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[OM] Re: Constructive criticism wanted...

Subject: [OM] Re: Constructive criticism wanted...
From: Philip Pemberton <philpem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 22:58:16 +0100
In message <4310CF63.3030109@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
          Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> You say you avoid using the split image focus aid. Do you simply focus 
> on something outside the aids while keeping the framing you want to 
> shoot?

More or less.

> If so, you may be focusing on something at a different distance 
> from the camera than the subject. At f1.8 and 50mm or f4 and a longer 
> fl, that's not going to work because of the shallow DOF.

Thing is, I *did* use the image-split focus aid to get the box in focus.
Problem is, I only had half a second (if that) to catch the squirrel before
it jumped off the feeder and back onto the branch behind it. Knowing my luck,
I probably pushed the shutter release (or the wind lever) a bit too hard and
ended up throwing the focus out.
I would have used the Winder, but the damn thing went intermittent - refusing
to wind on and such. No idea why though - it's never done that before. Sod's
Law being what it is, as soon as I got back to the car, the Winder started
working fine...

> I suggest some tests with a cheap roll of 
> film. Try focusing on something with split image, take a wide open pic, 
> note the distance on the lens scale, then try slightly different focus 
> settings in both directions. Then do the same thing focusing using the 
> matte area.

You mean the prism-like focus guide on the outside of the split-image?

> Keep careful notes, or it will all be a muddle when you get 
> the results back. That should determine whether one or the other or both 
> are accurate and, if not, in which direction the inaccuracy goes.

Will do. I've got four rolls of Jessops "Everyday 200" here - that stuff's
not exactly expensive (not sure about quality either - that's why I bought a
few rolls of Fuji Superia and used those).

> If the results show a problem with focus in the camera, replacement is 
> probably better than repair, with an OM-10.

Put it this way - I wouldn't be surprised if the camera did have some form of
fault on it. I got it from a slightly less than reputable local camera shop
in the first place. Story is, I bought a different OM10, and the whole thing
seized up the first time I used it. Back it went, and I got this one, but
only after spending two hours in the shop arguing the toss with the owner.
In the end he only gave in and swapped it over because my complaining was
"bad for business". Well sorry, but if I've spent £60 on a camera, I don't
think it's too much of a stretch to expect it to actually work.

> If the results show that the 
> focus is accurate in good light with a target selected to be easy, then 
> the problem is in your focusing technique in the field and an OM-2sp 
> will have the same problem. If the tests show that the focusing aids can 
> be relied on for accurate focus, you can use them in difficult 
> situations like the samples you posted. It's really hard to accurately 
> focus on the matte surface in very low light.

I'll keep that in mind... I'm used to using the camera at between f8-f16, and
rarely use the lower-numbered apertures. That's probably got more to do with
it than anything else.

I burned £10 worth of film to find out I still don't know how to use my OM10
properly. C'est la vie I guess. Also found out this morning while I was going
through the manual that there's a depth-of-field preview function on the
lens. Had I known that before I set off, I'd have probably made use of it. If
I'd known the DoF on f1.8 was so little (looks like less than an inch in real
terms) I'd have set it to f4 or f2.8 and suffered the longer exposure time
(or deliberately underexposed the film and corrected for it later). Such is
life I guess.

Later.
-- 
Phil.                              | Acorn RiscPC600 SA220 64MB+6GB 100baseT
philpem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx              | Athlon64 3200+ A8VDeluxe R2 512MB+100GB
http://www.philpem.me.uk/          | Panasonic CF-25 Mk.2 Toughbook
... Beware of quantum ducks.       Quark!     Quark!

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