At 03:58 PM 1/1/98 +0000, Frank Wijsmuller wrote:
>Now that Olympus reads this (Richard? ;-) I'm ready to react on
>minimum and dream specs.
>
>Tomoko wrote (some time ago):
>> The last questions:
>> 1) how much are you willing to pay for a new OM body to
replace/supplement your old OM?
>> 2) What is the minimum spec and what is your dream spec?
>
>M i n i m u m :
>I'm in love with the spotmetering system of my OM-4 too. One day I
>hope to get an OM-4Ti because my OM-4 is not very reliable (it eats
>batteries both when I use the selftimer or leave a (dedicated) flash
>'ready'). But I'm not willing to pay the $1400 which it costs in The
>Netherlands. Half of it would be nice, but that's the price of a
>secondhand one (pretty used).
>
>D r e a m :
>Most of all I like the 'look and feel' of the user-interface of the
>spotmetering system of the OM-4(T). So I agree with Peter Leyssens
>that it should remain (don't change the buttons too much, I'm used to
>it now ;-). But I would like a focus assist like in the Contax RX.
>That is the closest thing to auto-focus Olympus can offer without
>extensive investing in a new AF system. (Besides it keeps the 50+
>segment of photographers aboard, and that's good because that's where
>the money is (to make it worthwhile). But I add this feature
>primarily because of my own wish to have it. I don't think it is wise
>to add features like DX coding here, unless it is y o u r
>dream-feature. Our dream camera won't and shouldn't compete with
>existing products from N*k*n, C*n*n, etc. We are defining a niche
>here, and drifting to main-stream features w o n ' t bring us this
>camera. The real challenge is to design a camera on which other
>manufacturers feel they must react, like the OM-1 once.)
>
>And I would like a compact body with a small built in motor (only for
>film advance, I'm quite lazy (sometimes confused with efficient ;-).
>The Pentax ZX-5 indicates that it might be possible to maintain the
>OM-1 to 4 dimensions, if you'd want more than only film advance just
>ad a winder or motor drive (I like this idea).
>
>I'll stop here, when will we be able to vote about these features,
>Tomoko?
My target date to put together our wish list is the end of next week. To
those of you who are skeptical about petitioning Olympus to do something
about the OM system camera beyond introduction of the OM2000, I have
something to tell you.
Although I normally skip the Sports section alltogether in my newspaper
reading, pictures of cameras caught my eye this morning on the last page of
the Sports section of the Baltimore Sun. Ritz Camera had a full-page ad
there. This ad is trying to sell Nikon's N50 and the Pentax ZX-50 among
others. Both are in the $300 range.
Olympus has one item in the price category in this ad and it is the
Centurion, which is a ZLR format camera for the APS. What was striking in
this ad is that Olympus is offering a $50 rebate, which I had never seen
before.
The rebates may be a gimmick, but this might be a good way to reduce the
price of an item for a limited period.
Although it is possible that Olympus America is finally doing what other
manufacturers, cameras and others, are doing, I did send a gif file of a
local camera store ad to Kazufusa Taneichi of Olympus Japan. This is the
camera store where I bought my OM2000. It was their Canon Day ad, and it
showed that Canon was offering a $50 rebate on EOS Elasn IIs.
Therefore I believe it is worthwhile to raise our voice to get heard by
Olympus. If we don't speak up, who else would write or call on Olympus to
do something about the way they conduct business and they manufacture their
cameras?
Regarding the Centurion pricing. When I was in Austria, the Centurion was
displayed in all the three camera stores in Steyr, Austria. At that time,
the Austrian price even with their tax included was better than the B&H
price! It was due to the exchange rate. The American dollar was very
strong relative to the Austrian schilling.
I am sure that there is room for temporary price reduction for the 4Ti as
well, not everywhere in the world, but where the local currencies are
strong with respect to yen.
I also suggest to everybody on the list to read descriptions of the OM-4Ti
in Photo Techniques (Dec. 97) and
Pop Photo (Dec. 97). Don't give up on Olympus. They have made good
camera bodies and accessories, and we need to trust our own instinct of
loving the OM system, and ask for more!
Tomoko Yamamoto
Photographer, Composer, Soprano
mailto:tomokoy@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.charm.net/~tomokoy/
-All the photos (except panorama) with OM's-
http://ep.com/ep/csp.html?csp=1130
-Olympus Equipment Classifieds-
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