OM eye candy

[Wee man]

Originally Posted by David M

Mine had lots of brass showing after I threw it across the car park opposite my repairers.

Pray tell all?

[drmarkf]

I would have bought the lovely one offered here recently, but I'd just bought Rokkor 55mm f1.2 for around the same price (in similarly amazing condition) and i couldn't in all conscience get both of them, much as I'd have liked to!

The Rokkor is bigger & heavier but does give the most amazing bokeh: I'm still learning how to exploit this, and it seems best either to shoot images in the middle distance (where the wafer thin DoF isn't a problem) with some nice spectral highlights behind, or else go for a much more spacey effect close up, where flowers etc look to be floating in a dream world.

I'll post a few examples once I've had time to perfect my technique.

[David M]

Originally Posted by Wee man

Pray tell all?

My camera repairer had just confirmed it needed new circuit boards (the fourth set I think) months after it had had its third or fourth new shutter. By then I'd decided the OM4 was to unreliable to keep, I went back to my OM2's.

[drmarkf]

Yes, I got my OM4 second hand from University Cameras in Cambridge after it had new boards. I must have put thousands of frames through it, all the time worried they might go again, but all was fine. They did have a bit of a reputation.

[David M]

The early one's had an even worse reputation for draining batteries. And if you were a very early adopter as I was you discovered the issue with the metering stud on the lens mount before Olympus issued warnings in the photo press.

[mm500]

This has brought back my OM-4 experience which was short-lived. I had an early one and it slaughtered batteries. I sold it to a Pro and lost serious money on it.

I also now remeber the scare about the plastic stud breaking off.

I miss the multi-spot metering and still think it was the greatest metering system I have ever used. I may have to get an OM-4 some time.....

Mal

[drmarkf]

Yes, the metering was fantastic.

I never had a 'stud' problem, but battery usage was a pain. The double-height panasonic silver oxide batteries were better, but I still carried two spares whenever i went away. You were supposed to store the camera set to 'bulb' to conserve battery power, but they still died with irritating regularity!

[mm500]

Originally Posted by wychbury

Having recently bought the 4Ti and 50 f1.2 from Mal I am over the moon with it, eye candy indeed.

I'm trying to get over it but I always end up selling when I have some rare /nice gear: what happens is every so often I'll take iot out of the cupboard in its' box and leave it in the air or fire off a few frames to keep the fungus etc at bay and I'll think "why do you have that camera you never use?" and the seeds of selling are sown then...

Amazingly at the same time as selling the 4Ti and 50 F1.2 I saw a 55mm F1.2 on Ebay at a lowish starting price so I put in a bid. Nobody else bid so I won it. Came with its' original very rare hood too.

So here's a pic of the 55 on my OM2n. This camera is my "first ever serious camera" and was my first SLR. I used it for years for everything including general use, holidays, published and sold work, weddings, everything". For some work I also used a Mamiya RB67 6x7 camera but shots were duplicated on the OM2n and processed seperately in case of any loss....I also had an OM10 Quartz as a backup, an OM4 briefly and then went on to use an OM-4To professionally but the OM2n has always been around and will never be sold. Still have the box and everything for it. Serviced once a few years ago but had the light seals replaced a few times by me.

Mal.

om2n by Malc May, on Flickr

OM2n with OM-D E-M5 Mark II:

35mmdigitalOMs by Malc May, on Flickr

[mm500]

Originally Posted by wychbury

Having recently bought the 4Ti and 50 f1.2 from Mal I am over the moon with it, eye candy indeed.

I'm trying to get over it but I always end up selling when I have some rare /nice gear: what happens is every so often I'll take iot out of the cupboard in its' box and leave it in the air or fire off a few frames to keep the fungus etc at bay and I'll think "why do you have that camera you never use?" and the seeds of selling are sown then...

Amazingly at the same time as selling the 4Ti and 50 F1.2 I saw a 55mm F1.2 on Ebay at a lowish starting price so I put in a bid. Nobody else bid so I won it. Came with its' original very rare hood too.

So here's a pic of the 55 on my OM2n. This camera is my "first ever serious camera" and was my first SLR. I used it for years for everything including general use, holidays, published and sold work, weddings, everything". For some work I also used a Mamiya RB67 6x7 camera but shots were duplicated on the OM2n and processed seperately in case of any loss....I also had an OM10 Quartz as a backup, an OM4 briefly and then went on to use an OM-4Ti professionally but the OM2n has always been around and will never be sold. Still have the box and everything for it. Serviced once a few years ago but had the light seals replaced a few times by me.

Mal.

om2n by Malc May, on Flickr

OM2n with OM-D E-M5 Mark II:

35mmdigitalOMs by Malc May, on Flickr

[OM USer]

The 50mm/F1.2 has fantastic visual appeal and just suits the old OM bodies perfectly.

[Naughty Nigel]

This is all making me feel very old!

I have a brand new, boxed OM4Ti in black that I bought at a bargain price from a lab equipment supplier who had kept it on a shelf for fifteen years. It came with a microscope adaptor and a right angle viewfinder!

I also have 'my own' OM4Ti (black) with F280 flashgun that I bought new from Jessops in Oxford Street in 1998, and an OM2 SP that I bought from Ffordes when they had their shop in Southend!

I have a few 50 mm f1.4 lenses, but sadly these seem to suffer with fungus, so there are only two that I can use seriously. However, there are plenty of others that I like using, especially the Zuiko 35 mm f2.0 which is an excellent lens. The Tamron SP 90 mm f2.5 is another favourite of mine.

[mm500]

Nigel, I remember Ffordes shop in Southend and I bought quite a few OM lenses and a couple of Nikon 35mm cameras there.

Your 1998 OM-4Ti was probably quite a late one if it was new. I thought they had stopped production by then or not long after I'd think.

When I bought my original OM-4Ti it was approximately £550 at a shop near Beatties in the West End.

I can't remeber which shop it was but it was the only place that had the much hyped "new Olympus" in stock...

Later on the Black version came out and apparently everyone wanted that one then (supposedly).

Mal.

[Naughty Nigel]

Originally Posted by mm500

Nigel, I remember Ffordes shop in Southend and I bought quite a few OM lenses and a couple of Nikon 35mm cameras there.

Your 1998 OM-4Ti was probably quite a late one if it was new. I thought they had stopped production by then or not long after I'd think.

When I bought my original OM-4Ti it was approximately £550 at a shop near Beatties in the West End.

I can't remeber which shop it was but it was the only place that had the much hyped "new Olympus" in stock...

Later on the Black version came out and apparently everyone wanted that one then (supposedly).

Mal.

Hi Mal,
I believe my OM4Ti was one of the last, but it had an excellent reputation as a 'technical' camera (which is what I wanted it for), and was reliable. Unfortunately, the price had risen to nearly £1,000 by the time I bought it, but I have had my money's worth from it!

I already had an OM2 SP which I bought for microscopy work. I had been using a pair of Pentax ME Super cameras, which had done extremely well, but the focusing screens were not interchangeable and there was no spot metering function (both of which are essential for microscopy). And the shutter action was a bit too clunky for a microscope mounted camera.

[David M]

Funny you should mention that Nigel, it was various microscope adapters that shaved the metering stud of my OM4 down. It was self repaired with glue before being repaired by Olympus, all before Olympus issued a press release about the issue.

[Naughty Nigel]

Well, as a post script, somebody else mentioned Ffordes, which led me to have a look at their website.

They have a couple of Mamiya RZ67's listed, and some nice lenses. I don't need one, and doubt that I would use it much, but I would just love to try one with Velvia.

I feel a pilgrimage to Inverness coming on.