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Re: [OM] Quick Poll, What supplements your OM?

Subject: Re: [OM] Quick Poll, What supplements your OM?
From: Marc Lawrence <mlawrence@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 12:33:52 +1000
> Albert [mailto:olympus@xxxxxxxxxxx] wrote:
> MF will make me a better photographer (I think) as I'll get a 
> spotmeter for it, breath, think, and actual take good photos;
> vs. digital, where I will snap snap snap, look at the picture
> I just taken, "What? Too dark? Add 1/3rd stop.  Not saturated
> enough?  +2 on the saturation...etc.." 

No, I don't think these are necessarily adjustments you would
make. My saturation levels stay the same. I *have* adjusted my
digital to underexpose by a third of a stop to avoid blow-out
of highlights (this adjustment is based on hearsay rather
than experience). That little LCD on the back is unlikely
to help you pick 1/3 of a stop exposure problem in the varying
lights you attempt to view it in. Where the "adjust" comes in
for me is composition. This is where the learning curve jumped
up for me. It *will* help teach you exposure when you *completely*
miss it, and likewise with something like focus. It's
composition-preview that is contributing to making me a "better"
(if not "good") photographer (and the complete misses on those
other aspects [sigh]).

(I've stated the above as definitives, sorry. Please read them
as "For me...")

> And I might become forever a "shoot, review, adjust" 
> person... which doesn't make me a better photographer, but
> I will have all pretty shots and have deleted all the bad ones..

Again, "composition" is where "shoot-review-adjust" helps make
me a better photographer. Likewise, seeing a composition as
an image on a screen rather than through the viewfinder helps
me "picture" the final result better too (I've heard this
suggested as a benefit of looking onto a large ground-glass
screen on MF or LF cameras). As I improve, I do less
"shoot-review-adjust"ing of composition. This transfers to
the OM1-50/1.4 by giving me better "instincts" for a decent
composition. The change in camera thus might help improve
your photography, but I don't think that's inherant in the
format (ie. 4/3's digital, 35mm, MF, LF) but rather what the
camera makes you/allows you to do. The best thing I've bought
for either C*non or OM1 was the 50mm lens. The restriction
is liberating when it comes to composition (please excuse
the paradox everyone <g>)

> Also, if I get an MF, I'll probably be the only one using
> it, my gf would like to get a digital camera; and so that's
> another consideration..

Again, I'd suggest the TLR if you've the readies for its
relative cheapness (old R*lleicords or Y*shica T*L*Rs, for
example). Then you can see if you'll get any use or
improvement from MF (at least, that's the theory behind
my motivation - oh, and that spiffing look of the T*L*R <g>)

I always worry that I sound arrogant when I write, Albert.
If I've come across that way, I don't mean to. I'm responding
because I think I share similar dilemmas and levels of
enthusiasm and experience as yourself, so I *mean* to
respond in empathy. The above are not necessarily 'correct'
statements or 'truths', but just POV (and open to rebuttal
and education from those more informed and experienced).

You won't lose the OM, we know. You'll keep coming back to it -
I can almost guarantee it :-)

Cheers
Marc (being way too wordy)
Sydney, Oz

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