Talk about getting lazy in a real hurry. Digital is really
dangerous to critical thinking while shooting. It's easy (and
cheap) to shoot dozens of brackets, alternative compositions,
etc., without fear. But one could easily forget how to determine
exposures on their own.
Let's see. I'm four days into "Serious" Digicam ownership and
pushing 1000 shots already. I've got, maybe, five decent shots
in the bunch. Ok, maybe a few more, but nearly all are "getting
familiar" and "benchmarking" pictures. I've deleted 2/3 of them
off the camera before they ever reach the computer.
Here are a few observations:
- Antishake/Image Stabalization ROCKS! I never knew what I was
missing. I'm consistantly getting excellent handheld shots at
1/15 at an equivelent 200mm focal length. We're talking zero
motion blur in the images. It isn't always perfect, but it's a
whole lot better than the alternative. I'm convinced enough that
it is becomming a major factor in any future camera purchase.
Awesome! I handheld a night street scene at ISO 160 (indicated
ISO 100) at 50mm equivelent that is knife sharp and I wasn't
even trying. I need to double-check the esif data, but I think
it was 1/8 of a second.
- Image quality is overrated. Choose the camera because it
feels right and gives you the features and capabilities you
need, not because of some extreme nuance in how it resolves a
test chart. The fact is, once printed, you are hard pressed to
identify noise (low ISO) and other artifacts in anything up to
11x14. I checked out a lot of cameras before settling in on
mine. As I continue to use it, the more I'm impressed with the
design. It's the little things. I hate having to fight the
camera, and this one requires little to no fighting.
- Today's zoom lenses are extremely good at flare control. I'm
getting shots that have few if any Newton's Rings or visible
loss of contrast. These would have been throwaways with my
Zuikos--even the MC one.
I purchased the Minolta A1. I couldn't justify the $450 more
(at the time) for the A2, so I gave up on the nicer EVF and 8MP
sensor, but gained in a camera that has pretty much equal
resolving power as the lens is the limiting factor. I agree with
Chuck, as there are a few plastic bits that make me wonder, but
the handling of the camera is SUPURB! It is extremely
configurable and in reality is every bit a professional camera
in every aspect except for sensor-size, interchangeable lens
mount and some robustness issues.
Images from the camera are good. I'm fighting sharpness
problems in wide-angle, but at normal and telephoto settings it
is quite good. I've printed several 8x10s that are more than
sharp enough. An 11x14 portrait shot is as good as Portra 160
in 35mm. That's good enough for nearly 100% of my paying jobs.
Oh, and skintones are nearly perfect for me. I'm getting
dead-ringer Portra 160NC skintones. The ISO ratings are a bit
off. ISO 100 is actually 160.
Best of all, with the battery pack installed, the camera looks
like a professional camera. I don't feel like the poor
stepchild when shooting with it.
Now, what in the world does this have to do with the OM list,
you ask?
I very carefully considered everything out there. I know, that
as a professional I needed to go digital. I've kicked and
screamed long and hard, but finally had to succomb to it. But I
couldn't justify the expense of dumping a minimum of $2000 into
a camera body/lens that hadn't "arrived" yet. I like the E-1,
but it's not ready for ME yet. Having seen the design
philosophy of Minolta, I'm going to seriously look at their DSLR
offering when it's ready. But regardless of what I purchase in a
year (maybe) my "investment" in the A1 is to be considered a
freebee. It will pay for itself in one upcoming assignment, it
will work nice as a backup camera to a real DSLR, and it has
allowed me to wait on spending the big bucks for at least one
more DSLR development cycle.
Most importantly, it encourages me to keep using the OMs.
There's plenty of the world to photograph in B&W and in Velvia.
And I have a couple of lenses still capable of extreme-quality
pictures. My 100/2.8 is safe from retirement. Especially in
the Bokeh department.
Would I recommend this camera to other Zuikoheads desparately
trying to wait out the DSLR purchase as long as possible? In a
heartbeat. There are a few oddball nuances, and noise at the
higher ISOs is disasterous, but the camera is a fine performer
and works with you, not against you. It is a "shooting
priority" camera. Provided you haven't foolishly used the switch
to place the camera in "play mode" the camera is ALWAYS ready to
take a picture. Doesn't matter what menu you are in, whether or
not you are in the process of reviewing pictures the camera is
ready to roll.
One cool item--The exposure mode dial includes four of those
stupid presets (sports, portrait, sunset, landscape). Don't like
them? Fine, you can replace them (and another Memory Recall
positon) with your own settings. FIVE custom memories a turn of
the dial away.
One question I've been asked is about the shutter delay. In
reality I notice little if any difference from my OM-2S.
The price on these puppies is falling rapidly.
AG-Schnozz
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