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[OM] Camera Quandary - OM vs. N*kon vs L*ica

Subject: [OM] Camera Quandary - OM vs. N*kon vs L*ica
From: Rob Harrison <robhar@xxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 19:16:27 -0800
I find myself in a bit of a quandary. Please be gentle. I feel like a 
wanker to even be asking these questions to this august forum, but here 
goes. Skip has already heard some of this.

Those of you who have owned Nikon or Leica systems and given them up, 
what prompted the switch to OM?
Those of you who still use Nikon or Leica alongside your OM, what makes 
you pick up one rather than the other? What does each do best?

My OM-1MD has been more or less out of the equation for the last ten 
years. I sold all my OM gear except the body and 50/1.8 lens when I was 
told its meter was un-repairable. Now I find that is not necessarily 
true! It is now on the way to John Hermanson to (hopefully) get its 
meter fixed, which is prompting all this teeth-gnashing. Suddenly, I 
could be using my beloved OM-1 again!

In a recent roll using incident metering, I was pleased with the 
closer-focusing of the 50/1.8 Zuiko lens vs. the Nikon 50/1.8 Series E. 
Image quality was comparable. I love the feel of the OM.

As far as SLR vs rangefinder goes, so far (in nine months of Leica 
ownership) I've found I get better results for casual portraits and 
close-ups with my Nikon FE2 and the 75-150 Series E. This is partly 
because I don't have a 90mm for the Leica. This jives with conventional 
wisdom about wide angles working well with rangefinders, telephotos 
with SLRs. The images from the Summicrons (esp. the 35/2 ASPH) are 
spectacular. The MP also feels great. Incredible "haptics" as Erwin 
Putz says.

As far as Nikon MF vs. OM goes...I love the compactness and lightness 
of the OM system. That's what drew me to the OM in 1976, when I traded 
in my Minolta for the OM-1. The match needle metering is just so easy. 
I got the FE2 hoping to approximate the OM-1 in that regard. Turns out 
the FE2 is quite a bit more sophisticated and capable--offering AE, 
plus TTL flash. The FG offers a full Program mode. THe FG is actually 
about the same size and weight as the OM-1. I'm imagining image quality 
with Zuiko lenses would be equal to the Nikons, but...different...than 
the Leica's. It'd be hard to beat the Summicron 35/2 ASPH in richness, 
bokeh, tonal graduation, sharpness, three dimensionality...you know, 
that Leica thing they do so well.

Mind you, I could sell the Leica kit and finance a vacation to some 
exotic place to actually _take_ photographs instead of talking about 
photo gear.... We are in fact going to Australia in May, to meet my 
wife's family for the first time. She grew up in northern Queensland, 
sugar cane territory--Finch Hatton. The family now lives in Mackay. 
It's going to be a huge photo opportunity--first time all of the 
siblings will be together in ten years...but I want to avoid bringing 
ALL my cameras...

My thoughts are to either...
-get the 90mm for the Leica and just take that kit.
or...
-forget about long lenses on the rangefinder, and carry the OM with the 
75-150/4 I just got from Jim Couch for portraits, and use the MP for 
everything else... (and forget about TTL flash in both cases...)
or...
-take the FG and FE2 with three lenses and SB-15
or...
-sell most of my Nikon gear (except the FG, which was my dad's), sell 
the Leica kit, and get an OM-4ti, F280 flash, 21/3.5, 24 shift, 35/2, 
50/1.2 and 85/2 to compliment my 50/1/8 and 75-150 zoom, and for the 
trip to Australia, take the OM-1 and OM-4ti, F280, 21/3.5, 35/2, 50/1.2 
and 85/2, and quit thinking so much.

There, I've said it.

Thanks for listening.

-Rob in Seattle










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