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[OM] Dr Zuikolove...

Subject: [OM] Dr Zuikolove...
From: Marc Lawrence <mlawrence@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 16:00:56 +1100
...or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the OM.

> Andy Gilbert [mailto:gilbs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] wrote:
> Subject: [OM] First Olympus OM? (Newbie Alert)
> Welcome to the list Marc.  I too took awful pictures until I 
> bought an OM1 :)

Thanks Andy.

[Folks, following is a lot of raving on "How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the OM", and most of it will be just plain
obvious to all of you, being Zuikoholics from waaay back,
so this is more a treatise for and from someone with a "modern" AF
camera
body - pick your manufacturer - who is considering a
"manual backup".]

As mentioned my "regular" kit is a Canon (an EOS 50E, with
20-35, 28-80, 50, and 100-300). However it is only fair that,
if I'm going to use y'all (and have) to research info re:
Olympus, that I give my "firsthand impressions" of the OM1
which got it's trial run on the weekend. Okay, so my "first
impression" is an outdated one on a camera almost as old as me,
but perhaps it'll be of value (he says oh so arrogantly) to
someone, coming from a (very) amateur who's going from an
electro to a mano-a-mano.

Anyways, enough of the fawning self-deprecation....

On the weekend, I went to Taronga Park Zoo (Sydney's zoo).
We had guests who wanted both snapshots and animal-shots.
To keep things simple, I had both cameras around my neck,
the Canon with the 100-300 and the OM1 with the 35. Now
I understand why some folks like to work with two cameras!

The Canon has eye-control autofocus and eye-control DOF
preview. It obviously will automatically judge exposure
too (either by matrix, centreweighted, or 9% "spot"). All
of the above means I can "point-and-shoot" (no one state
the obvious please <g>).

One would think (well, okay, not you guys) that going to
a "manual" camera would make a big difference. Initially,
I have to say "no way" (though I'll talk specifics further
on). I set the aperture at f16 (or f11), infinity on the
right mark, the shutter speed accordingly, and all the
rest was easy (with occasional adjustments as the light
changed depending on a thin but variably cloud cover). All
went reasonably well.

My biggest issues with the OM were focus and metering, for
obvious reasons. Half pressing the shutter did *nothing* to
improve the focus, and that needle wouldn't budge an inch ;-)
This may (or may not) surprise some, but I found both cameras
almost identical to operate. The Canon does stuff on the fly,
while the Olympus was mostly pre-set (a bright day and f11
aperture helped). I've got the photos back and, apart from
some soft shots caused by me forgetting to focus in f2.8/1.4
circumstances (see above), I am very happy with the results.
The metering I used was obviously fine. As I mentioned in
my first post, the OM1 seems to want to expose 1 stop
over what the EOS does. I just agreed with it (hey, it's
4x6" prints on ISO 100 print film at the mo', so I figured it
could deal with the latitude). I was right, but I'd be interested
in running some slide through to see the difference between
the two cameras (if it's the OM that's out, I'll just adjust
the film speed dial accordingly).

Oh, and if I had a $1 for every time I pressed the shutter
and discovered I hadn't wound on....well, I'd have about
$20.

One thing that's inherant in the above was my use of the
focussing scale. Many EOS EF (and other modern) lenses do not
have such a scale, autofocus making it redundant (by marketing
decree :-) Yes, that was said tongue-in-cheek). When I've read
about using this scale (and using the "hyperfocal" distance) I've
been confused. When having to actually *do* it in practice, it's
so darned obvious. I did have to use it, as I am finding trouble
using the focussing screen that the om1 has - microprism-matte type.
I think I'd have better luck with the split-prism type, though
lack of knowledge on this subject means I don't really know what's
best - perhaps just practice.

I should point out though that the bits and pieces I overlooked
on the OM are countered by the fact that on the Canon I:

- forget to switch the camera off "spot" metering
- adjust exposure compensation and don't adjust back
- accidentally leave it in manual focus
- leave it accidentally in continuous shooting mode
- forget to have batteries handy
- and so on....

My point isn't to slag off the Canon. It is a lovely camera to
work with, and I couldn't shoot sports (touch football and softball)
without it at my current standard for starters.

However, the simplicity and restrictive nature (one lens at a
time) with which I use the OM, not to mention it's sturdiness
but small size and the fact that I have less worries about
this being my take-anywhere camera, mean that I would not hesitate
to recommend it to either someone just starting, or a fellow
amateur looking for a backup body to their newly-bought electro-camera.
That feeling of by necessity being completely responsible for the
result (as opposed to whacky or whizbang matrix metering, or skewiff or
spot-on focussing) means to me that I only have myself to blame (or
praise), and from there I can improve without recourse to equipment
failure excuses.

I guess, to summarise, I didn't really find using such a camera,
coming from a "latest and greatest" (actually, the 50E's been
superceded), to be much of a change. Everything's still the same.
The differences feel trifling, which makes me wonder why we
pay so much for some "advances" (note, this isn't a dig at the
Camera Manufacturers, but rather *my* "necessity" for a 50E when
at a much cheaper price most of the photos I take could be done
with an "old" OM1).

I like my OM1. I encourage any lurker who's currently got a
"modern" camera but lurking here for info on a backup body they
are considering to buy one. You'll wonder what a lot of the fuss
was about with your new modern camera body.

I've stopped worrying. I love the OM.

Cheers
Marc
(who is *not* considering a 135 2.8 as a extra for the OM1,
but if my partner buys me one for Christmas, I guess I'll just
have to live with it <g>)
Sydney, Oz

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