Joel wrote:
> I totally agree. Expressions of abandonment pre-date the E-system by
> many years.
And I was EXTREMELY vocal--only an effort by Bill Barber kept me in the
fold. It's amazing that I haven't completely abandoned the brand. However,
in fairness, I've only spent $1026 on Olympus digital gear and haven't
upgraded, added or committed to the E-system beyond the initial E-1 with
14-54 investment. So maybe I'm still hedging my bets. But part of that is
the rediscovery of the OM system and the dedication to resurrecting and
pushing this "old technology" to new heights.
> I don't know a single person who uses OM glass exclusively on a
> digital body. Obviously, most of us don't really enjoy stop-down
> metering, etc. This goes for 5D users as well, as far as I can tell.
> Most people's practice has tended to validate exactly what Olympus
> said prior to releasing the free adapter! (Ken Norton may be the most
> notable exception to this, but I think he still uses the 14-54 quite a
> bit. I'll be interested in his comments.)
>
The 14-54 is an outstanding lens in nearly every way. I can grouse about it
not being a constant-aperture F2.8, but the fall-off at the long end is very
minimal. The lens is terrific for event and wedding work and is almost an
all-in-one lens which could be glued in place. For all of my "paying work",
I could use it almost exclusively.
An argument could possibly be made that I am among the most experienced with
using the classic Zuikos on the E-system, but I'm not alone. I believe one
thing that I do differently, however, is that I don't apologize or make
excuses for using them. I let the results speak for themselves. I wouldn't
mind the convenience of the 50-200, but as long as I'm able to be
competitive with the old stuff, it's more a function of convenience than
anything else. The following link is of a recent shoot using the Tokina
AT-X 100-300/4 lens with adaptor on the E-1. The fact is, autofocus would
NOT have helped greatly with this set of pictures because with thousands of
birds wheeling about, the one bird you are tracking would go out of focus
the moment another passed in front of it. And the only way to get a shot of
a fish-snatch was to pick a bird and start tracking it 20 seconds before
when it entered the pattern.
http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=335&Itemid=1
I still remember how pleased I was with the DZ 14-54. (I still am.)
> There was no feeling of having dropped off a quality level from the Z
> 35-80/2.8, which is my main lens in the OM system. Not bad for a kit
> lens. Small wonder that the novelty, with the exception of a couple
> special lenses, of the OM adapter passed relatively quickly -- for me,
> at least -- but I don't think I'm alone in saying this.
>
I'm still in the "awe" stage with the 35-80/2.8 lens. It'll be about a month
before I'm going to be able to really start using this lens with gusto, but
initial testing has revealed that this is a real gem of a lens with great
convenience. Joel would hand me his to try out, but I resisted the urge as
I figured that living as an Amish person was the better way to go. You
don't miss that which you never had. Besides, for many years I did have the
Tokina AT-X 35-70/2.8 which was no slouch.
I've been blessed with an AWESOME collection of OM gear now and feel as
unrestricted equipment-wise as I've ever been in my life. For years, my kit
was considered to be rather humble, but I maximized it the best I could.
The kit is now anything but humble and I'm challenging myself to maximize it
the best I can--I owe it to myself and the others who have invested in me.
I'm really looking forward to the 2009 shooting season which will be
primarily shot on film!!!! (Yes, I'm marketing myself as a film wedding
shooter).
For those wondering how to resist the siren song of the Canon 5D Mk2, may I
suggest getting the OM-3Ti? Digital? What's that?
AG
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|