Don't worry. We won't tell your wife that you're considering trading
older things for newer things. :-)
Chuck Norcutt
On 11/24/2010 11:16 AM, Ken Norton wrote:
> Joel the Wilcox wrote:
>> I use it to provoke Ken (which is not hard to do).
>
>
> I am so abused. And I call you my friend!
>
> Harrumph!
>
> OK, OK, I'll admit to getting all pumped up when I see a shiny, non-scuffed,
> OM or Zuiko. Can you believe that I even got all excited about hearing of
> NIB E-1 bodies for sale from Freestyle? Good grief, do I have it bad.
>
> But back to the OMs... I know I've related this story before, but bear with
> me.
>
> Way back 25 years ago when I purchased the OM-2S, the camera I really wanted
> was the OM-4. THAT one was the one I really wanted, but the cost was far too
> high. Here I was, a college student working THREE part-time jobs to get by.
> I bought what I could and then simply fell in love with the camera and what
> it could do. Over the next three years I acquired an OM-1md, an OM-2 and a
> slate of lenses along with some medium-format gear. Alas, never once did I
> get that OM-4.
>
> Years later, I bought an OM-4 from Tom Scales. It was close to fulfilling
> the dream I thought I had about the OM-4, except it had a few issues which
> stained the experience. Eventually, I sold it.
>
> Along the way, Mr. Wilcox acquired a beautiful Champaigne OM-4T. I instantly
> fell in love with it and just loved the way my silvernosed lenses looked on
> it. But most importantly, it fulfilled the mission of multi-spot which I was
> looking for. At that point, with digital looming large and already in my
> kit, I set out for the acquisition of one, knowing that it would be my final
> OM body ever. Joel REFUSED!!! to sell me his, so onto the open market I
> looked--but was not in any hurry.
>
> A while later, Jim Timpe calls me asking me if I'm still looking for an
> OM-4T. Answer was "yes!" He and James Olsen arranged to supply me with one.
> This thing was "experienced" but guess what? Champaigne colored! Alas, I
> finally got the OM-4(T/Ti) that I really wanted all along. What is so cool
> is that it has proven to be everything I ever imagined it would be all those
> years ago. The OM-4 was a failed experiment, but the OM-4T was the
> fulfillment of those dreams. (It arrived at the same time the E-3 became
> available--which I was prepared to buy. The E-3 is now "yesterday's
> newspaper" but the OM-4T is still special).
>
> Now, here is what is strange: The OM-2S is my favorite camera for so many
> reasons, but the wear marks on it don't necessarily make it "better". In my
> mind, the camera is still that brand-new, ultra beautiful thing of joy.
> However, when a truly like-new OM-2S comes along the mind just goes bonkers.
> Probably not unlike being married. Neither of us look like we did when we
> were younger, but in our minds we still see ourselves as young and have seen
> the life experiences along the way and it doesn't matter that we don't.
> However, when you look at a picture of yourselves when you were younger, the
> ache of "what has happened to us?" temporarily sets in. I see the EXC+ OM-2S
> and the dreams of "what can be" set in. It opens up the mind to all new
> adventures!
>
> Why then is the OM-4T, even in its worn state different? Because I never had
> one in "brand new" condition at the beginning of the great adventure. This
> old camera is NEW to me and I was able to start on a fresh road. Same thing
> with the OM-3Ti. It represents all new opportunities.
>
> So, basically, when I see a beautiful like-new OM-2S, it takes me back 25
> years to the beginning of this journey and all the possibilities stretched
> out before me. It takes me back to the point where the world was my oyster
> and the dreams of travel and opportunity stretched out before me. It
> represents the fresh start that I had then. It takes me back to before the
> point when I removed the "PASSED" sticker and the fear and trepidation I
> felt when doing so.
>
> Is the OM-2S really any better than other OM bodies? Probably not, but for
> me, the OM-2S has been my 25 year partner in this photographic adventure. No
> other camera can lay claim to that.
>
> AG Schnozz
--
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