Hello all,
I've been lurking around this list for a month or so, and it seems I'll be
here to stay as there's a lot of stimulating and useful discussion. Even
about warm beer (please don't split the list up!) So I thought I would
introduce myself. My affair with Olympus started with an OM-10 bought when
they first came out in, I think, 1978. I chose the OM (as a replacement
for a Zenit E...) against competitors from Nikon (EM), Canon (AV-1) and
Pentax (MX?), all of which were about the same price. The OM won because it
was the only one that could take a manual adaptor, and one of only two I
think that had a depth of field preview. Interesting that the three
competitors disappeared from the market quite quickly, whereas the OM-10
went on to becoming the UK's best-ever-selling SLR. I could have had an
OM-1 for the same price at the time, but the idea of auto-exposure
attracted me. (An acquaintance had bought an OM-2 when they were launched
and paid around 300 GBP for it - a king's ransom at the time and probably a
lot more than Oly are asking for the OM3-Ti now, allowing for inflation
etc.) I suppose the contemporary advertising here in the UK featuring
David Bailey had some effect, and it was obviously a successful campaign
because even now, if I'm out with friends and stop to photograph something,
there's usually a chorus of "it's David-bleedin'-Bailey again..." :-)
I've never regretted choosing the Oly route, and over the years have added
an OM-2SP, an OM-4 and an OM-1n. This latter, BTW, also has an "MD" badge -
is this normal? I've got the impression that the MD badge was only on the
OM-1. I had an OM-2n briefly but it had an accident with some sea water....
Having attempted to save money by buying independent lenses (Tamron) at
first, I now have only genuine Zuikos. I picked up a "job lot" of Oly kit
just this Monday, which included a 16/3.5 fisheye, a beautiful lens which
I'm looking forward to test driving this weekend, and two more OM-2SPs -
these will be sold, along with some other lenses and flash etc to recoup
some of the expense. So, my collection includes 16/3.5, 21/3.5, 28/2.8,
35/3.5, 50/1.8, 50/1.4, 50/3.5 macro, 35-105 zoom, 85-250 zoom, 135/3.5.
I've sent the MC etc details to Paul separately.
Over the last couple of years I've flirted with MF, with a Mamiya 6MF
system and latterly an RB67. The RB is going to have to go though I think
- it's just too big and heavy to cart about on hikes, and suffers from
depth-of-field problems in my favourite subject, the landscape. I bought
it coz it was a bargain.... :-) I took a photo-trip to the Isle of Skye in
May, and because I was flying, left the MF kit behind and rediscovered the
delights of OM photography. Using Agfa's wonderful APX25 b/w film, the
results were pretty damn close to the MF even on a 16x12 print, and of
course the 35mm kit is far more versatile. Hence my recent purchase of more
kit! In praise of the Mamiya 6MF though, this really is a superb piece of
kit. The lenses are wonderful, and the whole thing feels like a giant XA -
it handles like a 35mm, and with the standard 75mm lens attached, weighs
the same as my OM4 with the 35-105 zoom.
If I can add my 2p worth to some points that have been discussed here
lately - firstly the thorny subject of batteries. The mercury PX625 cells
are still available here in the UK, I believe until the end of next year.
I just bought a couple to be going on with anyway, and they were 80p each I
think. I don't use the OM-1n much so they should last a good few years.
Regarding the OM-2SP and the OM-4 and their infamous battery consumption, I
remember reading somewhere (forget where, sorry) that these bodies need a
*minimum* of 2.9V to operate; so alkaline and lithium cells are not
suitable because their voltage quickly drops below this. This might be one
reason for the unjustified (IMO) reputation these bodies have for eating
batteries. I get 6 months or so out of a pair of SR44s, which I think is
perfectly reasonable. Once they're too exhausted for the OMs, they'll
still work in my XA anyway! And compared to the battery costs of modern
auto-everything monsters, it's small change really.
Back to the OM-1n, the meter was reading about two stops low which I
thought a new battery (the old one being a good 6-7 years old) would cure.
It didn't. Is there anything I should check before getting it looked at
professionally? All the linkages etc appear to work okay.
Anyway, that's enough rabbitting for one night :-) I'll finish by thanking
everyone for sharing their experience and knowledge through this list and
the various Oly web sites - like many I suspect, I started at Lee's
excellent FAQ :-)
Best wishes
Richard
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