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[OM] photographic Gullivers in Lilliput

Subject: [OM] photographic Gullivers in Lilliput
From: William Sommerwerck <williams@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 07:11:37 -0800
"Okay, the OM-1 is a nice compact camera and easy to carry around.
Unfortunately, at some point you need to remove the exquisite body cap
and fit some sort of poking-out lens that completely ruins the effect.
The Pen F/FT managed to be an SLR without being intrusive. The OMs were
smaller than their contemporary rivals but for me they're still too
bulky to carry about except on deliberate photo expeditions."

Carrying this comparison to its "logical" conclusion, we should go "all
the way" and switch to the Pentax Auto 110, the smallest SLR ever made.
*

Tbe comparison is invalid -- the Pen F/FT were half-frame cameras, and
used an unusual rotating shutter, and equally unusual mirror system to
replace the pentaprism. These features made a very compact camera
possible. (I've often wondered why Olympus didn't try to apply these
innovations to a full-frame camera.)

At the time I bought my first OM (an OM-1 MD), I owned a Nikon.
Switching to Olympus let me carry a half-dozen lenses, motor drive, and
flash in a _very_ compact case -- something that was (and is) impossible
with Nikon, Canon, et al.

Volumetrically, the OM system gives more "bang for the buck" than any
other 35mm SLR system I know of. This compactness makes it practical to
carry an OM body and two or three well-chosen Zuikos to places you could
(or would) not carry the matching items from other systems. Indeed, if
you're willing to settle for a single lens (such as one of the compact
28-70mm zooms available), you can tuck the body in one pocket and the
lens in another. Of course, you can't "point and shoot" with such a
system, but most people have enough pockets to find room for a Stylus
Zoom, too. With the OM system, you _can_ have your cake and eat it, too.

Readers of this group know that, not many years ago, the Olympus Stylus
cameras were the preferred "second cameras" of many professional
photographers. (Olympus even ran a series of TV ads that played up on
this.) Burt Keppler told me that when the IS-10 came out, many switched
(as I did) from the Styluses to the IS. The versatility of the IS-10
more than made up for its greater bulk and lack of pocketability. I
carry mine around even when I'm _not_ on a "deliberate" expedition.

* The Auto 110 was a brilliant design that was "done in" because it
appeared before the sorts of industrial plastics needed to execute it
properly were available.

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