I've been interestedly reading the wish list items as well, and think
Larry has perfectly captured my thoughts. I've used Nikons for years,
but haven't gone to the F4 or F5 due mainly to the size & weight. My
F2S has always seemed perfect to me, until I bought my first OM
(OM-1N) last year. It's small size & weight, great ergonomics, and
obvious build quality (read METAL!!!) made me an Oly fan. Then when I
got a used OM-4T, the metering system, TTL flash, and built-in diopter
adjustment really hooked me. So now I'm strolling the camera shows
looking for Oly lenses and accessories.... I fear that anything
significant done to change the OM-4T would ruin what I like about it.
I really think the OM-2S Program & OM-4T are near perfect as they are.
Many of the wish list items might be better satisfied by, as Larry
suggests, buying a big, hulking, many-AA-battery powered Nikon or
Canon.
Neal Anderson_Neal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 22:27:10 -0800
From: "L.J. Clark" <ljclark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Fellow Olympoids (and Canon/Nikon wannabees):
I've been avoiding the "Wish List" thread up to now. There seem
to be more than a couple of branches, as regards people's wishes.
What is fascinating is the fairly hefty number of suggestions that
want to turn an Olympus into a Nikon or Canon. Some of this seems
to stem from the desire to keep the old Zuiko glass. Well...Zuiko
lenses aren't bad, but if you compare whole lens lines with each
other, there isn't really anything THAT special about them.
(There will always be unique and standout lenses from each
manufacturer. They do that to torture us.) The most consistent
feature about the Zuikos are their compact size and moderate
weight.
If you want an Olympus that is an OM, then you best forget such
things as built-in motor, auto bracketing, a more informative
display, AA batteries, and a bunch of other stuff that takes up
cubic space in the camera body. There are some things, such as
more sophisticated exposure control, that can be done inside
the existing body form (OM-4/3/2S). But if you want more
information displayed on the camera body (such as LCD panels),
that takes up real estate now used by some of the mechanical
controls. If you look at some of the bulkier Canons and Nikons,
part of what they do depends on having a large surface area to
stick displays and little switches. One of the reasons some
cameras don't have a manual advance lever is that the space that
the lever takes up on a manual camera is being used for displays
on the auto-everything SLRs.
If you want more feedback to the camera body from the lens, then
you better get ready to scrap your Zuikos and stand by for a
whole line of new lenses. Odds are the mount wouldn't even be
the same.
.....
Olympus OM cameras are victims of their own design philosophy.
What most of us like about the cameras (compact size, simple and
straightforward operation) is exactly what dialed them out of the
do-everything camera market.
If you want all those other junky features on a camera, go out
and buy a Nikon or a Canon.
Larry Clark
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