RE: [OM] Irony of discontinuing of the OM series

[Winsor Crosby]

> On Mon, 28 Jan 2002, Winsor Crosby wrote:
>
> >  I don't the lever is a goof on this camera even though I could not
> >  use it without using right eye protection.  Haven't all Nikon SLRs
> >  had this "feature" for years? Nikon would probably face howls of
> >  dismay from loyal Nikon buyers who would miss this very convenient
> >  feature. Of course I prefer the auto-off of the OM4Ti and I have
> >  never had a problem with firing the camera inside the bag.  Sort of
> >  solution for a nonexistent problem?  That was the nice part of Mr.
> >  Maitani.  He rethought the camera completely without being wedded to
> >  legacy design considerations.
> Uhmm..IMO, the one feature missing on all OM's (except OM1) would be
> the "off" position which really turns off the camera (yes yes, I
> know...but the OM2's off still enables "auto" to work, as does the one on
> 10/20/30 - and 40?). Of course, that *could* go to indicate which of the
> OM-bodies really is the *perfect* one ;)
>
> --thomas
The OM1 and other needle type meters must have an off switch which 
also clamps down the very delicate meter movement so a bump does not 
break it. A swinging door hit my old Canon F1 and broke the meter 
with not a mark on the camera. A separate switch is not required in 
electronic systems with a timed off switch.  My OM4T slides into its 
padded space in my bag without pressing on the shutter release or it 
is in the top of the bag with the lens attached. I don't pile stuff 
on top of it and the prism keeps the lid from touching the release. 
So I don't see the need for a separate switch.  It is an elegant 
piece of design that reduces the steps to using the camera.  It would 
have been easy to add another position to the Manual/Auto/Test 
switch, but it was an ergonomic decision.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California

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