Clendon asks:
<< Should I continue to collect increasingly rare lenses and other
accesories >>
Sure, many OM System items, outside of what was mass merchandised, have
appreciated in used value over what they cost new. Which could also be
used as a justification for selling, as much as keeping it.
What is "rare" about OM System cameras and lenses currently in
production?
<< or chuck it and get a new camera system where the parts will be
available for the rest of my life (probably). >>
Why do you think that new parts on anything presently made will be
available down the road? I don't think that is a reasonable assumption,
based on the history of the photographic industry and their American
distributors. US statutes (assuming you are in the USA) require
stocking them for 7 years after manufacture, but only on cameras, not
their accessories. And if a certain part is in high demand (such as
from a poorly designed part of a camera), they will run out long before
that.
Hopefully you will buy into a very rugged system if you buy new. The
build quality of many of the newfangled cameras and lenses and
accessories is appalling, versus the 1970s and 1980s equipment. The
kind of fall that would simply crimp a filter ring on a metal lens will
break the polycarbonate mount on a AF lens and in some case mis-align
the plastic lens mount on the body itself. You won't know until you see
one side of your pictures as sharper than the other.
Think in terms of used parts, of the sort most indepent repair shops
stock in their carcass collections. That extends the life of most
cameras well into the future and potentially forever. You will only run
into problems with high demand items, like front elements, for example.
Finally, even if your favorite repair technician/shop doesn't have a
part in their carcass collection, you or they can do a little looking
among other shops for what you need. Especially a shop that doesn't do
OM System repairs. You might even pick up a carcass youself as an
"insurance policy."
Having said all this, it wasn't many years ago I was asking the same
things as you. Now my eyes are open and their is no reason not to stick
with the OM System for the rest of my life.
Gary Reese
Las Vegas, NV
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