Hi Zuiks,
Two weeks ago, I attended the MFT (My Four Thirds) meeting in Brugges,
Belgium. Since I had a great day, I thought I would share the experience
with you. For this, let me start at the beginning.
In December 2004 I ordered my E-1 over the Internet. While waiting for
it to be delivered I searched around the Internet fro all kinds of
information on the E-1. One site I found was
www.myfourthirds.com
where E-system users worldwide display their pictures. I became a member
immediately and, after receiving the E-1, I placed some photos there. I
did not do too much since the site is quite slow. There was a discussion
going on about a mini-meeting somewhere in Belgium or the Netherlands. I
joined the discussion and said I would like to attend. That was about
half a year ago. Afterward I forgot about it. In the middle of March I
received a mail from Lourens in which he invited me for the next weekend
for the meet. I had some other appointments and mailed back that I could
only attend for the saturday. I was welcome anyway.
I will let others fill in what went on on friday, but here is my report
of the saturday.
We had agreed to meet around 9am at the studio of Mr. Paul Gheyle in
Lissewege, near Brugges. So I drove off from home at about 7.30. After a
trip, in wchich the only problem was that I was photgraphed by radar for
speeding ;-(( I arrived at the studio at the same time the others did. I
finally saw the faces belonging to Lourens, John, Rex, Yvonne, Vaggelis,
Iwert, Margriet, Inge and Nora (Wives of John and Rex). I introduced
myself to the bunch and, despite the fact that the rest had been
together for about one day before they met me, I was accepted
immediately and felt very welcome. Paul introduced himself as a
professional photographer (mainly Portraits and Weddings). Besides that
he is the official Olympus E-system trainer for Belgium. He is very
knowledgeable and did tell us quite a lot. He explained how he worked in
his studio and outside. He demonstrded a little session with the 35-100
f.20 attached to his E-1. This lens is his favourite and I can see why.
It is tack sharp and has just the range you need for weddings and
portraits. Even wide open it is very usefull. In the field Paul sets it
at 2.8 and just shoots away. Paul did not worry about " only" 5
megapixels in the E-1. H showed us some prints that were 60x80cm in
size. They were incredibly sharp. It took him some time to find a
printshop that used the right printer for him, but now he is satisfied
with the results.
When asked about the future of the E-series he told us that in this year
we could expect to see two new amateur and one pro-line body. When I
suggested that the E-500 or at least the E-330 would have been the first
one he insisted that this was not the case. 3 more camera's were to be
excpected. For the E-x he expected the body to be considerably larger
than the E-1, maybe even the size of the E-1 with the grip. The reason
for this? To accomodate for the larger LCD panel on the back of the
body. He did not know anything more (or was not allowed to tell us)
about the specs of the bodies. I think we are in for a treat, but we'll
have to wait somewhat more.
After the session in the studio Paul took us to an old farmhouse with
the largest barn of Belgium. There we could try out some stuff for the
E-series that we don't all own. For example: E-330, DZ 7-14mm/4, DZ
90-250mm/2.8 and DZ 300mm/2.8. All these things he had arranged for the
weekend from Olympus Europe in Hamburg. We could also take pictures with
our own stuff out there. Paul was very helpfull in assisting us and
giving tips on how to optimally use it. It sure was a joy for John and
me to try out the big glass. WOW, I would like one of those if it
weren't for the big bucks they cost, Ouch! We ended our shooting there
around noon and drove up to Brugge.
In Brugge we could decide wether we would like to follow the tour guided
by John's wife Inge or stroll around at our own pace and take time to
photograph more. I chose for the last option and ejoyed myself, together
with John and Yvonne. We really took our time to walk around and see
Brugges. What a beatifull old town it is, no matter how often one has
visited it. For me it was obout 10 years ago that I was there for the
last time. We had a lovely lunch in "de halve maan" and walked on more
and more, taking lots of photo's. It was quite crowded in Brugges since
it was the first weekend with reasonable weather this year. At the end
of the day we all met again at one of the many churches. Sadly Iwert
could not stay any longer and headed for the trainstation.
In the early evening we went to a little bar where they serverd more
than 200 kinds of beers. I did not drink one since I had to drive home
that night and I don't take my liquor too well. (I usually fall asleep
within one hour if I drink two beers). After thaf few drinks we went to
a really nice restaurant situated in an old cellar. Vaggellis had
allready revealed that that day was his nameday, which is a big issue in
Greece and usually spent with family and friends. Earlier that day
Vagellis treated himself to some very nice cuban cigars. Since spending
more than a day with most of us he felt comfortable enough to call us
friends. Vaggelis told us that he wanted us to have dinner on his
account to celebrate his nameday. We were very surprised to say the
least, but Vaggelis insisted. We had a great dinner, talking about lots
of things, even including photography and equipment, grin, and during
this proces we got to know eachother even better.
During dinner it had started to rain and afterwards it continued to
rain. Sometimes very little and sometimes a little harder. We still
wanted to take some night shots in Brugges and were very happy with the
splash proof body and lens design of our E-thingies, which enabled us to
do so. Some of us wanted to go home or to the hotel while others wanted
to photgraph even more. We arrived at the trainstation, where we had
parked our cars, at around 10 PM and I dais goodby to the rest of the
bunch. They went back to the hotel and would continue the meet the next
day. I drove back home with a great memory in my head and some new
friend in my heart.
I just wanted to share this story with all of you because I felt the
same warmt and friendship I have experienced for over ten years on this
list. Some of my photos ( no big things, but mainle to remember the day
by) can be viewed at:
http://home.wanadoo.nl/wiliam/index.html
On the MFT site a folder has been made and can be viewed at:
http://www.myfourthirds.com/folder.php?id=1414
At the end I would like to thank all attendees for being there, Paul
Gheyle for his demo's, John and Lourens for organising the event,
Vaggelis for a great meal and Inge for her patience with us. I hope to
see most of them again someday.
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