OM, I've become a Zuikoholic!

It's a scary exercise to look through the viewfinder of my D700, then pick up my OM-1. 😱

The day any one of the DSLR manufacturers out there can put a viewfinder like this into their cameras, the manual focusers of the digital world will be dancing for joy! 😀
 
ColinW said:
Paolo,

I use mine the same as you but haven't done so since I got a Sigma 50mm 2.8 1:1 macro lens. Whatever way you use it you set one focussing ring to infinity and just use the other one. I've got a copy of the instructions (Kenko version) and a Word doc that I've typed up. I can't get them to attach, so PM me if you want a copy.

Here's a link to a short primer.

http://www.nicobastone.com/Vivitar_2x_Macro-Focusing_Teleconverter.htm
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Thanks Colin. I'll send pm with my email.
 
menos said:
The 28/35 + 50 discussion is an interesting one and comes down to absolutely personal preferences.

Personally, I always shoot with two bodies (not Olympus, but I follow this thread out of interest for the OMs).
One body with a fast 50mm and one with a 35mm.
I do have a 28mm as well, but somehow can't get comfortable with 28mm.

I find, that 35mm is plenty wide, to get relatively close people shots, while including a scene - even in tight rooms. With 28mm I often end up with awkward compositions, not meaningfully framed, etc…
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You've brought up some very good points Menos. I know what you mean about the 28. It has been difficult for me to get used to, and I was much more comfortable with the 35 for quite some time - actually still am - but have gotten better with the 28 after studying Gary Winogrand's work and being persistent, or maybe stubborn.

I've found that I have to get much closer to my subject with the 28 than I've been comfortable with in the past to get a good shot. It's definitely a different point of view and there is a fine line between close enough and too close when it comes to composition versus distortion.

I continue to struggle with it myself but have come to realize, maybe believe is a better choice of words, that getting outside my comfort zone and learning to use the 28 is worth the effort.

Still, I recognize it's not for everyone. YMMV


Glenwood_Festival34 by pggunn1, on Flickr

As you can see, I'm still trying, and though not quite there yet, I'm getting closer to using the 28 effectively. But I realize it's not for everyone. We all have our own point of view that we need to discover, to explore, and to refine, with the tools that work for us, each of us.

Some people see with a 28, some with a 35, others with a 50 or an 85, etc. But I encourage everyone, including myself, to explore other viewpoints periodically and to ask oneself to reflect upon the difference between vision and reality, perception and, d'oh!

I'm starting to get too full of myself. Time for another beer. 😀

Good luck to you! And post some pics!

Gregor
 
Nice set paulfitz. Some kids make taking great photos easy don't you think? I have 4 nieces like that but my nephews are the photobombers from hell, cute kids but damn you gotta be quick or you'll get bombed.
 
Keith said:
It's a scary exercise to look through the viewfinder of my D700, then pick up my OM-1. 😱

The day any one of the DSLR manufacturers out there can put a viewfinder like this into their cameras, the manual focusers of the digital world will be dancing for joy! 😀
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The magnification and coverage could feasibly return, but the real difference with the OMs is that you are looking at a ground glass focusing screen and a pentaprism. Most smaller dSLRs have a mirror box, and as far as I can tell ALL modern SLRs use a focusing screen that is an engineered light pipe with microlenses on each surface. They only accept light from a narrow field of view. This is good if you're an autofocus system, but bad if you're an eye.

In my experience, the best OMs (with the 2-13 focusing screens), the Contax Aria (I prefer its viewfinder to the bigger Contaxes) and the Leicaflex SL/SL2 are all equivalently good manual focus SLRs. To focus and look through, everything else lags somewhere behind, all too often far, far FAR behind. But obviously camera buyers are not really aware of viewfinders, because all those camera lines are dead.

There is a current ebay auction with 8d to go for an Olympus 2-13 focus screen. Get in while you can #180663392105.

Marty
 
Well I made a clanger last weekend.

I had my two OM2ns.

I finished the roll in one of the cameras and when I got to my next scheduled photo-shoot of sorts I unloaded that camera and re-loaded one. At some point due to talking and all the rest I clearly thought I had re-loaded the other.

I had not :bang:

I then proceeded to shoot with an empty camera some pictures of a football match, the chairman of MK Dons football club (not an easy one to pull off) and some what I thought were really nice pictures of 2 girls with red helium balloons in various poses -- this would have finished off Impression Milton Keynes.

Turns out there was never any film in the camera.

I'm off to cry in the corner all huddled up now!

I did get some good pictures though over the weekend so it's not too disastrous
 
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@Lilserenity

We've all done that and all missed the best shots ever😡

Last year I finished up a roll in my OM and openend the back to take out the film whilst walking and chatting (ie not paying attention) and when I looked down at the camera there was no film there. I initially assumed that I hadn't loaded any, but then realised that it must have popped out when I opened the back. Traced my steps but couldn't find it. Moral is, pay attention when loading/unloading😉
 
Freakscene said:
The magnification and coverage could feasibly return, but the real difference with the OMs is that you are looking at a ground glass focusing screen and a pentaprism. Most smaller dSLRs have a mirror box, and as far as I can tell ALL modern SLRs use a focusing screen that is an engineered light pipe with microlenses on each surface. They only accept light from a narrow field of view. This is good if you're an autofocus system, but bad if you're an eye.

In my experience, the best OMs (with the 2-13 focusing screens),....,,,

There is a current ebay auction with 8d to go for an Olympus 2-13 focus screen. Get in while you can #180663392105.

Marty
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FWIW, I watched this auction and the bids went through the roof. Now I seriously do not want to know which focus screen is in my OM2n because I am very happy with it and my whole camera cost me less than that screen went for so for the moment I will just enjoy my ignorant bliss. Unfortunately I know myself only too well and I will eventually look up the differences.....
FYI, £102, 155AUD was the final bid.
 
Paolo Bonello said:
FWIW, I watched this auction and the bids went through the roof. Now I seriously do not want to know which focus screen is in my OM2n because I am very happy with it and my whole camera cost me less than that screen went for so for the moment I will just enjoy my ignorant bliss. Unfortunately I know myself only too well and I will eventually look up the differences.....
FYI, £102, 155AUD was the final bid.
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Absolute lunacy! It's more than half of what I paid for an OM-4ti with the 2-13 screen.
 
The OM-2 I bought a while ago has a screen in it that I couldn't find listed in an OM book I've got. It's a plain matt with a prism circle in the center but no split image and it seems exceptionally bright when compared to the stock screens in my other OM's. I can't remember what's written on it and it's in my OM-1 at the moment ... the numbers on it didn't seem to match anything listed in my book! It's a brilliant screen though and I wouldn't mind a couple more. 😀
 
Keith said:
The OM-2 I bought a while ago has a screen in it that I couldn't find listed in an OM book I've got. It's a plain matt with a prism circle in the center but no split image and it seems exceptionally bright when compared to the stock screens in my other OM's. I can't remember what's written on it and it's in my OM-1 at the moment ... the numbers on it didn't seem to match anything listed in my book! It's a brilliant screen though and I wouldn't mind a couple more. 😀
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Sounds like a 1-4n screen. It was introduced after the 1-4 screen and had a small circular area in the middle to correspond to the spot metering circle in the OM-2S, OM-4 and OM-3 cameras. If your Olympus book is an older one, it wouldn't cover this screen.
 
Paolo Bonello said:
FWIW, I watched this auction and the bids went through the roof. Now I seriously do not want to know which focus screen is in my OM2n because I am very happy with it and my whole camera cost me less than that screen went for so for the moment I will just enjoy my ignorant bliss. Unfortunately I know myself only too well and I will eventually look up the differences.....
FYI, £102, 155AUD was the final bid.
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Unquestionably this is a hell of a lot to pay for a focusing screen. However, given how rare 2-13 screens are, how infrequently they come up for sale, and how good they are, it is hard to say that it is absolutely crazy to pay this much. Look at it this way, I have 2 of these screens and if someone offered me this much for one, I'd probably say no deal. This is a high price, but somehow strikes me as a better deal than paying $600.00 for an OM Zuiko 40mm lens, for example, given that the focusing screen will get more use and that there is no real comparable alternative.
 
And another thing... I've recently acquired an OM 'Motor Drive 2'. Wow! Compact, beautifully balanced (with the control pack 2), and capable of ripping through 5fps. More importantly, however, it doesn't make the terrifying shriek of, for example, the Nikon MD-4, and it is very stable, thanks to the twin motors. Definitely the best add-on motordrive I've used.
 
dtcls100 said:
Unquestionably this is a hell of a lot to pay for a focusing screen. However, given how rare 2-13 screens are, how infrequently they come up for sale, and how good they are, it is hard to say that it is absolutely crazy to pay this much. Look at it this way, I have 2 of these screens and if someone offered me this much for one, I'd probably say no deal. This is a high price, but somehow strikes me as a better deal than paying $600.00 for an OM Zuiko 40mm lens, for example, given that the focusing screen will get more use and that there is no real comparable alternative.
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Ahhh the laws of supply and demand at work. I noticed the same goes for accessory shoe 4. At least double the price of the others but that is simply due to scarcity. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have one that is cracked and going to attempt to swap the innards into another plastic housing from one of the other accessory shoes which I bought cheaply.

Edit: Upon closer inspection, swapping out the plastic parts in two different accessory shoes ie: shoe 2 and shoe 4 is not possible. Doh!
 
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Ade-oh said:
And another thing... I've recently acquired an OM 'Motor Drive 2'. Wow! Compact, beautifully balanced (with the control pack 2), and capable of ripping through 5fps. More importantly, however, it doesn't make the terrifying shriek of, for example, the Nikon MD-4, and it is very stable, thanks to the twin motors. Definitely the best add-on motordrive I've used.
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Even the Winder 2 is pretty nice by comparison to some of the very loud winders/motor drives on other cameras. I love the modularity of Olympus cameras. One day, I have my OM-1n in hand with a 50mm. It's small, quiet, simple and lovely to use. Everything I like about RF cameras too. Then I add the motor drive, attach it to my Sunpak 522 bracket, screw in the remote cable and a longer, fast lens, and I have the studio camera I need, and it's still smaller than most other kits. OM Shanti OM.
 
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