The OM-4T, Ti, 2n, 1n's are simply better quality, and at least as rugged
cameras as the Nikon or Canon "wonderbricks". The extensive humidity, and
reliability problems I've read about, and discussed with photographers on
location shoots using these cameras are mind boggling, but just accepted as
"insurmountable circumstances" since, of course, they believe there is simply no
acceptable cameras other than Nikon/Canon. To them, nothing else exists. (Until
they utilize OM equipment like Douglas Dubler, and are amazed.) A Nikon/Canon
will not fare better (if not worse), in the Malasian 'congo'.
When an OM malfunctions in this type of environment, even we are sometimes
believing that a Nikon/Canon is more "rugged", since that stock opinion is held
over our heads. Its just that their breakdowns are less publicized in relation
to whether they're the best cameras to use or not.
Larry
tmlee wrote:
> Dear Ulf.....
> quite saddened to hear of your experience with the OM..... but ..... do U
> know wahts the cause ?...... did it get wet ?
>
> ...maybe your bodies were too dried out, maybe from where U live in your
> country ( I assume U hail from a temperate part of the world) ..... so when
> U enter the Malaysian jungle and forest, the humidity was tremendous and
> played havoc....
>
> Many years ago I was also island hopping , etc in Malaysia ( a very
> beautiful country I feel ) , we went up to waterfalls, hiked along rivers
> etc, spent the nite in a game reserve..... yes the humidity was
> unbelievable, it was a tropical rainforest anyway...... but my OM4Ti didn't
> give any probs at all.....
>
> ..... maybe my trip wasn't as rugged as yours......
>
> still , my sympathies with your predicament and rather sad to hear of a
> negative report from a fellow OMer........ certainly don't do good to us
> remaining 'old faithfuls' hanging onto our OM treasures for nostalgia or
> otherwise.....
>
> How old was your body (camera body ) ?
>
> I had that blackened incident in my OM4Ti, had it replaced, about 2 or 3
> years ago..... my camera was 8 or 9 years old then, in my possession.... the
> factory date engraved in the camera was 1988........
>
> upon hindsight, I guess LCD's have a shelf life........ so I should not be
> surprised.......
>
> Peace
> TMLee
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ulf Westerberg <ulf.westerberg@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Sunday, August 27, 2000 10:44 PM
> Subject: [OM] Malaysian breakdown
>
> >Hello all,
> >
> >just wanted to tell you of some of the Olympian hardships I suffered while
> on my latest trip to Malaysia.
> >
> >Upon arrival in the rainforest of Taman Negara, my OM-4 immediately began
> to suffer from the heat and humidity. Display was turned on, but
> spotmetering couldn't be done, no matter how hard I pressed the button.
> Still, all else functioned so no big deal. Then, 2 hours later, everything
> was black in the finder. No matter what was done, camera was jammed. At the
> same time the display on my OM-4Ti began to freak out, occasionally ALL info
> was displayed at the same time, though everything seemed to be working. Hm,
> at this stage I began to worry, this was the two cameras I had with me, the
> OM-1n had to stay at home because of a newly developed shutter problem at
> faster speeds.
> >Then the OM-4 suddenly awakened. I could use for 4-5 more frames, then it
> all went dead again. This time it was really dead, completely jammed up, no
> display, no battery control beep, nothing. No mechanical 1/60 th either,
> Dead, dead, dead.
> >
> >The next day I went for a hike in the rainforest, managed to get shoots of
> wandering termites, flowers with very strange pink-green leaves, a dragon
> fly with the reddest abdomen I've ever seen. As I was approaching my goal (a
> hide), I thought it would be nice to have some additonal shots of giant
> trees and their buttress roots. That is when the OM-4Ti just goes black.
> Nothing, nothing at all. Not even a mechanical 1/60th. Upon all this,
> instead of continuing my hike, I return to the lodge. There, after another
> 5-6 hours, the camera awakens but I can only use the 1/60 mechanical speed.
> No electronics, no battery test, no nothing. Dead, dead, dead. Except for
> 1/60 speed and bulb.
> >
> >After some inital shock I grab my wifes Pentax MZ-5 to get some shoots of a
> giant birdwing butterfly that so nicely decides to rest just outside our
> chalet at the resort. As I approch this giant insect, autofocus goes berserk
> and finally parks itself at infinity. No autofocus at all, though all else
> seems to be functioning. The Pentax stays this way and saves the rest of the
> trip, albeit crippled with no autofocus.
> >All this happened within 24 hours. Thankfully this was at the end of the
> trip, with only 4 days left, we had had more than 2 weeks of great thrills
> before this, so the trip was fairly succesful, even photographically,
> despite the Taman Negara disaster.
> >
> >But, as a consequence of not only this but some other breakdowns in the
> past, I'm in the process of changing to more heavyduty gear, ruggedness and
> durability being the main aspects. I've had thoughts of getting a high-end
> Nikon for my Tamron 400/4 as I've never been completely at ease with the
> shutter speed location of Olympus when using long teles (though it's
> excellent for handholding smaller lenses) and the flash system of Nikon is
> fantastic and of great use in nature photography.
> >
> >I feel saddened by this, really. I feel more or less forced to do this as
> my nerves can't take it anymore. But, I'd like to stress that if it weren't
> for the durability aspect, I'd never part with Olympus. It's still in many
> ways the most elegantly enginered 35mm system ever made IMO, the
> shortcomings are all when it comes down to nature photography, where big
> teles and ruggedness (and weight, puh!) rules. If I did other photography
> (i.e. not nature), I'd never do this, believe me.
> >
> >I had planned to keep the OM's for macro and landscapes but with virtually
> no cameras to put behind the lenses I'll put them up for sale together with
> accessories etc. I'll offer everything on the list first, there are some
> goodies as macros, fish-eye etc. In contrast to the cameras, lenses are all
> in excellent to good condition. Stay tuned.
> >
> >I'll keep the OM-1n and a few lenses and a flash, just so I can return to
> the best camera ever made, just for the pure enjoyment. Besides, it gives me
> an excuse for hanging around on this the nicest of all lists!
> >
> >Cheers all,
> >Ulf Westerberg
> >Nature- and Travel Photography at www.start.at/westerberg
> >
> >
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> >
>
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