At 06:32 AM 6/13/98 -0400, Denton Taylor <denton@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
...
>You can't really compare OM to EOS. You're right about adding refinements
>every couple of years, instead of a mjor redesign. Trouble is, it hasn't
>been done. The OM4, is what, 15 years old? The only incremental improvement
>was the 4T. After that, all quiet. When you let a product lie for over a
>decade in today's competitive marketplace, incremental improvement is
>hardly enough. The fact that it (3t/4t) has survived so long unchanged is
>certainly a tribute to its quality and design excellence, but Oly can't
>rest on its laurels forever...
>Regards,
>
>
>Denton Taylor
You are so right. Olympus has been quite negligent in updating
the OMs. They could do many for close to zero development cost,
so it's not beyond their resources. The 4T may look somewhat old-timey, but
inside it's a camera-computer just like the F5, Rebel G, etc. The 2N was the
last marvel of electromechanical engineering. Most of the camera's behavior
is controlled by the onboard computers, and adding features is, in many
cases, just a matter of updating the firmware and providing a way for the
user to select it.
(The most desired feature, however, a modern shutter with 1/250 sync and
1/8000 top, would require a major body redo.) Tomoko should add a OM-4 wish
list to her OM-5 one.
One possibility would be something like the Rollei 6008 master control, possibly
built into a back. The OM-4(new) would have flash memory and a network
connections to the back, the flash and motor drive (both by multiplexing on
existing pins), external devices (light meters, PCs and pocket diaries,
remote flashes) through wired and wireless connections, and, later on, the
lenses, which would be ROMed like Leica's new ones. A large number of
functions could be added,
JUST BY CHANGING THE PROGRAMMING. Some are:
1. 1st curtain or 2nd curtain sync, or anywhere inbetween, including
multiple pops.
2. Separate exposure compensation for TTL flash and ambient light.
3. OM-2 flash behavior (shutter stays open until sufficient exposure), or
OM-2N and later (2nd curtain releases immediately after flash, making fill
more difficult), or programmable (or ambient light set) delay.
4. TTL in both manual and auto modes. Non TTL in both.
5. TTL flash metering.
6. Wireless TTL flash.
7. Precisely selectable stepless shutter speeds.
8. Wireless remote incident ambient and flash metering. Would require a new
meter or an adaptor to Minolta's.
9. Storage of exposure data for later downloading.
10. Mirror prefire. As a substitute for lock up.
11. ASA/ISOs outside the range on the dial.
12. User entry of lens type. If the camera knows the max aperture, it can
display set aperture in the viewfinder. Focal length can be supplied to the
flash for zooming. Later ROMed lenses would supply this info automatically.
13. ESP metering, which combines spot and average. A new meter cell with
more segments could preserve current function, but add more sophisticated
metering functions.
14. Tuning of system settings like self timer delay and flash cutoff level.
and finally
15. An "old codger" mode that behaves exactly like an OM-4T (except with the
3T's manual F flash). This would be the default mode one would get from the
factory, if one doesn't buy any addons, or one hits the "factory settings"
button on the controller. This would allow the illusion of possessing an
old-timey camera, and allow one to do laborious calculations (in one's head,
in high-pressure, time-critical, one-shot-only situations like weddings,
graduations, etc.) without the aid of metering data, to get things like
daylight fill flash or slow-sync flash that point & shoots do automatically.
I would also like to see some improvement in holdability. The OMs' smooth,
featureless surfaces can make them hard to hold with anything but the
smaller lenses. Just a little ridge on the front to give the the middle
fingers something to catch on, but that doesn't interfere with the winders
and drives like the little screw on one does. Also a ridge on the back for
the thumb base to catch. Some solution to the 5 tiny, lose-able covers.
Can't do much on the motor drive one. The battery one should be a fold-up,
sealed, locking door, openable by hand. The 5-pin flash should flip back.
A new flash would be nice. Something like a Metz 40 with F mode added. Or
just a new digital SCA for the Metz 40 & 50s.
A new winder with rewind, but not so unbelievably loud as the current one,
and without the sharp strap lug that gouges your palm (I unscrewed mine.)
On new lenses, the ROMing may have to wait for an OM-5. Old lenses could be
refitted with mounting rings with an identifying ROM in them. New lenses
could add aperture, focal length, and distance sensors. This would be the
path to eventual all-electrical lenses and autofocus, while maintaining
backwards compatibility.
Have Tamron OEM their 80-200 f/2.8, 180 f/2.5, 300 f/2.8, and some others (a
wide-angle zoom) in OM mount. Make the 35-180 and 28-110 IS lenses in OM
mounts unless there is a mount or mirror clearance problem. Have Pentax OEM
their 15mm. (I believe it's the same design as the Contax and Leica 15s).
Reissue lenses with absurd used prices like the 40 and the 50-250 in
special, horribly overpriced, "classic editions", like Pentax just did with
their pancake lens. Do the same with the OM-1.
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