierro's website, PPP Cameras where you can find decent cameras, lenses and accessories for sale and also the booking form should you wish to use his excellent service and repair skills.

This was a challenge that lived up to it's name in more ways than one for me, but was saved by my OM-2 that I forgot was in my bag. It has proven yet again that taking more than one camera out for a photowalk does pay off and that Pierro did a fine job of repairing my OM-2.  I hope you enjoy them.

Ilford FP4 - Olympus OM-2
Ko-Fi.com - Jim Graves
PPP Cameras