I am still collecting OM stuff too, and mine is for use as well. I don't
have any shelf queens either. I actually need to get another OM-4T, as my
girlfriend keeps using one of mine and I need to get her one of her own.
--
Chris Crawford
Photography & Graphic Design
Fort Wayne, Indiana
http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio
http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work!
http://www.plumpatrin.com Something the world NEEDS.
On 6/26/08 2:12 PM, "Ken Norton" <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Timpe Jim wrote:
>
> Not truly/completely from me. I donated a 50/1.2 to the cause in order
>> to make the deal happen. It was the other Jim from down around Astoria
>> Oregon that really provided the 4T. I still have my whole herd (not
>> sure really why).
>>
>
> Indeed, that is most definitely the case. Both Jims were extremely generous
> in their gift to me. I am most thankful and appreciative. The camera has
> been performing flawlessly and on my next trip into the North American
> Outback, it will serve duty as THE PRIMARY camera. In fact, any time I've
> gone out this year for the specific purposes of photographing what I want to
> photograph, it is the OM-4T being grabbed first. My one regret is that I
> didn't use it for photographing my niece at the NCAA finals. The E-1 worked
> great, but the lighting conditions were such and with the legacy lenses, I
> was struggling to get my exposures correct. There are some things I know I
> can totally trust--and the OM's OTF metering and flash control is one.
> (provided that you know what fools it)
>
> In the current version of Luminous-Landscape, there is an essay on camera
> collecting with a twist. First of all, I find it ironic that people are
> collectors of things which I have been using in front-line action! Remember
> the days when on this list the attitude of "he who has the most OMs wins"?
> It was fun, and really not too expensive. You could build up a mammoth
> collection of gear for the price of just the E-3 with 12-60 zoom lens!!!
> Digital has changed people's interests as well as the collecting. Other than
> Bill Barber (NSURIT), there isn't much OM Kit Expansion going on anywhere.
> Especially since Tom Scales got caught. :) My kit is very lean compared
> to, well, compared to almost anybody. I can't think of anything I own that
> hasn't been used at least once in the past two months--and I have a few
> wierd items.
>
> I've been doing a lot of soul-searching lately and I know that there is a
> mega-mega-pixel ubercam in my future, but I've come to the conclusion that
> "life is too short" to keep buying "The New Shiny" and finding compromise on
> top of compromise. Meanwhile, for far less money, I can continue to enhance
> my old OM kit and get results "The New Shiny" isn't capable of getting.
> It's not that I'm against modern stuff, it's just that I see where the old
> stuff is still viable. There is a pure joy to using the OM system. It is a
> system that just feels right. If you have any doubts, just take a gander
> through that IMAX sized viewfinder. The message "welcome home" enters my
> head. The gift of that OM-4T makes that message all the more clearer. It
> isn't going anywhere--it has found a permanent home top and center in my
> camera bag. To put it into perspective, the OM-4T completely and totally
> ended my desire for the E-1 replacement. As my wife attested, I haven't been
> this excited about any piece of camera equipment since she's known me. No,
> seven months later and the newness hasn't worn off--ask me again in a couple
> of years. :) In case you are wondering, the OM-2S is seeing action too.
>
> The T45 is intruiging to me for several reasons. The combination of winder
> and masher is designed to work together ergonomically. I am REALLY
> suffering problems with my wrists and hands with the E-1, grip, lens,
> stroboframe and Vivitar 285HV combination. That setup is HEAVY!!! And as
> slick as I've got the setup, it still isn't quite right. It's a hodgepodge
> of different equipment which hasn't been designed as a unified, coherent
> unit. The output power of the T45 is also quite important. I shoot an
> annual shindig for the regional gathering of our church. The place is huge
> and I'm now up to shooting it with two studio strobes and two Vivitar 285HVs
> and I'm still suffering. Today's lenses just ain't bright enough and unlike
> film, you really don't have the flash/ambient flexibility that you have with
> film--and mixed lighting with digital really sucks. (so far over
> seventy-five images from the last event have already been published). I did
> experiment with somebody's E-3, FL50R, 12-60mm setup. Unfortunately, as
> nice as the kit is (and it is very very nice), It just wasn't clicking with
> me. I felt that I was always behind the eight-ball with it. It would
> successfully expose the shots, but how it would do it scared me too much.
> Modern metering systems have artificial intelligence attempting to guess
> what the scene is--usually it succeeds, sometimes it doesn't. There is no
> assurance that it nailed it so you always have to chimp the shots. Olympus
> really nailed flash exposure with two different systems: The OM's OTF flash
> control, and the distance-set flash exposure of the IS-3. All of these
> "modern" preflash systems just plain suck. I don't know how to put it any
> clearer. If they truely worked well, then why is it that nearly everybody
> using them professionally either defeats the auto-exposure or has dialed in
> gobs of exposure compensation?
>
> I like my Vivitar 285HVs, but they have serious issues too. For example,
> you have to be really careful about light-modifiers, since they will totally
> screw-up the auto-sensor. They creak, groan and in all honesty, aren't
> nearly as powerful as the specifications say they are. Horribly noisy
> flashes too. A full-dump goes "POW". I know there is some serious current
> in play, but I can hear one fire from 100 feet away in a crowded room.
> Changing orientation or zoom of the flash head is also a noisy affair.
> Plastic on plastic doesn't sound very high-end. But you gotta appreciate
> their yeoman's work. They've been around so long that the designers lived
> on Gondwana. But what a supurb design it is.
>
> Like I said, I USE my equipment. Nothing is a closet-queen--especially now
> that my daughters are taking a serious interest in photography. It isn't
> used in the day-in, day-out level of a full-time pro, but itis leaned on
> pretty heavily in spurts.
>
>
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