I have to confess to being anything but a minimalist, although as of
late I am certainly headed that direction. My OM kit has diminished
significantly over the years. At one time I could not have possibly
carried the whole kit (short of using an SUV.) I will not post all the
OM stuff I have owned (nothing like Tom, but still a list long enough to
send the digest readers into fits!
The current list:
OM-4T. After using and owning nearly every single digit OM body this
is the one I settled on for the vast majority of my use. This body
looked nearly pristine when I purchased it used, it is not so pretty
now. I find that the OM-4 is still one of the finest tools for shooting
slides.
OM-1n My first love so to speak. Actually my original OM-1 dies years
ago, and was replaced with an OM-2 (which my daughter now owns) that
served me well for many years. I ran into an OM-1 in great shape at a
good deal, so snapped it up as a second body, primarily for B&W use.
Like you Ken, I was never a real lens snob, although I have owned some
nice and pretty pricey glass in my day, even though I really could not
afford it! :) My penchant for zooms is probably enough to keep me of the
lens snob list! Much of my expensive glass was bought as much due to
lack of good impulse control as anything else, and most of it has been
since sold to pay the bills. So what is left:
Tokina ATX Pro 24-40 f/2.8 Great lens, has seen a lot of use, includes
my two favorite focal lengths (24 & 40mm) and a host of good ones in
between.
Tokina ATX Pro 60-120 f/2.8 Picked this up on a lark from KEH just
because I had never seen one. Reasonably small, incredibly sharp, a
great lens!
Kiron Match mate 1.5x converter. A great teleconverter, not quite a
match for the Olympus 1.4xA, but will work with most lenses as it does
not protrude forward. Very good results, and it works well with the 60-120
These two Tokinas & the Kiron paired up to the OM-4 are really the bulk
and basis of my kit. I have a pair of Nikon multi-element close up
lenses and a cople of step up rings that I also carry for close-up work.
What about our beloved Zuikos? Well there are a few, but the lack of
fast zoom lenses limited my choices to after market. (Yes I have used
and did own the fabulous 35-80 f/2.9 Zuiko. Great lens, sharp, low
distortion, big, and very expensive. Just never used it enough to big,
to heavy, and to expensive) to justify the investment, and it headed
down the road when I needed some serious cash.
But I digress, there are a few Zuikos in the group:
40 f/2 Zuiko I have owned two of these, The first I got when they were
still an affordable lens. Years later I sold it when the price had
gotten so high, and I quit using it for fear of diminishing it's value.
I immediatly regreted it and replaced it with the spectacularly
perfroming Voigtlander 40, but the backwards focusing and bulk just did
not work for me, so it was sold. After a long search I cfound a Zuiko 40
f/2 at a reasonable price and it gets a lot of use, on both bodies. I
particularly like it paired with the OM-4 for climbing when I want to go
light.
35-70 f3.5-4.5 A great lightweight normal Zoom. This lens has been used
a LOT, and has been used to take many of my favorite photos. My climbing
lens of choice.
50 f/1.8 slivernose, used rarely, mostly it just looks good on the OM-1.
Besides it's resale value is nil and everybody should own at least one.
21 f/3.5 A great super wide. Still in the kit, but currently listed for
sale. May just wind up keeping it. It's hard for me to let go of the
wide lenses.
135 f4.5 macro W/auto extension tube. For when I want to do 'serious'
macro work. I have also owned the 80, but when one had to go, the 135
got kept, more working distance, and it functions as a normal 135 in a
pinch. Now that all my long glass is gone this it the longest thing I
have. :)
What else is gone, all of the flashes, and all but a single MD-1. I have
also kept my few favotie focusing screens. There are a few other odds
and ends, but a lot of stuff got sold to get into the N*kon digital
system. I also have a Contax G kit that I just could not pass up. when I
want a film camera with a flash that is my choice. Most of the time I
either shoot with the built in flash on the N*kon, or an old set of
studio lights my sister in law gave to me when she gave up portraiture.
What am I missing? to my mind, almost nothing. I can't focus manually as
fast as I used to which is why the long glass is gone, and why the low
light/flash camera is an autofocus camera (the Contax.) Bsides that, I
don't do much bird or sports photography these days which is what I used
the big glass for. Truth is probably 50% of the shots I would have taken
with the big glass were missed because I was not lugging the beast with
me when theshot presented itself. (Whichever beast it happened to be at
the time, and they all are beasts!) I amtempted to pick up an autofocus
N*kon to match up with the digital for when i want to shoot film &
digital, but not carry two completly different rigs. If I do that, more
of the OM gear would go down the road most likely.
Jim
AG Schnozz wrote:
Message snipped - you want to see, go check out the archives, I have
taken up enough space already! :)
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