Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] In Defence of OM1 (was "25 Best Cameras"/"Spotmatics & Olys"/et

Subject: Re: [OM] In Defence of OM1 (was "25 Best Cameras"/"Spotmatics & Olys"/et al)
From: Larry <halpert@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 18:22:56 -0400
Very well put.

Larry

clintonr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> The 25 _BEST_ cameras?  "Best" means what it means - not "best for it's
> day", or "a milestone, surpassed by time".  If you're talking about the
> BEST, you've _got_ to include the OM-1.  It does what it does better
> than virtually every like-camera ever made.  For a mechanical/manual
> camera, it's unsurpassed.
>
> But imagine....(no, I'm _not_ staying away from car analogies! ;^)
>
> Imagine if there was a particular car - the first car with fuel
> injection, the first car with disc brakes, the first car with electric
> windows, the first car with an automatic transmission, the first car
> with intermittant wipers, etc. - all on a mass-produced model priced for
> the masses, all in the same car for the very first time.  All in a car
> that still ran the highways of the world, 30-some years after it was
> first made.
>
> You might say,
> "Sure other cars run on gas - what does it matter how it gets to the
> cylinders?
> Sure other cars have brakes - what does it matter how you stop?
> Sure other cars have windows - what does it matter how you run them up
> and down?
> Sure other cars have gears - what does it matter how you shift them?"
> And so on....
>
> Would you say, "(it) did nothing new but it did it very, very well"?
> NO!  You would regard it as a marvel, an advancement of unprecedented
> genious!
>
> Well, _that's_ the OM-1.
>
> It's a camera - it takes film just like all the others.
> You press the button, it takes a picture, just like all the others.
> But what makes it different is mostly on the >>>inside<<<!
>
> Technically, Pentaxes use conventional double-roller shutters - so do
> most Leicas, OM's and many others.  But the Pentax uses (if I remember
> the terminology correctly) a brass "spill" gear, held to a wind gear by
> a little brass key.  When you release the shutter, you're pressing this
> little brass key down so that a hole in the spill gear slips past the
> key to let the curtains fly.  It's a clumsy system that wears out under
> frequent use.  (Yes, yes, I know, you used one for years, and never had
> any trouble, etc., etc., etc.  But have you ever wondered why every
> camera repair person knows how to _fix_ a Pentax?  And how few repair
> persons know, really _know_, how to fix an Olympus?  Thinkaboutit.)
>
> The OM's use a steel lever to latch a steel gear - a system that
> virtually _never_ wears out.
>
> Most every other SLR uses a penta-prism over a condensor lens over the
> focusing screen.  Yeah, it works - but it's a great place to collect
> dirt in the viewfinder.  In the OM's, the penta-prism and the condensor
> are one piece of glass - presto, no gap for debris to collect!  And even
> if you do get junk between the screen and the prism, you just drop the
> screen and gently blow it out!
>
> The self-timer?  Unlike some models, on the OM-1 you can set it but you
> don't _have_ to use it right away.
>
> Why is the OM-1 so (relatively) quiet?  There's rubber bumpers, and
> cushions, and even an air piston to quiet things down!  Nothing everyone
> else couldn't have done - so why didn't they?
>
> The signs of genious are all throughout the OM-1.  Unquestionably a
> "best", to anyone who looks past the "fenders"!
>
> Not to knock Pentaxes, but I suspect they included the Spotmatic (on the
> list) because they felt they _had_ to include _something_ from Asahi!
> And screw-mount lenses!  There's nothing "best" about that, unless
> low-cost comes into the equation.  And note that even the bayonet K1000
> (a good camera, don't get me wrong) has been relegated to "student"
> status.  While OM-1's are still coveted professionally world-wide.
>
> Just my opinion, after all....
>

C


< 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