Hi Ken,
Thanks for the credit in your long ramble. I enjoy the E-1, either with AF
lenses or the Leica-R glass. And, I agree about the sensor. If cropping is
unnecessary, it is my camera of choice.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Norton" <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 9:45 AM
Subject: [OM] It's the little things that make a difference
> The school year is winding down. Last track meet... Final Concert...
>
> As usual, I'm "Dad with a camera" at these events.As our kids are not in
> private school anymore, the competition among us dads for the biggest lens
> is a little diminished. I see the occasional big momma lens, but I know
> everybody who has them. Usually, it's moms with advanced P&S
> cameras--usually the Canon G series. Otherwise, if it's a DSLR, it's going
> to be a Canon or Nikon low-end plastic wonder.
>
> However, the biggest shift that I've seen has been to cell-phone cameras.
> People are more than willing to put up with the foibles of these "cameras"
> to be able to instantly email or facebook the results. If truth be told,
> we've taken as many pictures with our cellphones as real cameras for this
> very reason. All it would take is for Olympus to put a G3 chipset in the
> m43
> cameras and it would be curtains for the competition.
>
> Anyhoo, I'm rambling again...
>
> Last night was the final band concert for the season. It was a combined
> concert with all of the bands set up in the gymnasium. All of the other
> concerts are held in the theatre, but the final concert is always the
> combined one in the gymnasium. Uh oh, acoustical nightmare, right?
> Actually,
> no. Both were built several years ago and the room is very nicely
> controlled. The walls are facetted, and have built-in Hemholtz Resonators
> as
> well as angled absorbtion cavities. It could always be "better", but it is
> remarkably good. Oops, rambling again...
>
> OK, OK, so we're sitting on the bleachers (ugh) way up high so we can see
> our girls (all the way across the room on the opposite side--five bands
> all
> setup on the main floor simultaneously). Over the past three years I've
> taken a different camera/lens combination each time. There is no solution
> to
> this one, just the photographic equivalent to "triage".
>
> The biggest problem I've had, though, is white-balance. The room lighting
> is
> a bear to get a decent WB setting. The Minolta A1 and the Panasonic L1
> refuse to get it right. Film? Even that is tough to get balanced correctly
> without getting the skin to turn into "Barby Doll" tones. The bleachers
> are
> gray plastic, so last night I thought I'd give it a shot to see if the E-1
> would get a decent WB off of the bleachers. One press of the button and
> the
> camera nailed it.First of all, anybody with an E-1 will admit that it
> NEVER
> works right. Not only did it work right with just one press (hallalujah),
> but it positively got it perfect. And I mean perfect! That is the first
> time
> in my life with digital cameras that one press of the button got it right.
> Trust me, I didn't risk pressing it a second time.
>
> Rambling? Well not really.
>
> The E-1 was equipped with the battery-grip and the Zuiko 35-80. Exposure
> was
> about 1/100,F5.6 at ISO 800. Not bright, but not the dimmest either.
>
> The little things which I'm referring to? The E-1, although wildly
> outdated
> in significant technical areas (resolution, pixels, high-ISO, general
> performance, LCD, kitchen sink), is of an exceptionally rare design. It's
> designed like the top pro bodies from Nikon and Canon which have
> ergonomics
> intended for use. It's not a computer-game, it's a camera!
>
> Things like:
> 1. Soft shutter-release.
> 2. Quietness
> 3. Mass (the battery grip plus 35-80 makes this a meaty combination
> 4. Viewfinder
> 5. Designed to be equally usable held in vertical or horizontal
> orientation
> 6. Settings remembered even when the camera goes to sleep or is turned off
> 7. General responsiveness
> 8. You can hold it for a long time without it becoming uncomfortable.
>
> My point in all this (there must be a point, I've been told), is that even
> though the E-1 is specification-wise a dog, this dog still hunts. It isn't
> always about specifications. There are intangibles which can't be
> measured.
> Unfortunately, intangibles don't sell, specifications do.
>
> Jim has been putting us all to shame this year by shooting so much
> beautiful
> stuff with his E-1. I've been feeling a little guilty. In-camera JPEGs
> from
> this camera really are great and the camera is no slouch. In one aspect,
> it
> is a real shame that specifications have continued to improve, because
> this
> camera has been left behind in the dustbin of history when it really
> should
> be heralded as a camera of great worth.
>
> A Ramblin Schnozz
> --
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>
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