Bob,
Relax, your in a group here that thinks your perfectly normal ;-)
Rich
----- Original Message -----
From: LostKase
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 7:23 PM
Subject: [OM] Zuikoholic
Travails of a Zuikoholic
I bought my first SLR for a former live-in girlfriend many eons ago. A fixed
lens Yashica. We used it very seldomly. Later on my honeymoon with another
former live-in/ex-wife,
I purchased an Olympus OM-1 MD with a 50mm 1.4 lens. I managed to retain it
in the subsequent divorce. It has been my mainstay for the last 20 some years.
The meter died soon after I married my next ex-wife. I took it to a local
camera shop for a repair estimate. They quoted me a price of around $150.00
dollars for a repair. With diapers,
food, shelter and sundry other responsibilities, I bit the bullet and set the
camera aside in the closet. But through diligent perusing of the local want
adds I found a Gossen
Luna-Pro light meter. It was not really within my budget, but I had to have
it! This brought my camera out of retirement. It has since recorded many life
changing events. My
sons premature birth and 4 month hospital stay was documented in painstaking
detail. I would show his "baby" pictures at work and devastate all my
co-workers. They found
the pictures heartwrenching. I found them uplifting. This was my son, and he
was alive!
I used the camera to take many pictures of my children as they grew, to the
consternation of my wife. "You always bring out that damn camera" was a refrain
I bore with
sodden abandon. After that divorce, I listened with disdain to her praise of
all the pictures I had taken, which were now in her possession. I had yet again
managed to retain the camera, however.
Unfortunately, I had let the camera again fall into disuse. An occasional
outing would have me take it out for photo ops. I bought a Sony Mavica FD83
digital camera three
years ago. I've enjoyed the instant gratification of the medium. I bought a
CRISS battery modifier. It also rekindled the lurking feeling that I was
missing the image quality and permanence afforded by the 35mm. Soon thereafter,
I succumbed to the dreaded Ebay money eater. The lenses I had merely dreamed
about were almost affordable. I went
on a spending spree. My offspring's college funds be damned!
In rapid succession, another OM-1 body, an OM-F with an autofocus 35-70mm,
an OM-G with a 75-150mm, a lens package with a Tamron 90mm Macro with a 50mm
1.8 and Samyang 80-200mm, The buyer also threw in another OM-1 body which
surprised me on its arrival! Next a Tamron 60-300mm, a Tokina 500mm mirror, A
trip to a local
camera store snagged me a Winder 1 for too much money! I then found a Grip 1
with a partially functioning 310 Flash (test button does not work). I couldn't
pass up the Manfrotto tripod and monopod on Evil Bay! A 28mm 2.8, a well used
OM-4T, a Wein 500B flash Meter, a 2-383/2-285 , Wein 1000 meter package with
2/283 2/285 Vivitar
flashes! A Winder 2! I've bought and bought and I can't stop! If only I could
take some pictures. But Zuikoholicism has me in its evil grip! I'm afraid to
use all my spoils. What if I have no "eye"! I can't take the fabulous pictures
I've seen displayed! I've bared my soul. Thank you for listening. I just needed
to get it out. My name is Bob and I have a problem...
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