Chuck has been carrying all the weight so far on reporting on our
get-together on the 14th here in southern Florida. Sorry I'm so late,
Chuck, but I'll add my thoughts on the 2nd Annual Florida ZuikoFest.
Chuck's E-M5 mated right up to the back of the 65-116mm telescopic
auto extension tube with an inexpensive ($12, IIRC) China-made adapter.
Having shot my OM 4T for something like a quarter century, all the bells
and whistles displayed on the E-M5's screen were, if not overwhelming,
surely impressive. (One gets the shutter speed and a flashing green square,
or a faint "over" or "under", in the view finder using flash on the OM 4T.)
We connected two T32s to the OM Multiconnector and then via a 0.6m TTL shoe
cord to the E-M5's flash shoe. The E-M5 fired the T32s, and it was quite
interesting, if fussy, to fiddle with flash distance to the subject and ASA
settings to get a proper histogram.
Next time we'll use the bellows, however, and a cable release to stop
down the lens diaphragm just before exposure. We're learning.
The Lepp II twin macro flash bracket, as Chuck mentioned, had some
trouble holding the heavy T32s. Next time I'm flush with cash, I'll invest
in a couple Wimberley flash brackets:
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=240878&is=REG&Q=&A=details>
Their dogbone design looks very flexible regarding flash positioning; it
also looks strong. But a pair costs four times what I paid for the Lepp II
bracket, so I'll put up with shimming with sandpaper for awhile.
When I bought into the Olympus SLR line in the 1980s, I did it on the
strength of their macro equipment. I haven't been disappointed. The 38/2.8
is simply an unmatched lens for the entomologist, and I've even used the
20/2 on the bellows hand-held on a couple occasions. The OM 4T's
off-the-film flash abilities have never let me down. In 2005 I revisited
some spots in the Big Horn and Beartooth mountains, a thousand miles from
home, where I had collected insects for my thesis research in 1969. I came
supplied with a brick of E-100VS slide film, and I spent a couple weeks
going through probably a dozen 36 exposure rolls of that. No place to
develop them out there, but when I brought them to PhotosInc in Mpls for
developing when I returned, I don't think that the circuit board in the OM
4T missed a single exposure. I trusted that camera/flash/lens combination
completely, and I wasn't let down a bit. Amazing, simply amazing.
Is there an E-M5 in my future? Yes. The ability to shoot video is
really appealing--I could put together a DVD on Minnesota's butterflies,
perhaps. Will an E-M5 replace my OM 4T, 38/2.8, T32s, and bellows? No way,
absolutely no way. At least I can't see it happening. Spend two weeks in
the field simply trusting your film camera set up to nail every
exposure--it's hard to dump success like that.
A last note: I hope some others of you get a chance to spend a few
hours with Chuck Norcutt. First, he's just a very nice guy. Second, he
knows his cameras and computers. Third, though, he spent a few decades with
IBM or other tech companies, and he is fascinating to talk with about the
development of computers, software, and all the other amazing developments
in the high-tech industries in the past few decades. Chuck, it was a
wonderful afternoon with you--many thanks for coming over to Archbold for
the "ZuikoFest."
Dean
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