Pauls0627@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> As time goes on, and for various reasons, I think all of us Olympus-philes
> and Zuiko-philes are having to look more and more to the used market to find
> lenses and equipment. One of the disadvantages of this is that you rarely find
> used equipment with documentation (at least this has been true in my
> experience).
>
> This got me to thinking that between everyone on this list, there is probably
> at least one copy of almost every manual, data sheet, brochure, etc... that
> Olympus has ever published for the OM system. I was wondering if it would be
> possible to collect this information somewhere, either on paper or
> (preferably, I think) online? I'm not sure if Olympus' lawyers would have a
> problem with this, but I think we would all find it both interesting (wishing
> over the stuff we can't afford) and useful (research before a purchase, for
> example).
>
> Assuming the lurking lawyers out there don't object, any ideas on how this
> could be approached? Or maybe no one thinks it's worth it (I realize this
> could be a lot of work)? Putting it online might be cost prohibitive (it would
> mean hosting an awful lot of scanned pages, I would imagine). It might be
> feasible to create paper collections and bind them, possibly breaking the task
> up so one person isn't burdened too heavily. Maybe it could be broken up into
> groups the way Oly does, with a Camera body group, Lens group, Flash group,
> Motor drive group, Finder group, etc.?
>
> Anyway, this was just a thought. I would love to get my hands on the manuals
> for my T-20 and T-32! And just think of the poor guy/gal who buys a used Grip
> Strap someday, has never seen one before, and tries to attach it to his/her
> winder or motor without the instructions (assuming (s)he's even got all of the
> little bits and pieces, and if (s)he doesn't, can figure out what (s)he
> needs...)
>
> Paul
>
Hi Paul,
You have hit right on one of my "small" projects. I have so far
scaned of the manuals for several pieces of OM equipment: OM-1,
OM-2, OM-2n (halfway), OM-4Ti, T32 and Winder 1. Manuals for the
rest are still missing, but the manuals were not my initial interest.
It all began with a sales information file from around 1990. Then the
Danish branch of Olympus very kindly let me borrow a sales
information file from around 1980, which I also have scans of.
There is even promise of more treasure but, as you point out, there
is a legal problem. Olympus has the copyright to all this stuff.
While I suspect that they are not extremely protective, I find
it necessary to have a formal permission before I can publish any of
this. It all fits on a CD-ROM with plenty of space to spare. I'd love
to make the material available, either on CDs on on the Web, but not
until the legal issue has been resolved. Until then it remains under
wraps. Maybe Olympus in Denmark will want to put it on a web site. We
shall see.
I have so far kept a very low profile on this, as I suspect that
"everybody" will ask for a copy, which I am not at liberty to give.
So far I'll just try to keep up with the flood of questions...
Regards
Lars
Now I prepare my life-boat to be ready for the flood :-)
--
Lars Haven <mailto:lhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> aka <lhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
"When writing about women, one must dip one's pen in a rainbow"
D. Diderot
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