Well I'm catching up on email after a long weekend motorcycle trip... only
about 400 of the 800+ emails waiting for me are from the OM list.
My first OM was bought when I was taking photography classes at the
community college in 1976. I had been using a Leica IIIg that I got with
three lenses (35, 50, 135) for $500, but I decided that I wanted an SLR and
a built-in meter. The reviews of the OM-1 indicated that it was a
professional-level SLR on par with the Canon F-1 and Nikon F2 which were
quite a lot more expensive. After carefully checking the ads in the back of
Modern Photography and Popular Photography I placed my order with J & R
Camera World in New York City.
I ordered an OM-1 with 50/1.4 lens, (much faster than my 50/2.0 collapsible
Summicron) and a 24/2.8 wide angle (much wider than the 35/3.5 Summaron) and
a 75-150/4.0 zoom (better and zoomier than the 135/4.5 Hektor). All this
came to ~$675, which was about a month's take-home pay. But since I lived at
home I had more disposable income. There was an immediate jump in my
photography rate, and with the built-in and accurate metering my usable
slides per roll increased dramatically.
After a while I got a Winder 1, and my OM kit stayed at this configuration
for a few years. In the early 1980's when my brother worked at Sears their
camera department had a close-out on an Olympus OM-2n, which was further
sweetened by the 15% 'family members' employee discount, so I added that to
my equipment. In the early 1990's I roamed the pawn shops of the SF Bay area
and found a number of lenses to fill out the range, adding a 35/2.8, a
50/3.5 macro, an 85/2.0, a 200/4.0 and a 135/2.8. All of this still fit in
one bag, but that ended when I discovered e*ay...
That was the start of my financial ruin, then discovering and joining this
list was the last nail in the coffin. I've gone a bit overboard, and it
seems like everything Olympus is sought. I've gotten a few XA's, a few
XA-2's, a few Stylus's, an IS-1 and an IS-3 *and* an IS-30 (why would
*anyone* need one of each???) and some various Oly point-and-shoots, and
various Oly rangefinders, and a few Pen F's and FT's and a few lenses for
those...
I need help, ladies and gentlemen of the list! I've lost all control... can
someone here give me counsel or is all lost?
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-1's, -2's, -4's, (no -3's yet) and no OM-oney...
PS -- Does anyone know of any OM-3T's for a good price? I don't have one of
those yet...
;-)
JB
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