Catching up on past digests, I was curious to see if the list thought the
idea of a published, bound volume for the OM (or Pen) collector had any
merit. I only caught one response - I think from Acer - who said that
basically we already HAD a collector's guide if you combined all the
great OM websites there are. True, but I'd contest that OM is never
really going to be recognized as a bona-fide collectible category until
there's a paper-and-ink book out there on the subject, sitting on the
shelves of camera stores alongside the Nikon, Leica, and Pentax guides. I
think that the websites are largely frequented by "insiders" and don't
really drive interest in OM; they cater to people who are already
interested and are looking for the information. A published book sitting
on a shelf does something more, it says, "Here's a collectible category
that's hot enough to warrant a book." (This starts to drive interest
among those who would not have developed the interest on their own.) A
standard practice among antique collectors is an attempt to corner the
market on a particular item -- take your pick, 19th centure pickle jars,
or whatever -- and then to publish a book (not a website) on the item.
The book appears among the other collector books, defines the category as
collectible, everyone jumps into the act, and the original
collector/publisher sells stock as the prices rise (are you taking notes,
Tom?). Publishing a first book for a category usually makes values rise.
But that brings up an interesting question: do we WANT prices to rise?
And that depends, I suppose, on the size of our 'want' list compared to
the size of our 'have' list. I become somewhat fearful when thinking of
what a bound priceguide would do: I think of all the lenses and bodies I
don't own that would be pricier than ever. On the other hand, it would
take my entire collection and enhance its value considerably, which is a
good thing. But, completely divorced from the economics of the process,
I'd love to read an in-depth treatment of my beloved OM. Great bedside
reading. And I worry, sometimes, that we'll lose our storehouses of
knowledge somehow. I read the stuff that the heavy hitters on the list
write about and realize that these guys and gals know *so much* about the
OM system, it's staggering. You'll have to forgive my burning desire to
have this information captured in a book! Imagine being able to read
about the radioactive Zuikos, or the different internal variations of the
OM-1MD, or the bokeh of the 100 f/2, or the quantity of 250mm production,
or the evolution of multicoating, or the sharpness of the 90mm compared
to other manufacturers . . . all this good OM lore that exists in our
heads or in bits and pieces on the web. I'm conflicted. The collector in
me says 'no' to a collector's guide, but the teacher in me says 'yes,'
find a way to spark the flame in others--and a collector's guide would be
one big step in that direction.
< 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 >
|