I started with a used Retina 1A while in Korea in 1953. (Yes, I know that
many of you won't even know there once was a 1953). <g> It was a great little
camera. I loved it and took hundreds of B & W pictures with it. My only
regret was that it had no integral light meter. A few years later I was
smitten by the SLR bug and I bought a new Contaflex 1B with f2.8 lens, which
I still have and which is still in excellent condition. It has three
drawbacks: it blanks out the viewfinder after the shutter is released (until
rewound), it has no integral light meter and it couldn't use interchangeable
lenses. Next I traded the Retina 1A for a used Miranda F. Nice camera, but
still no meter. I used it for several years with excellent results. I also
bought a used Voightlander Perkeo II 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 folding camera. (Still
have it, too.) I used a Sekonic lightmeter with both cameras.
While in college on the GI bill, I decided to make a little extra money with
my photography. I built a basement darkroom. I purchased a YashicaMat LM 2
1/4 X 2 1/4 twin-lens reflex camera, which I still have also and which is
still in excellent condition. I used it and a Heiland Strobonar flash for
wedding photography. My partner had a Rolliflex twin-lens reflex. BTW--the
YashicaMat delivered pictures as good as anything produced by his Rolliflex
and for a *lot* less money.
In 1968, back in the USAF and serving in Thailand, my Miranda F gave up the
ghost. It developed a sticky shutter. Probably needed a CLA. I put it aside
and began to look for another camera. I heard and read good reports of a new
half frame camera by Olympus. So I bought a new Olympus Pen FT with 40 mm
normal, 25 mm wide angle and 150 mm telephoto lenses. Later I added 30-70 mm
and 100-200 mm zoom lenses. I loved the size, feel, functionality and and
excellence of the FT and lenses. I used the camera for a few years, but when
I began to concentrate almost exclusively on slides, I found the small film
size restrictive. I began to covet a new full-frame 35 mm camera.
There was a new camera coming on the scene: outstanding lenses, compact,
light-weight, marvelously made, tough enough to take the punishment of press
and war correspondent duties and affordable!!! Major news agencies were
switching from N*ik*n in favor of it. It was designed as a photographic
system with a variety of components capable of doing practically anything
photographically. And It was manufactured by Olympus, maker of my beloved Pen
FT.
So...in 1974, while serving a tour of duty in Okinawa I decided to bite the
bullet...big time. I had the local post exchange order me an OM-1 with 50
mm/f1.4, 35 mm/f2.8, 50 mm/f3.5 macro, 75-150 mm/f4 zoom and 300 mm/f4.5
telephoto lenses. I also purchased a large group of filters--49 mm and 72 mm.
The camera was a delight to use, the lenses were fantastic, the internal
meter was accurate and so convenient, the scenery was remarkable and the
slides turned out great. As they say down home, I was in hog heaven!!!
While in Okinawa, I also bought a 70-100 mm and a 100-200 mm zoom for the Pen
FT and the bellows set. (Hey...they were on sale. What difference did it make
that I wasn't using the camera now that I had the OM-1?)
Unfortunately, by this time I was already experiencing the first signs of
creeping Zuikoholism. A few months later I purchased a black OM-1 body.
(Needed a spare, right?) In 1976, I succumbed to the ads and purchased an
OM-2 body. See what I mean? Creeping Zuikoholism! Later, I bought my oldest
son an OM-10 with a 50 mm/f1.8 lens and 135 mm/f3.5 telephoto lens. A few
years later, when he got involved in photography in high school, I also
bought an OM-10 for my youngest son, with 50 mm/f1.8 and 135 mm/f3.5
telephoto lenses. Later I bought another 75-150 mm/f4 zoom lens so he would
leave mine alone. I also bought the Olympus bellows with slide copier and
roll film stage. I bought the VST stand and the B stand adapter for macro
work.
I went into buyer's remission. It lasted for years. I was perfectly happy
with my Olympus outft. Then...it happened.... About a year ago I was brousing
the net and I stumbled onto *it*, the...gasp...Olympus list. I started
reading it. I liked it. I succumbed to temptation and I s*bscribed to it. I
thought a mere taste or two of Olympus/Zuiko wouldn't harm me. Boy, was I
wrong!!! I became addicted almost overnight. I saw what other Zuikoholics
owned and lusted over. The lust was contagious. I started thinking that I
needed a few more things. Then...oh, the horror of it...I found the Olympus
section on eBay. That did it. My remaining resistence crumbled. I started
buying Olympus equipment again. Hooked!!!
Today I own the following equipment:
OM-1 bodies (2) silver, black
OM-2 body
OM-4 bodies (2)
OM-10 bodies (4)
XA2 w/A11 flash
35 mm/f2.8 WA lens
50 mm/f3.5 macro
50 mm/f1.4 lenses (2)
50 mm/f1.8 lenses (5)
35-70 mm/f3.5-4.5 zoom lens
75-150 mm/f4 zoom lenses (2)
300 mm/f4.5 telephoto lens
T-20 flash
Vivitar 283 flash
24 mm/f2.8 Tokina WA lens
35-70 mm/3.5-4.6 Tokina zoom lens
70-210 mm/f4.5-5.6 Tokina zoom lenses (3)
2X Tokina Macro converter
Crown Graphic 2 1/4 X 3 1/4 press camera
YashicaMat LM
Contaflex 1B
Voightlander
There you have it. The tale of a true Zuikoholic. And I think it is
hereditary. Now my daughter and my two sons have OM-10s with manual adapters.
The youngest son also has an OM-1 and an OM-2sp body. My wife uses an Olympus
Stylus. My two grandchildren and my two *adopted* grandchildren use Olympus
Trip 35s. Both grandchildren have expressed interest in an OM-10, so two of
the CLAed OM-10 bodies, two of the 50 mm/f1.8 lenses and two of the Tokina
70-210 zoom lenses will soon be in their hot little hands. (Well, if it is
hereditary I might as well help them along. Right?)
That's my sad story. To top it off, my wife commented that I shouldn't look
for much from Santa Claus since I have been having Christmas all year. What
could I say? She is sooo right. <g>
Blessings to all my fellow Zuikoholics and their families this holiday season,
Robert
P.S. I'm also building another darkroom in the basement so the family can do
their own B & W work.
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