On Wed, 18 Oct 2000, Lex Jenkins wrote:
<SNIP>
> Somewhere in the OM Webring is the answer to Dirk's question regarding
> placement of the shutter speed ring - it had something to do with making the
> OM body as small as possible.
Personally, I prefer to think of the "smaller size" as a side-effect of an
ergonomically smart design. Whichever is true is not for me to say, but I
too read somewhere that putting the shutter ring there does
"something" size-wise.....
> Personally, I find it slightly less
> convenient in action - I tend to land on the aperture or focus ring first -
> but have no complaints about the size. Fair compromise.
>
Odd, that. It appears that the many of the reasons I decided to go for
OM-gear in the first place are the things many people hate about the
gear. I, for one, prefers to have all "controls" in reach of the left hand
- i.e. nearby the lens. Having the shutter-speed ring at the lens mount
was one of the major reasons I decided to go with Olympus, rather than
other of the many systems available in the 80'es. I remember trying out
various cameras until I got the OM1 in my hands. "Wow", I thought, "what a
cute little camera". Next, I noticed that the shutter speed ring was
located around the lens-mount, and after shooting just one film I was sold
on that concept. I spend about a month trying out other cameras, always
wondering why they had put the shutter-speed ring in such inconvenient
places, compared to that of the OM1 ;)
Now, of course, the placement of the shutter-speed ring has become a habit
I would have a hard time letting go of...hmm...better start stocking up
new OM3Ti's and OM4Ti's while they are still available ;)
Anyone knows, btw., if there were ever made other cameras with the shutter
speed ring located as on the Olympi? I do not seem to remember any, but..
Some may have a valid point about the shutter speed ring at the lens mount
being inconvenient when shooting on a tripod. I can only say that that is
not too much of a concirn to me: 99,90f my tripod-shots are taken using
a completely other camera (medium format) - I prefer a shaft viewfinder in
most situations when I use a tripod.
While we are at it....the minimal-yet-sufficient viewfinder information
was another reason for me to choose the OM-system. I still think
that the OM1-layout of the meter is the second-best in the world, only
topped by that of the OM2s/p in manual mode....which essentially is the
OM1-nedel in digital form, but with the benefit of being illuminated and
thus usefull even at night.
Which then brings me to wonder why the OM10/20/30/40 viewfinders were
designed as they were. The information available is (imho) almost useless,
save for the "flash ready" light. Not taking many pictures in "auto mode",
the lack of any form of "feed-back" telling me if I over- or under-expose
compared to the meter reading is really limiting - and probably the reason
my OM30 is the least used body of mine.
--thomas
> I do agree about exposure compensation - I've never felt hindered by the old
> fashioned, all manual method. With AE cameras lacking "exposure
> compensation" I just doodle the ASA setting up or down.
> -----------
> Lex Jenkins
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Budda-budda-budda!!!" - Sgt. Rock
> ======================================================================
>
> >From: "Gary Edwards" <garyetx@xxxxxxxx>
> >Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 21:33:49 -0500
> >
> >In the pure and simple concept of the original, the OM-1 (or M-1), exposure
> >compensation is accomplished by either the shutter speed or the aperture
> >setting; photographer's choice, and both made with the left hand. The
> >indices around the needle, visible in the viewfinder, are calibrated in
> >+/-0.5 and +/-1 stop increments, so all of the critical control is
> >accomplished by one hand, without removing your eye from the viewfinder.
> >Hard to improve upon. Try that with a conventional top deck shutter speed
> >knob.
> >
>
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