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Re: [OM] newly introduced-backpacking

Subject: Re: [OM] newly introduced-backpacking
From: Eric Jackson <ejackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 6 Mar 2001 13:57:53 -0800
Emails like that get me pumped up to just go buy the nicest camera I see 
regardless of the price, take another week and a half off for spring break and 
go out west and get some experience.  What are some of the most beautiful 
places that you have been?  In my mind I see you as the guy in Vertical limit 
taking pictures of an eagle as he dangles from a nice rock face, correct?  
thats awesome. some day I would like to make a living combining backpacking and 
photography. not quite sure how to do that yet but i'm not going to let that 
stop me. Thanks again for your advice and help.
Eric Jackson

On Sun, 04 March 2001, "alpinist" wrote:

> 
> Eric-
> 
> As a fellow backpacker/climber I can saw the OM line is ideal.  The sturdy
> metal construction, compactness, and small-sharp lenses are ideal to pack
> with.  I have been hauling my 2S up climbs from the Texas desert to Alaskan
> peaks and have loved it.  My "worst" experience was having my last set of
> batteries freeze on a glacier.  Solution- goto the mechanical 1/60 -sec
> shutter and keep shooting!
> 
> After 16 years of hard use the body has brassing and the film winds a little
> rough (from too many exposed hours in blowing New Mexico sand) but she still
> works!!  Now I have even inadvetantly dropped it a few times and it has
> bumped rocks, biners, etc and keeps going.  It is now my 3rd string body.  I
> have an OM-4 that is 14 years old and in awesome shape and a OM-4Ti that I
> just got brand spanking new last week.  I fully expect them to be working in
> 15+ years!
> 
> Check out the OM webring and all the good info it has on all things OM
> 
> http://nav.webring.yahoo.com/hub?ring=olympusom&list
> 
> Then look to buy.  I would second the plug for keh.com  Their stuff is very
> clean and I have always been happy with them.  Get a couple of good Zuiko
> lenses and you are off to the races.  Check out Gary's lens test site  on
> webring for great info  (we cannot thank you enough for it Gary!)
> 
> My own favs -esp for climbing/packing would be the 28/2.8 , the 50/1.8 (for
> low light/speed) and maybe like the 100/2.8 or the 75-150 zoom.  I read a
> Galen Rowell article in one of his books that said he takes a 24 and an 85-
> he also said that 900f his pics were or could have been taken with just
> those 2 lenses.  Those Zuikos are pretty close and pretty cheap to acquire
> and also replace if you somehow were able to booboo them.
> 
> Another plus to the OM size is that it is easy to pack 2 or 3 bodies and
> still take things like food.  I often take 2 OM bodies 5 lenses and
> assecories, a small tripod and loads of film as well as ropes, crampons, etc
> put it all in my Dana Terraplane and go.  Actually I put the camera gear in
> a Lowepro Omni Sport(2 bodies and 5 lenses!).
> 
> Anyway, if on the odd outside chance you were to go for some lesser brand, I
> would say go with a Nkn FM-2 or a used Pntx K-1000, both are all metal and
> can take the abuse of the outdoor lifestyle.  Both lines also still use the
> same lensmount so you can have a rugged metal body and still use new lenses
> on it.  Avoid all autofocus plastic cameras_which is pretty much everything
> else.  Yes the are nice if you have $1800 to drop on a F5 and say National
> Geographic gets you a spare body, but they are far too finicky to take the
> long haul up the AT or dangle from a climbing harness.  Actually for an AF
> camera get a Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic or a Yashica T4, they are cheap,
> sharp, small, and pack great.  I use my stylus for prints and can shoot
> Velvia in 1 OM body and B+W in the other.
> 
> Anyway I would still say that any OM will serve you well.  Someone described
> them as a tool. I would say a machine, a finely tuned, glorious machine that
> will serve you well and is built to last.  Here is a thought- of all the new
> SLR's on the market, which will still be able to function in 10-15 years?
> Only the good ones, the metal machines-not any plastic ones. That really
> just leaves Olympus , Leica, and a couple of Contax and Nkn bodies.  Pretty
> much everything else is designed to be obselete and useless in a few years.
> Call it the computer industry mentality, modern AF plastic cameras are going
> to last about as long as Pentium II.
> 
> Buy confidently and take lot's of pics!!
> 
> So good luck! and maybe I will see you on the trail!
> 
> -Darren
> 
> 
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