back alley said:
just wondering if you om fans have a favourite om camera.
joe
I used an OM-3 and an OM-4 side by side for many years (1985-2005) and a OM1 for ten years before that.
The OM-4 was my favorite user, because the metering is so fantastic. It is very sensitive (going down to incredibly low light levels when you are on a tripod and thus in off-the-film mode). It has a very usable and effective system for doing multiple spot readings and averaging the readings. The flash automation is excellent! Great interchangeable screens (including Beatties!) and so on and on. I had a very fully equipped system.
I did have to have my OM-4 serviced a number of times in those 20 years, as metering system components went bad on me. The repair guys in my area could do it. If I were thinking of getting another one I would definitely find out where I was going to have it serviced, and I would assume I'd have it in there every couple of years at least.
I guess I would get the titanium model if I could, while I was at it. I must say, though, that the regular OM-4 body seemed very sturdy. I never had a single mechanical problem with any Olympus OMs in all those years, only the expected electrical problems as components got pretty old.
I do not think Olympus kept pace with other lens-makers in the quality of their lenses. They produced some spectacularly good ones (like their long, fast telephotos) but (for example) never produced a fast 50mm that was as good as the competition. I would rather shoot CV lenses, and Leica lenses really blow them away in equivalent focal lengths. However, I did a lot of good shooting with them and they are great to use. Sometimes quality is compromised a bit by their using fewer elements, but the result is really small and light lenses, like the 200mm f/5. Probably some fans here will chime in with their favorite Zuikos. (Mine were the 28mm f/2 and the 35-70mm f/3.6.) But I think this a fair verdict of the overall lens line compared with Nikon, Canon, and especially Leica. I think they just could not afford to improve such a large product line; they did not have enough success with professionals.
I have not said much about the OM-3 because I used it remarkably little. So long as I had the OM-4 in working order I never used the OM-3 by choice. I took it along when I needed two bodies or when the OM-4 was in the shop. I always had spare batteries with me, and the SR44 is a ubiquitous one anyway.
I can see why collectors prize the OM-3, especially the titanium one (which would be newer among other things). However, I don't see what would be the rationale for buying an OM-3 to use, instead of one of the automatic ones like an OM-4T. So you could get access to the lenses? Yes, but again, I don't think I would use Zuikos on an assignment where I could use RF lenses instead (28mm-135mm). Of course, you could envision a future in which film still existed but SR44 batteries didn't. Pretty far off, considering that Leica Ms use SR44s, too!
