At 3:21 AM +0100 2/21/04, Listar wrote:
>In a message dated 2/20/2004 10:37:07 AM Central Standard Time,
>jamesbcouch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>How old are you now (you can skip this part if you wish!) :)
I'm 57. I was 16 and in high school when I got my first camera in 1963. I
decided I wanted a camera, and lined parents and grandparents up to concentrate
all my Christmas booty into a single present, a camera. After Christmas, my
father and I went shopping. The finalists were a Yashica D (a twin-lens reflex
which took 120 film), and a Beauty Lightomatic II (a rangefinder that took 35mm
film and had a non-removable 50mm f/1.9 lens and built-in selenium lightmeter).
The budget was something like US $120, which was real money back then. I
chose the Lightomatic, and used it until it wore out and fell apart. It was a
very good learner's camera, and owes me nothing. The Lightomatic resembled the
Canonet, but was rumoured to have been made by Yashica as an entry-level
camera. I have no idea if this is true or not.
I started looking for a new camera in the early 1970s, when it became obvious
that the Lightomatic would not live forever.
The replacement was an OM-1, bought in 1974. This was the first camera I ever
bought with my own money, and I still use it. I probably took far more
pictures with it than the now deceased Lightomatic, and the OM-1 still works
well, although it did get a CLA from John H a few years ago. I did wait until
the OM-1 had been on the market for a year, to allow enough time for the
inevitable teething problems to be solved without my help.
Over the years, I have collected a number of lenses (most bought as needed) and
some bodies (OM-4Ti, a pair of OM-2Ns), and still use them all. I don't plan
to ever sell them, even as digital washes over everything; my executor will
sell them for what they will bring.
Well, not always strictly "as needed". I must admit that discovery of this
list caused some purchases. Mostly completing my kit while it's still easy.
Which isn't to say that I won't also buy a digital system someday, but I don't
currently take enough pictures to be worth it, and film works pretty well.
It's the same as with lenses - I buy them as needed when needed.
People like me (like us, actually) are the despair of camera manufacturers.
Still using the same camera thirty years later. Digital cameras are much
better -- they break in a few years, and are not economically reparable, so
people have to buy them evert two or three years, not two or three decades.
Joe Gwinn
The olympus mailinglist olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe: mailto:olympus-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe
To contact the list admins: mailto:olympusadmins@xxxxxxxxxx?subject="Olympus
List Problem"
|