Thoughts on Olympus OM Bodies...

[Andy Collins]

<p>I'm interested in your results with the 35-105 Bill, as I've just gotten one of those myself and have it mounted on the OM-4 I recently bought. The lens certainly feels nice on the camera, nicely balanced with just the right amount of heft. I hope it performs as well as it handles.</p>

[wblynch]

<p>Hi Andy,<br>

I just got my first slides back from the OM4t / 35-105 combo. I guess I need to learn more about how it meters because everything appears underexposed. </p>

<p>I have some new slide trays coming today so I will be able to view the slides on the wall. I think the lens is fine, it appears to be sharp.</p>

<p>The day was brightly overcast so I don't expect to have any flare in this roll. I always prefer primes so maybe this Tokina-sourced Zuiko will change my mind.</p>

<p>I am so used to Zuiko 24, 28, and 50mm lenses that the 35-105 feels huge and heavy to me. I also have the 35-70 and 75-150 Zuikos and never felt overwhelmed with them. I nearly bought a 100/2.8 yesterday and slightly regret passing it up. Maybe next month?</p>

<p>-Bill</p>

 

[Andy Collins]

<p>I hope to finish my roll tomorrow and see what I get. I haven't used multi-spot too much before, even though I have it on my T90 and Canon 1v. Keep your fingers crossed...</p>

[andrew_brown3]

<p>Hi,<br>

I bought an OM3 when they first came out and what a beauty it was. I thought it perfect. Typically it was stolen by some lowlife who 25 odd years later I still hope has come to an awful end. Camera number ended ..8925 I seem to recall!<br>

Apparently the OM3 was hand built. Even that couldn't help me take better photos, but I certainly felt a lot better about the bad ones I got.<br>

Andy.</p>

[Andy Collins]

<p>Andrew, that's unfortunate that such a nice camera was stolen. It's nice that it made you feel good about even your bad photos though. Did you ever use any other OM bodies and if so, was there any difference?</p>

[andrew_brown3]

<p>Hi,<br>

I later bought 2 OM1n's and an OM1 second-hand- not all at the same time!- and thought they were very similar in weight and so on to the 3, but at the same time I was constantly comparing them to the 3 in facility and felicity of use and they fell short of the 3 by a long way. A much more serious problem to me was the shutter curtain, as I also had a couple of second-hand Leicas (2x111a, a 11 and an M2 !) and one of these had some pinholes in it's shutter curtains and I became a bit paranoid about the OMs developing the same problems. I'm afraid to say I cast aside the Leicas and OMs for metal shuttered bodies, of which by far the worst was a brand new Contax S2, (with spot metering) which expired after a few months with bad seals which ruined the lens threading and shutter speeds!<br>

I seem to have come full circle now with simple mechanical cameras, just 3 old Nikon F bodies and non functional FTn heads.There is no comparison really with the OMs, except for the functional beauty of the engineering strategies to design and make the best camera of it's age. Both models were that and that perhaps is sufficient.<br>

Andy.</p>

[wblynch]

<p>I seem to recall that John Hermanson recently posted he's never seen an OM with a pinholed shutter curtain.<br>

I imagine the shutters of an SLR are protected by the mirror.</p>

 

[andrew_brown3]

<p>Hi,<br>

That's a very good point!<br>

In fact, it was probably the age of the Leica curtains as much as anything else and I don't mean to malign the OM system. If I still had the 3 I'd still be with them I think.<br>

Andy. </p>