A big hello to everyone in this community!
I've been following this list for some time and recently decided to join the
email-list as well... it's a great thing what you've got in here...
As concerns me, it all just started last Autumn (until then I was an
unsuspected Eos user with a decent Canon eos zoom).
But somehow, partly because I was looking for something else (or.. more?),
and partly because I was simply looking for a good prize for a raffle of a
student photo-society which I run, I bought two manual focus cameras from
the net (yes, from that place).
So here I was.. playing around with a Pentax ME-super and an Olympus OM-20
(both with a 50mm prime lens). I started testing the first and announced the
second as the prize... I already was positevely shoked with the quality and
character of the produced photos when developed the first film...
Nevertheless, it was when I had my first experience with the Olympus, (I
still remember that night), that something clicked forever!... The creative
process in its full, ecstatic power..
How much I first enjoyed her beautiful looks and special touch in my
hands... (oh-la-la a la Freud or a la Woody Allen's terms :-) And more: the
way it could involve me totally (from the visualisation of the picture to
thinking the details of exposure..).. Here it was, the hidden appreciation
of subjectivity and creative individuality I was always dreaming about...
Finally the end result: I saw the pictures and the fascinating, rather
coldish, yet real, immediate and still almost painterly (so ambiguous!)
aesthetics of the Zuiko lens took my mind away...
To keep it short, I soon emailed everyone that the prize has changed and
it's a.. Pentax (great item nevertheless) and of course I started gathering
info and buying Zuiko lenses and OM-bodies.. hmm.. Actually I have pushed
my student poverty to its outermost limit... It was love in first sight..
It's an addiction till the end, I can see now!... It even goes on despite
occasional setbacks such as that half of my pics turn to be very.. hmm..
'eccentric'.. (especially in my first days when even forgetting to focus),
or an erratically-playing shutter of the OM-20 one day.. or a totally moldy
OM-40 that got next... etc. or finally the quite expensive for my standards
OM-4...
Today I saw another OM-4 in the local shop.. it seemed OK apart a
blurry/dizzy viewfinder (it appears that something like glue or other
transparent liquid has been applied inside there)... But you know the
problem, dont you? My logic says: No! stay away.. You got no money, it's not
even sure it can be fixed or enjoyed... but my mind is still there.. What
should I do?
I have some more questions to ask, (like: anyone out there with a portrait
lens for sale?!!).. but I'll leave them for later.. :)
I hope you enjoyed the story, the drama, the potential 'katharsis' of
another Olympus fan..
best regards to all
Christos
[ps: suggested soundtrack: do you know that old Leonard Cohen song: One of
us cannot be wrong...]
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|