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Subject: [OM] Winder and MD survery

Subject: Subject: [OM] Winder and MD survery
From: "Brian Swale" <bj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 08:55:43 +1300
Hi Adi & fellow OMers,

> After the shock with the Winder 2, I wish to conduct a small survery of  
Winder  and MD usage on the list. Perhaps it will give us many insights.

 1. Who owns a Winder or MD?
 2. How often is it used?
 3. What is it used for?
 4. Is it stuck on an OM body permanently?

Hi, I have a Winder 1 & 2, W1 mostly on the OM2, and W2 on the OM4Ti.

Now that I do more tripod work than before, I use the film transport capability 
actually very little. Maybe since I also have begun using MF gear, the 
deliberate way of working with MF press cameras has rubbed off on my OM 
practices. There's much less chance that I will grab the cameras and 
squeeze off a series of shots; almost no chance now. Maybe since my son 
has almost left home and I don't see his sports action there's less wish to 
capture volleyball and soccer shots.

They are on the bodies a lot of the time. Not because I have lost the winder-
hole caps. So far not.

I got them both in good condition at good prices.

What I really like about them is the excellent grip on the body they give my 
hands ( I have I suppose "slender" hands with long fingers) and even the 
winder motor is not as fat as I would like for comfort - I am always grazing 
my knuckles on the serrated rings on the lens especially the 35~105. It 
would be nice to have my hand "filled more" by a fatter motor  )

Also, due to the design of the base of the winder, a good grip is given 
whether shooting in portrait mode or landscape mode. The base has a little 
grip cavity incorporated that fits my fingertips..

The bare camera body is a bit small and grip-less for my comfort especially 
when a heavy lens is attached.

Perhaps the most important thing for me is the better balance they give to 
camera and lens when using a heavy short lens like the 100 f/2 and the 
35~105. Without the winder, the combo is all lens and no camera, and it's all 
out of balance - weight forward. I find that unsettling. Screw on the winder 
and it has neutral balance and there's plenty of good hand-holds on the 
camera end.

And perhaps finally, I like the extra weight that the winder gives. I have the 
feeling that it adds a worthwhile amount of mass to counteract the vibration 
set up when the aperture blades move, the mirror flaps, and the shutter 
clangs open and shut. The extra inertia, it seems to me, must make a 
significant reduction in unwanted movement that will cause loss in contrast 
and sharpness. With the 100 f/2, the aperture blades are pretty big, and on 
my lens, they take quite an effort to move. I have a feeling that these 
characteristics of this lens contribute to the difficulty I have in getting 
sharp 
shots all the time with this lens. (I have also found it is easy to do a manual 
stop-down with little finger or 4th finger at time of shutter-release with this 
lens, and the noise reduction is significant. Noise = effort = vibration, 
probably)

Despite all that, if back-packing and I had to choose between winder and 
another lens, probably the winder would be left behind and I would accept 
that I had to take even more care to grip the camera and hold it steady.

The noise of the winder operation is not an issue for me. I  don't envisage 
buying a MD.

Brian
................................................................................
Help build up a good list of preferred film processors.
E-mail me with the details of any very good one to add to 
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/photography/zuikoholics/processors.htm

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