C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →slr-35mm
The Olympus OM-2N Black is the black-body finish variant of the OM-2N, introduced in 1979 alongside the standard chrome version. The OM-2N was a refined successor to the OM-2, adding multiple-exposure capability, an improved OTF (off-the-film) flash metering system, and a brighter viewfinder over its predecessor. The black finish was a professional-market option, offering reduced light reflection when shooting in controlled environments and a more subdued appearance for photojournalistic work. Optically and mechanically it is identical to the chrome OM-2N; the difference is cosmetic and commands a collector premium in good condition.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
The OM-2N's black-finish variant - professional OTF metering in the smallest SLR system of its era.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Olympus OM |
| Years | 1979-1984 |
| Shutter | 60s - 1/1000s, electronic vertical metal |
| Modes | Aperture-priority AE, Manual |
| Flash Sync | 1/60s |
| Meter | OTF silicon (off-the-film) |
| Viewfinder | Pentaprism, ~97% coverage |
| Weight | ~510 g (body only) |
| Battery | 2x SR44 / LR44 |
The OM-2 (1975) was Yoshihisa Maitani's answer to a professional-grade SLR that was meaningfully smaller and lighter than the Nikon F2 or Canon F-1. Its defining technical feature was OTF metering: rather than metering through the lens with the mirror up, the OM-2 used a sensor pointed at the film plane during exposure to read light reflected off the film surface itself. This allowed genuinely accurate metering in difficult flash situations and at long auto exposures.
The OM-2N arrived in 1979 with refinements: a brighter viewfinder screen, a more reliable OTF flash system compatible with the T-series Zuiko flash units, and the addition of multiple-exposure capability. The black-finish version was produced for the same 1979-1984 production run. It was not listed separately in all markets; in some regions it was a special order item. The OM-2N was superseded in the aperture-priority role by the OM-4 (1983), which added spot metering and multi-spot averaging.
The OM system represented the most complete compact professional SLR ecosystem of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Zuiko lens lineup covered from 16mm fisheye to 1000mm telephoto, all in a mount small enough that OM lenses are notably shorter than contemporaneous Nikon or Canon offerings. The OTF flash metering on the OM-2N was ahead of its time: TTL flash control via a sensor reading the film plane was more accurate than guide-number calculation and became the template for subsequent TTL flash systems industry-wide.
The black body finish carried associations with professional use across multiple camera brands in this era - Nikon F2 Black, Leica M bodies, Pentax LX Black. For the OM-2N the black version is rarer and correspondingly more sought by collectors, though the photographic performance is unchanged from chrome.
The OM mount is a 42mm diameter bayonet with a 46mm flange distance - notably short for an SLR, enabling compact lens designs.
Key Zuiko lenses for this body:
Flash system:
Accessories:
OM mount lenses are adaptable to Sony E, Micro Four Thirds, and other mirrorless mounts via passive adapters with no electronic coupling loss (the mount is entirely manual-only anyway).
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →C41
Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Olympus OM-2N
Image coming soon