Reuben,
On Wed, 11 Oct 2000, Reuben Acciano wrote:
> One body? 4Ti, no question. If your ligthing changes during exposure (as is
> frequently the case with either the "magic hours" or when I'm shooting
> bands, only an electronic shutter will do. Of course, I'd be packing a 3 or
> 2N for just in case it dropped to 20 below outside, but then, living in
> Perth - it's not likely to happen anytime soon ... right, Andrew, Wayne? :)
Clearly you are confused ;) You meant to say that you wanted to take the
OM2s/p....
No, seriously, I love my OM4's, and I think that they are great
cameras. However using almost exclusively spot metering, and most often
finding one such metering to be sufficient, the OM4 is a bit annoying,
requiring that I press a button (which I seems to never be able to find
easilly when the camera is mounted with a winder) to do spot-metering. So,
there....when the light conditions are changing rapidly, the OM4 gets
really annoying, requireing me to fumble often to find the
"spot" button. Even without the winder, this seems to be an unnatural
operation to me.
So in rapidly changing light conditions, I would - without a doubt - take
the OM2s/p. The multi-spot capacities of the OM3/4 are usefull too - but
not when you need to make seperate measures every so many frames.
>
> On another note -does anyone have any relevant - in use - info on the value
> of an OM-30 (OM F) as a backup body?
Well, I have one. Bought it many years ago, and has had (at most) one film
through it per year.
> I've found a cheapie ... everything
> seems to work and the build quality is peachy keen. I also like the finder -
> it reminds me of a 2S I had once (longing sigh).
What? You mean that you HAD such camera and decided to part with it?????
I find it hard to believe that you think the viewfinder is like the OM2s,
though...
> Can anyone tell me if the
> "in-focus indicator" is worth anything at all?
Well, having an OM30, I can shed a little light on that, at least.
The OM30 is - imho - an OM20 with the "in-focus-indicator". As such, the
camera is build for apeture-priority exposure, with optional manual
settings. That is to say: the viewfinder shows the shutter speed
used in auto-mode for the current apeture. In manual mode, the
viewfinder shows the reccomended shutter speed for the current apeture,
but it is up to you to manually check if the shutter speed is in fact set
to what is reccomended. There are no indicators of over/under-exposure in
the viewfinder (contrast to the OM2s/p, which in manual mode has an
LCD-bar, simulating the meter of the OM1 and in auto, an LCD-bar
simulating the meter of the OM2 in auto mode). This makes (imho) the
camera less usefull in manual mode.
Further, in dark conditions, the LED's in the OM30 do not illuminate the
shutter speed numbers - they are next to the numbers. That means, that
when it is dark, it is actually impossible to see what shutter speed the
camera has selected. Of course, experience with the camera will help you
here, but I still find it a weak point.
As for the in-focus indicators, they are usefull - at least so my spouse
says. Being more used to manual focus (and prefering such....yes, I also
had a N*kon F5 et. al, but never came to an agreement with the AF-system
on what actually should be in focus, so I cleverly parted with the
beast....it didn't take zuiko's either) I would like to add, that the
focus indicators work excellent in daylight and where the image is nice
and contrasty - but not very well in dim or dark light conditions or when
the image lacks contrast. (No, I have no clue what system the in-focus
indicators use, I just have observations of my own from using the camera).
In short, the in-focus indicators are excellent for focusing under the
same conditions as where the split-field/micro-prism are excellent.
The camera is a battery hog - worse than any other OM's. It takes 5 cells
(don't remember which, but I assume SR44), which it can eat in a day if it
is left turned on (the focusing system apparently uses lots of
batteries). Sadly, left turned off, the camera can still eat batteries, so
I have made a habit of always opening the battery container and swinging
out the batteries whenever the camera is not in use. Whenever, meaning
even if I just put the camera in a bag to rest for an hour.
Ohh, and running out of battery renders the camera useless. If you try to
shoot, you will get the mirror locked in a wierd position - no manual
override (like the "b" or "60" on the s2/p or 4) will get it
unlocked. Fresh batteries, though, will cure the problem.
Concluding the review with a summary: the OM30 is a decent, two-digit
Olympus camera, for all the good and bad things there are to say about
it. As a "point-and-shoot" camera with interchangeable lenses it is good,
and it is easy to hand to someone who is not MF-familiar and say "just
turn the focus ring until the green light comes on". Under normal
conditions, run in full-auto-mode, the camera makes for good pictures. For
more advanced photography, where manual mode is required, the camera (as
all two-digit bodies) is more troublesome to use than what I appreciate.
That said, the OM30 is the only two-digit body I have not parted with
(never had a 40, though). It is a funny little body which I almost
exclusively use for color-films (hence the low film-count).
> Is this a primitive version
> of the system in the Contax RX?
No idea, I never owned a Contax....ohh, great, thanks for pointing that
out...now I have to go shopping ;(
> Or is it a marketing irrelevance bought in
> to draw attention away from the crappy AF lens this body was supposed to be
> matched with?
Never owned the 35-70AF-lens, I cannot comment. However I'd be looking for
one, just to try it out on the OM30. Haven't come across one yet for sale,
though, and none of the Zuikoholics I know in my proximity have one ;(
> Am I the only one who hates the idea of a rectangular shutter
> release?
Well, that is - in pratical usage - a minor annoyance, if an annoyance
atall.
> All else seems fine with this body so is $AUD 110.00 the good deal
> I think it is? (That's actually including a crappy SC 50 1.8 and rubber 49mm
> lens hood).
>
Well, I have seen them adverticed in Denmark for about USD150 with a 35-70
(non-AF) or a third-party zoom recently. So I guess that your deal is
attractive, and if you are looking for a "backup-body" it may be a good
candidate. Be warned, though, that as all two-digit bodies, it is not as
durable as their one-digit counterparts.
So go out and give the lil' OM30 a good home. Just remember: the
mechanical parts in any body (even your own, mortal one) like to be
exercised from time to time. So even as a backup-body, take it out and
shoot a frame or two every 3 weeks or so.
> Help me out, gang.
>
Go, buy! buy! buy! ;)
--thomas
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