Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] Challenge

Subject: Re: [OM] Challenge
From: SiteMistic@xxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 06:31:31 EDT
In a message dated 10/12/98 11:58:58 PM Central Daylight Time,
petrush@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

<< Having shot with work-a-day sports photojournalists, I can easily see two
 factors at work which do not bode well for Oly.  First is the amount of
 punishment the equipment takes.  Big, fast glass getting bumped and
 thumped - hard and often.  Bodies taking the four foot drop test, and
 passing.  Life is harsh and short for pro gear.  There is little
 appreciation for fine craftsmanship and even less for exquisite design.  The
 second is automation brings home the bacon. >>

     I'll second this. When I was doing the photojournalism gig, I used
whatever was the latest and greatest. When I finally gave it up, I was using
EOS 1n's and all the goodies. The bottom line is "get the shot," whatever that
takes. And it is often a damn the expense game of percentages.
     I really had this driven home to me in the early 80's. My small, rural
hometown high school football team had gained dubious national attention by
losing 53 straight football games. It was homecoming night and game 54. Sports
Illustrated sent one of their shooters just in case this was the winning game
- which, by the way, it was and we ended up in Sports Illustrated!
     This guy shows up with enough flash gear to light the Astrodome. He
literally ringed the field with these things. Then he pulls out this specially
modified Canon F1 that shoots at 15 frames per second with a 250 shot back.
Whenever it looked like a play might result in a touchdown, he pointed it at
the team and just held down the button until the play was over.
     I commented that shooting that way kind of took the challenge out of
getting a good shot. His comment was that, at what Sports Illustrated was
paying him, he wasn't interested in challenge. The bottom line was get the
shot.
     He must have shot thousands of frames that night; but only two photos ran
in the magazine.
     The point of the story is that the business is so competitive that you
have to use the latest technology to stay in the game. While there are some
out there who make a nice living with a Leica M2 and a 35 mm lens, they are
few and far between. I don't despair about this, though. I just accept the
fact that I'm an anachronism with my ancient OM-1's, enjoy the photos I take
with them and make my living doing something else these days.

Jim

< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz