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Re: [OM] Has the time come for the unthinkable?

Subject: Re: [OM] Has the time come for the unthinkable?
From: Matthias Wilke <Matthias.K.Wilke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 11:59:23 +0200
>Lest anybody think that I'm trying to start a Nikon/Canon war on the
>Olympus list, please let me explain my reasoning behind bringing this to
>the list:
>
>The Olympus system was argueably the finest professional SLR system of the
>'70's and early '80's.  Nikon was way too "industrial" to be elegant...

Two comments on this. First the OM-System was intended for amateur
photographers from the beginning, as I read in an original German Olympus
brochure from 1976. I was wondering how above-board the text of this
brochure was written, they didn't tell you, that there are no limitations
of the compact bodies (for example no aperture value in the viefinder) or
they said, that the planned 300mm 1:6,3 and the 400mm 1:4,5 lenses were not
build because of rationalization. In my opinion there would be a place for
a system like the OM-system nowadays because they offered high to highest
quality for serious amateurs, which are the majority in comparison to
professional photographers. Nowadays you get on the one side plastic shit
for amateurs or oversophisticated monstrums for professionals.
Second if you buy Canon, be careful with their 35-350mm zoom. This lens is
often used professional, but this autmn I visited a meeting of the German
society of animal photographers (GDT Gesellschaft Deutscher
Tierfotografen). They had a pin board where I found a notice of an user of
that lens. He had carried this equipment mounted on a body with the effect,
that four little screws of the lens mount teared out of the plastic of the
turret, the four screws were pined up next to the notice. The annoying
thing was the repair cost from 730 DM (screws in plastic are in my opinion
the greatest problem with plastic, there is less and only weaker material
for repairs with it than with metal).
So my conclusion is, of course the professional photographers use Canon to
90% (how many 0f all photographers are these?) today, but what does this
have to do with me as a serious amateur? It seems to mean that I have to
buy either the very heavy, very expensive professional versions of that
equipment or, not to be to wide away from the maintream, to buy the
surrogate of it for amateurs. And the example with the 35-350mm lens shows
that even professional parts can amaze the profi.
Matthias



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