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RE: [OM] Age Data was Non-OM, Non-NG

Subject: RE: [OM] Age Data was Non-OM, Non-NG
From: Chuck Norcutt <norcutt@xxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 09:14:37 -0400
I'm 55.  I'll claim that I'm the oldest guy on the list. (That'll bring
out a few more of you).  But I'm pretty much a newbie to the list.

My first camera was a Petri 7s bought in Germany in 1963 when I was with
the USAF.  Still have it but the meter quit working years ago. I had
access to a darkroom there and learned basic developing and printing
skills from a couple of friends who had also encouraged me to buy the
camera.

>From previous posts you may know that I used to build telescopes.  In
1968 my wife gave me a Miranda G so that I could have an SLR to use with
the scope.  In 1974 IBM (my employer then) gave me a sizable cash award
for having saved them many millions of bucks. I applied those proceeds
to a used Jaguar XKE, a Celestron 8 outfitted for photography and an
Olympus OM-1 with 50mm f/1.4.

Over the next 10 or so years the lens line got supplemented with a 200mm
f/4, a 35mm f/2.8 and an 85mm f/2 (in that order).  In 1975 we moved
from Woodstock, NY to Boca Raton, FL.  My built-in darkroom and Beseler
23-C were casualties of that move.  That also started a long, slow
decline of my interest in photography although, somewhere in that
period, I also acquired a used OM-2s body.

After my granddaughter was born 4 years ago I decided I needed a quick
point and shoot camera and bought an Olympus Stylus 35-70 zoom.  That
was doing fine until a trip to Las Vegas last year to see my father
uncovered 13 rolls of film suffering from light leaks.  That rekindled
my interest in my other cameras.  I was kicking myself for not having at
least taken along one of the OM bodies.

I had never used the OM-2s very much since it seemed to completely
consume batteries between uses.  I thought it was defective.  Thanks to
this list I have discovered that its current draw while "off" is
completely normal (for an OM-2s).  I've learned to remove the batteries
and keep them in a plastic film can so I don't lose them.  I tape the
pair together with a thin strip of tape for easier handling.

That doesn't exactly make for point and shoot though.  So, I also found
a good deal on an OM-PC.  That comes pretty close to being an OM-2s and
at a bargain price.  Its current draw when it's "off" appears to be zero
so the batteries stay in.  Dr. John prescribed a specific a checking
sequence here recently and I plan to re-measure it that way soon.

With three bodies I was starting to turn into a collector.  I mentioned
this to my son to whom I had given an OM-G a number of years ago.  He
gave it back.  Has never figured out how to fully use it and has done no
photograpy other than point and shoot and video for the last 4 years. 
The camera looks like new.

Just recently I came into another OM-G body and an OM-2 and several
lenses. Both cameras need CLA but maybe I'll teach myself how to do that
somehow.

With so many old bodies I needed some way to check their peformance so I
started looking for some means of building a shutter speed tester.  I
found the plans for using a photo-transistor with input to a PC's sound
card but I couldn't get that to work at 1/60 sec or faster due to 60
cycle hum in the signal.

So, now I'm building one of my own design using input to the PC's
joystick trigger buttons and writing some simple software to do the
timing.  More later if it actually works.  It'll be awhile since I don't
have much time for it.

So, there you have it from the old hardware and software junkie.  Maybe
one of these days I'll actually get out and take some pictures!!!

Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, MA

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