I'll start, if I may, with a Road To Damascus moment.
I own a C*n*n Ixus (an Elph to those in the US - I live in London, UK), and
for a long time I was happy. Stick it in your pocket, always ready, never
miss a photo opportunity.
Then, for some reason, I decided to take my OM10 along with the Ixus on a
trip to the US a couple of years ago. I snapped away (I am a snapper, I
admit it). And was astounded by the results - the difference between the
pictures from the OM10 and those from the Ixus was unbelievable. I'm sure
the 35mm vs APS debate will have been done to death on this list at some
point in the past, but for me this was a defining moment.
Anyone want to buy a well used Ixus complete with a thick patina of dust?
Anyway, in summer 2002 me, my then girlfriend, my OM10 and a 64 and a half
Mustang hit the highway and toured 43 of the lower 48 in just over two
months. And the damn OM10 died in the Smokey Mountains - the last picture
it took was of the steam that rises over the mountains and gives them their
name.
So when we reached New Orleans it was time for a new camera. The girlfriend
had a C*n*n Rebel and loved it, and I have to say I was taken by its light
weight, the AF and the built in flash. So, in a toss-up between an OM2000
and a N*k*n N65 (that's an F65 back home), the latter won. And from what
I've read of the OM2000 since, I don't think that was too bad a decision...
But back in Blighty I decided that I wasn't going to let the OM10 slip away
quite so easily...as a teenager I lusted over the shiny OM10s in the pages
of my mum's home shopping catalogue (when I wasn't lusting over the women's
underwear pages, of course). Alas, Japanese technology was beyond the reach
of a poor Belfast family, so my first SLR was a Zenit 11 (and you can learn
a lot from a Russian camera when you're young enough to be able to carry
it...).
So, the OM10 being jammed and new batteries having no effect, I took off the
bottom plate and (sorry camera techs) sprayed a little WD40 into its
innards. A miracle...the OM10 was back in action, and the N65 began to
gather dust.
Then, inevitably, I discovered THAT auction site, and the collection began
to grow...
The current score is an OM2n, an OM2SP, an OM40 and an OM1 (which you lot
helped me replace the prism in), a couple of 50 F1.8s, a couple of 35-70
f4s, a 75-150 f4 and a 135 f3.5.
Combined with a T20 and a T32, I feel I have most of the bases covered for,
as I said, snapping...but a sense of OM adventure is upon me.
So, the obligatory question which gives these posts their point - what would
list members suggest I acquire next? The budget, while not bottomless, is
flexible within the normal bounds of those of us with bills to pay and no
trust fund to rely on.
Dear me - I wrote a book. Many thanks for reading this far...
Mike
PS I actually liked the car threads, and this is being typed on a Macintosh
Powerbook G3 Pismo...oooh, controversial...
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