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Re: [OM] New OM Wish List

Subject: Re: [OM] New OM Wish List
From: Tomoko Yamamoto <tomokoy@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 20:38:23 -0800
At 02:03 PM 1/6/98 -0800, Shawn Wright wrote:

>
>Here's my wish list for a new OM body (and lenses):
>
>Minimum spec:
>(for $500 US price point)
>
>1/250 flash sync
>Metal lens mount, chassis, back, and film guides.
>Well damped mirror assembly with pre-fire on self timer.
>Quiet shutter, with 1/60 and B mechanical speeds.
>Shutter speed dial as on OM-1,2,3,4
>Meter display as on OM-4
>Spot meter, shadow, highlight control operation and positioning as on OM-4
>OTF metering with low light auto mode as on OM-2,4
>TTL/OTF flash, with separate X jack and TTL jack. (as on OM-4)
>Electronic shutter with full manual & auto control (as on OM-4)
>Compatibility with all OM lenses, winders, MD, focus screens, etc.
>2-13 screen standard
>
Since I don't know to what extent Olympus can lower the price of the above
model which is essentially OM-4, I would like to propose upgrading the
OM2000 to incorporate more compatibility with the OM system.

The size of the OM2000 is slightly larger than the OM-4T.  It should be
possible to modify the bottom cover area to accept the Winder 2 and the
Motordrive 2.  There seems to be enough room to incorporate the OM style
focusing screen frame in the OM2000.  The focusing screen which comes with
the OM2000, BTW, is bright and now that I got my dioptric correction lens
installed, it is easy to focus.  About flash accessories, Olympus at the
minium should install a PC socket on the OM2000.  At this point, the OM2000
becomes a nice all-manual replacement/second body for the OM users all over
the world.  Price would be certainly well below $500.  I would think these
modifications may be done by Cosina for Olympus.  
 
It would be nice to have the TTL flash capability even without
autoexposure.  Moving the shutter dial to the OM mount area is the next
improvement.   These two might be major modifications to the OM2000, and I
think it might be just as well for Olympus to produce the current OM-4Ti
without titanium and bring the price down closer to $700-800.  

I think that Olympus should bring these two OM bodies to the market first
before introducing an OM-5.  This would make Olympus the manufacturer of
five OM bodies: OM2000, OM2000upgrade, OM-4Budget, OM-3Ti/4Ti, and these
bodies make it possible for former/current OM dealers to stock all the five
bodies at their local stores. I am pretty sure that some would increase the
sale of even flagship cameras.   New bodies should bring more used OM
bodies to the store, which would help those who are still interested in
buying good old metal cameras at an affordable price.

Introducing the OM-5 without mid-range manual focus OM bodies would not
make sense to me.  I think Olympus could introduce both the OM-5Ti and the
OM-5Budget.

If Olympus could bring an OM-4Budget with some updating and dropping some
extremely long shutter speeds, that might make the OM-4B more attractive to
new OM users.  

Since we are having the Mid-Atlantic Oly Fest on Saturday, I would like to
postpone the deadline of submitting ideas to the list to next Monday for
everyone.  I should be able to work on a summary in English on Tuesday.  I
think if any of you do not like what I put together, he/she could always
write to Olympus Japan directly.


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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