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[OM] Re: (OM) Choice of OM4* camera

Subject: [OM] Re: (OM) Choice of OM4* camera
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 22:34:48 -0800
Brian Swale wrote:

>Recently (ie in the last couple of days) there's been discussion about buying 
>a replacement for an OM2S.
>
>I've never had one of those. But I have been offered a plain OM4 recently. I 
>declined; for one I didn't want one right now, and secondly, as far as I could 
>see the plain 4 didn't have a self-timer and aperture pre-fire with mirror 
>raise.  
>So I'll never buy one except for re-sale (and I'm no salesman, so that's very 
>unlikely).
>
Simply not true. All the 4 series bodies have mirror and aperture 
prefire using the self timer. The 12 second wait may be annoying, but 
the function is certainly there and functional.

>I suggest that for anybody trying critical tripod photography where a goal 
>might be to produce sharp larger prints etc, a camera which has  a self-timer 
>and aperture pre-fire with mirror raise is essential eventually. I.e. OM2000, 
>OM4T, OM2S ? and I suspect there are one or two other bodies that will do 
>this. Also the 10 & G half-raise the mirror. I'm not sure about aperture 
>pre-fire.
>
10 and 20(G) both pre fire the aperture along with the sort of half mast 
mirror pre fire. The 4 series and the 40(PC) both prefire the aperture 
and raise the mirror completely when the self timer is activated.

>Gary's tests bring home this point again and again.
>
And yet..... I've siad it before, and am likely to say it again

"I still think proper damping technique, as Oly says, is at least as 
important as mirror/aperture lock-up, maybe more so. There is still that 
first curtain that flies across the frame and lands with a bang. 
Although fairly well damped, the energy has to go somewhere.  Not an 
issue at short shutter speeds, as it can only affect the last bit of the 
frame, and not for long really long speeds, but that's not what I'm 
using when I need vibration control."

I've communicated with Gary about this. Although he went to extents such 
as freezing the tripod legs into the ice of a rink, he didn't do the 
'wet-ware' technique that Oly recommends for the perfectly good 
scientific reason of lack of consistency. I really wonder what results 
he would have found with something like Walt's bean bag full of lead 
shot draped over camera and lens.

If you do decide to go with an OM-4, it is useful to look for one with 
the later circuit.
Moose



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