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[OM] Auto Exposure Times & The Ideal Meteor Catcher

Subject: [OM] Auto Exposure Times & The Ideal Meteor Catcher
From: kelton <kelton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 99 16:56:53 -0800
(Again, being on the digest version, you all may have just finished 
discussing these issues.)

I recall the OM-2 being renowned for its ability to keep a shutter open 
on automatic for a very, very long time -- making it one of the best 
cameras in the world for taking automatically exposed nighttime shots. I 
recall some pretty fantastic claims for the OM-2's "timeout" duration, 
but I also recall it varied considerably among the different 2 models. 
Which OM2 model had the longest automatic timeout? How do the OM4 and the 
OM4T compare? Are there other non-OM cameras that excel at long-duration 
auto-exposure? I ask because, as an amateur astrophotographer, long 
exposures fascinate me, even when they're of terrestrial scenery. I guess 
it's the thrill of letting the film capture things you can't otherwise 
see.

Oh, one other question -- I've been looking for a good Zuiko to use for 
meteor showers. The object here, for the non-astro inclined, is to point 
a fast, moderately wide angle lens at the sky during a meteor shower, 
leave the shutter open, and hope for the best. If you're lucky, you'll be 
rewarded by a "streak" on the negative when a meteor flies past. Meteor 
showers require big apertures and fast film. It's very "iffy" business, 
you never really know what you'll get, and it's a great way to waste 
film. But my question is, what would be the ideal Zuiko for this purpose? 
It seems it would be a balance of speed, angle of view/image size, and 
image quality. (For my taste, the 50mm lenses see too small a patch of 
sky and some of mine really stink at the corners of the frame, when you 
leave them wide open.) I have already ruled out the 24mm f/2 because of 
image quality. I'm leaning toward the 35/2 for this purpose; it seems to 
perform about as well as any, wide open, based on Gary Reese's tests, but 
I'd like to hear experiences with the 28/2, if there are any. 

Thanks!

Kelton


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