John Austin wrote:
>
> I've been wondering how many list members besides myself use Olympus
> equipment exclusively?
[...]
> why did you choose Olympus?
Me, for one. Well, to 99% that is (1 0s for a 1960 4x4cm Rolleiflex
TLR, a marvel btw).
I've been using an XA (and still do) since my Minox GL broke years ago
on a visit to India. About a year ago I discovered, that 35mm is a nice
focal length mostly but that there were more and more situations where a
longer lens would have made my day. So the alternatives were either one
of the 'auto-everything' zoom compacts (way too dark, I don't like to
flash around in broad daylight or the grain of 400 ASA films) or a SLR.
I had borrowed a C*nt*x from time to time and knew roughly what SLRs
were all about: carrying around heaps of stuff, looking 'macho' and
scaring people away by pointing oblong objects at them (I always thought
C*n*n is a name true to the cause).
Why Oly?
Well I knew my XA and, as a biologist, their excellent microscopes etc.
(Am I right, that biologists are slightly over-represented on this
list?). The other reasons were (in order of decreasing importance):
1) no-frills all-manual all-self-decided is always possible without fuss
(the Rollei thaught me a few lessons there)
2) wide used market (never could afford any of my stuff new, neither
would I want to bleed that much)
3) consequence in system-compatibility (more than 20 years, that IS good
and combines very well with #1)
4) relatively light-weighed and small (still quite a difference between
shouldering the ~5kg I carry now or putting the XA in your pocket)
5) very good link to makro/micro photography
6) no forced 'pro-appeal' (see N*k*n)
I guess I've forgotten a few points here and all in all I'm very
satisfied with the system. Still, using Oly only may well be a 'virtue'
that springs from lack of possibility. Just recently, I saw this Rollei
SL66 ......
Cheers,
Soenke, Hamburg
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