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Re: [OM] OM-2S

Subject: Re: [OM] OM-2S
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:16:55 -0600
Joel the Wilcox wrote:
> I use it to provoke Ken (which is not hard to do).


I am so abused. And I call you my friend!

Harrumph!

OK, OK, I'll admit to getting all pumped up when I see a shiny, non-scuffed,
OM or Zuiko. Can you believe that I even got all excited about hearing of
NIB E-1 bodies for sale from Freestyle? Good grief, do I have it bad.

But back to the OMs... I know I've related this story before, but bear with
me.

Way back 25 years ago when I purchased the OM-2S, the camera I really wanted
was the OM-4. THAT one was the one I really wanted, but the cost was far too
high. Here I was, a college student working THREE part-time jobs to get by.
I bought what I could and then simply fell in love with the camera and what
it could do. Over the next three years I acquired an OM-1md, an OM-2 and a
slate of lenses along with some medium-format gear. Alas, never once did I
get that OM-4.

Years later, I bought an OM-4 from Tom Scales. It was close to fulfilling
the dream I thought I had about the OM-4, except it had a few issues which
stained the experience. Eventually, I sold it.

Along the way, Mr. Wilcox acquired a beautiful Champaigne OM-4T. I instantly
fell in love with it and just loved the way my silvernosed lenses looked on
it. But most importantly, it fulfilled the mission of multi-spot which I was
looking for. At that point, with digital looming large and already in my
kit, I set out for the acquisition of one, knowing that it would be my final
OM body ever. Joel REFUSED!!! to sell me his, so onto the open market I
looked--but was not in any hurry.

A while later, Jim Timpe calls me asking me if I'm still looking for an
OM-4T. Answer was "yes!" He and James Olsen arranged to supply me with one.
This thing was "experienced" but guess what?  Champaigne colored! Alas, I
finally got the OM-4(T/Ti) that I really wanted all along. What is so cool
is that it has proven to be everything I ever imagined it would be all those
years ago. The OM-4 was a failed experiment, but the OM-4T was the
fulfillment of those dreams. (It arrived at the same time the E-3 became
available--which I was prepared to buy. The E-3 is now "yesterday's
newspaper" but the OM-4T is still special).

Now, here is what is strange:  The OM-2S is my favorite camera for so many
reasons, but the wear marks on it don't necessarily make it "better". In my
mind, the camera is still that brand-new, ultra beautiful thing of joy.
However, when a truly like-new OM-2S comes along the mind just goes bonkers.
Probably not unlike being married. Neither of us look like we did when we
were younger, but in our minds we still see ourselves as young and have seen
the life experiences along the way and it doesn't matter that we don't.
However, when you look at a picture of yourselves when you were younger, the
ache of "what has happened to us?" temporarily sets in. I see the EXC+ OM-2S
and the dreams of "what can be" set in. It opens up the mind to all new
adventures!

Why then is the OM-4T, even in its worn state different? Because I never had
one in "brand new" condition at the beginning of the great adventure. This
old camera is NEW to me and I was able to start on a fresh road.  Same thing
with the OM-3Ti. It represents all new opportunities.

So, basically, when I see a beautiful like-new OM-2S, it takes me back 25
years to the beginning of this journey and all the possibilities stretched
out before me. It takes me back to the point where the world was my oyster
and the dreams of travel and opportunity stretched out before me. It
represents the fresh start that I had then. It takes me back to before the
point when I removed the "PASSED" sticker and the fear and trepidation I
felt when doing so.

Is the OM-2S really any better than other OM bodies? Probably not, but for
me, the OM-2S has been my 25 year partner in this photographic adventure. No
other camera can lay claim to that.

AG Schnozz
-- 
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