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[OM] Have I mentioned lately?

Subject: [OM] Have I mentioned lately?
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 11:27:27 -0600
Have I mentioned lately just how much I love shooting with the OM system?

A couple weeks ago we went for a drive the day after a major snowstorm and
the sun was out for a little bit. Temperatures were WAY below freezing and a
strong wind was blowing. Out came the OM-3Ti, MD2, 35-80, 24/2.8, 50/3.5,
100/2.8 and 200/4. The entire kit nestled up nicely in my smallest camera
bag.  Film used was Provia 100F.

The subfreezing temperatures were no match for the 3Ti and the scenery was
quite pretty.

A couple of days later, I shot pictures of an event with the OM-2S and
35/2.8 lens with Fujifilm 400 film. Nothing else, just that setup.

Completely different configurations--one rather buff, the other petite, but
one system. The ability to mix-and-match equipment for specific applications
and working methods is one of the brilliant aspects of the OM system. Nearly
every item works perfectly with every other item no matter the vintage,
model or class.

An OM body with the 35/2.8 is very, very small these days and the
wide-normal lens gives me the ability to get closer to people and the camera
is so small and "quaint" that it is disarming. When shooting the E-1 with
battery grip. 14-54 lens and T45 flash, people see you coming a mile off and
the mere presence of that monstrosity changes the environment. An OM body
with MD2, 35-80 and T45 has a similar influence on the environment but
because it somehow looks different than the black blobs of today I seem to
be able to actually get shots that digital doesn't afford me, but that might
be more a function of the speed of operation as I can prefocus the OM. It's
still a monstrosity. Even the sound of the OM is so different than today's
cameras that the soft low-frequency kerrwhump of the cloth shutter seems to
relax people.

I like the OM system a lot. It's home to me. It's the baseline of
photographic equipment which I compare all else to. I know that for many
people, this is wrongheaded but it's just the way I am. When looking at new
equipment, I see where the evolutionary improvements in so many areas (and
for some things, it is such an improvement over the old-technology as to be
silly), but I just can't get over the fact that the mix-and-match and
scalability is compromised.

Olympus wasn't alone in this aspect. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Minolta all
had scalable systems--some more scalable than others, but Olympus was my
choice back in January of 1986 and exactly 24 years later I'm still in love
with it. Granted, many piece-parts have come and gone through the years, but
amazingly enough one of my first two lenses and my original camera body
remain in heavy use. (The second lens was mistakenly sold and then a
substitute was acquired several years later). Next year will be the silver
anniversary for this silver-nosed one and I'm still enjoying the system like
I did the first year--probably more because I know why I choose to use it.

AG Schnozz
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