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RE: [OM] OM Owner Emeritus

Subject: RE: [OM] OM Owner Emeritus
From: "Larry J. Clark" <ljclark@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 21:42:20 -0400
There is a tendency for some to dismiss the Cosina/Voigtlander
products...Maybe because they don't come with a red dot and a "steal me"
sign.  Also, such dismissals are often made by folks who haven't used the
cameras.

I started out with C/V one lens and one body...(Bessa-L and the 15mm, just
to see what this thing was about).  It was the quality of the results -- not
worries about resale value, status, or all that other stuff -- that got me
into my second C/V body, three more lenses, and then to a pair of R2 bodies
and a fifth lens (selling my original Bessa-L and Bessa-R bodies).

The C/V lenses are very good.  I believe they are better than the lenses
Leica had on the streets when I was going to college, but that was 30 years
ago.  The C/V lenses perform at about the level of Leitz lenses 10-15 years
ago...The pre-aspheric, or in some cases, the first generation of Leitz
aspheric lenses.  Some of the pix on the first roll I shot with the C/V 35mm
f/2.5 were honestly stunning.

As for that elusive "feel" in comparison with other Cosina produced bodies
(and they produce a lot more stuff for the major brands than most of us
realize) I can't tell.  I was never remotely tempted by the OM2000.  I never
really used the selftimer on my Bessa-R, and since it is gone, I can't give
a report.  The R2 has no self timer, but I so seldom use one it's not funny.

Some people think the Bessa-L/R/T bodies are plastic.  That aint exactly so.
The guts are in a metal body assembly, with plastic tops, bottoms, and film
doors.  The Bessa-R2 has cast metal top and bottom plates, and film door.
It feels solid and is a wonderfull camera to use.  You don't need a battery
to have flash synch, and if the batteries do die, all you loose is the
meter.  The only reason I even looked at the instruction manual was to check
out the ISO:shutter speed allowable combinations.

In use, especially with the L and T, you get quite a sense of how the
designer envisioned the process of photographybeing conducted.  The only
other two camera systems I've had that feeling about were Hassleblad (about
35 years ago) and Olympus OM.  Everything else seems to have been designed
by committee.

The C/Vs are louder than Leicas...They have a metal shutter with two sets of
blades.  They certainly aren't Leicas, and I pleased that they aren't.

But Cosina broke a log jam by introducing wonderful RF lenses at a fraction
of Leica's cost.  And making some RF bodies so inexpensive that a lot of
people have rediscovered a way of making pictures that some thought was
almost dead.  And I expect my R2 bodies to be chugging away longer than my
hot shot Nikon F100s.  Mechanical, don't ya know.

Looking for a collectable...Go find a Leica.  Looking for a RF camera by
which to commit acts of photography (not just picture taking)...Take a look
at the C/V line.  Who knows?  A year later you too might be selling all your
OM gear.   :-0

Larry

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Winsor Crosby
> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 9:32 PM
> To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [OM] OM Owner Emeritus
>
>
> >
> >That's interesting, I just came away from reading again about the
> >Cosina/Voigtlander RF's on the cameraquest site, and read this
> email. I've
> >been thinking about getting an R for some time, but somehow it
> still reminds
> >me too much of my OM2000, which isn't all bad, but definitely
> not an OM1n,
> >or 2s. The R still looks to have that plastic back, and does the
> timer lever
> >feel cheapy on the R like the 2000? It looks a little more substantial in
> >the pics. Somehow I just can't seem to justify the price yet, but in the
> >near future I may try one.
> >Wayne
>
> Well, it is a cheap camera.  About 300f the price of one of the few
> remaining new OM4Ti bodies and not substantially smaller or lighter
> with a selection of similarly slow OM lenses.
>
> Rangefinders are fun though and provide a different way  of seeing.
> Considering that the Cosina will probably not be as collectable as a
> Praktica in a few years one would probably be better off looking for
> a clean M Leica and lenses which you can resell for more money in the
> future than you paid for it should you decide to part with it. But
> you probably will not get rid of it because you are worth it.  :-)
> --
> Winsor Crosby
> Long Beach, California
>


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