>Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 01:01:38 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Ray Moth <ray_moth@xxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: [OM] What to reccomend: beginners camera?
>I agree, Thomas, if you want to start him off with OM gear, a 2N is
>probably as good a start as any other. However, I'm not sure I'd
>recommend OM to someone just beginning in photography. Don't get me
>wrong, I love OM; but you have to think of the future, and I'm not sure
>there's going to be much support for OM in a few years' time.
I completely agree with the idea that for a variety of reasons the OM
system may not be the best choice for a beginner. I only got really serious
about photography as a main hobby (OK, obsession) about 6 months ago and
only then after really surveying the field of likely all manual camera
choices. I suspect that my original criteria were very similar to those of
the orig. poster asking for a manual camera recomendation. However, as my
interest in photography has broadened, I'm already noticing some potential
gaps in lens availability for my OM bodies. For instance, aftermarket
makers of new wide range zooms with all the latest computer designed glass
and latest multi-coatings do not offer anything to fit OM's any more.
Whether that is, or even should be, an issue at this point is debatable,
but things can only get worse as even better lenses are designed. Will the
current crop of really huge range (28-300 or so) lenses stack up to
existing and plentiful OM primes? NO. But will the next generation of them
stack up to older Zuiko zooms?????? Probably. So the OM shooter wanting a
one-size fits most applications lens will wind up carrying more lenses.
Fortunately, the OM system is so small and portable that even multiple
lenses may occupy a smaller lighter package than a more modern camera with
a wonderzoom. Nor do they make OM lenses with builtin stabilizers, Global
Positioning Systems, infared focus lock, or anti-gravity devices.
The ecconomics of getting into the OM system are kind of weird. At first it
looks like a really great way to get a durable all manual body is to get
something like an OM-1n and a standard lens. But then Zuikoholism sets in
and before you know it, you've invested a substantial amount in multiple
bodies and more lenses than a pack team should have to carry. :-) Just
looking for new lenses becomes a hobby in and of itself. (Just ask Tom
Scales.:-)
Don't get me wrong. I love my OM-1n and OM-4 and have no plans to part with
them. But despite the rather tongue-in-cheek nature of this post, there are
times when I seriously wonder if I should'nt have done something cheaper
and less time consuming.... like maybe originally just getting a
wonderbrick and wonderzoom. My guess is, had I done that, I'd already be
bored with photography and could move on to something that actually makes
$$. ;-)
Mike Swaim
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