Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/07

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Leica/Olympus - McCullin
From: "Tim Atherton" <timphoto@nt.sympatico.ca>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 17:46:20 -0600

Much of Don McCullin's (later, post Vietnam) incredible war/conflict
photography Biafra,, Bangladesh floods, N. Ireland, inner city UK, Cambodia,
Beirut - were mostly taken with OM's. See his book Sleeping With Ghosts.
Mind you, he used to take a bunch, and when one broke, he would just throw
it away and start on a new one!

Now he has gone on to 4x5 and 6x7/9. See his latest beautiful book on India
in B&W

And to keep it on topic, I don't recall he ever used a Leica!!

IMHO he is still one of the masters.

Tim A

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Bernard
> Delgado
> Sent: September 7, 1999 6:18 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: [Leica] Leica/Olympus
>
>
> >Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 13:08:08 -0400
> >From: "sam" <salex@idt.net>
> >Subject: [Leica] Leica/Olympus
> >
> ><<. . .reflex project...the OM bodies are, after all, pretty
> close to being
> >the M's of the reflex world, at least in terms of size, etc...Okay, there
> >are some QC issues. . .>>>>
> >
> >I keep seeing references to OM quality and reliability. Other than the
> >battery drain problems with some Om4's (fixed in the T's), I have never
> >had a failure, repair, CLA, adjustment, etc. on any of the four OM's I
> >use (and have used - heavily -for over 20 years). But then
> again, I may just
> >be lucky.
> >
> >(A few years ago I decided to take the plunge and add the Leica
> R system to
> >my M system. The first two R7's I purchased - new, grey - were
> defective.)
> >
> >sam alexander
> >
> >------------------------------
>
> Hi
> Yes, I have Leicas & some OM equipmnt. I've always thought that Leica
> shouldve made a body closer in size to its Mbodies. The OM is actually
> pretty close in size to the screwmount bodies. I have no problem
> holding on
> to a Nikon F or Minolta 101 for an afternoon of shooting, BUT If
> I were out
> shooting a pro job & needed to carry 2 or 3 bodies...I'd definitely prefer
> to carry OM size cameras. You have to consider the human factor of just
> plain getting tired.
>
> The  two Om1 & OM1n that I have were purchased used & all developed funky
> meters. I've other friends who have had metering problems. But hey, theyre
> 20 yr old cameras.  I enjoy using the zuiko 21/f2.
>
> BTW, I think the AP used OM stuff for a while BUT it couldnt handle the
> daily grind.
>
> I have a press photog friend  who was given an OM setup to try out back in
> the early `70's. He loved the size & thought the lenses were fine...but
> went back to Nikon after the bodies gave him some trouble on an
> assignment.
> He's using EOS now since Nikon was so slow to keep up w/ advancements.
>
> To keep this in  Leica content, he just had his M3 repaired. I believe the
> viewfinder went  & so he had an M6 viewfinder installed.
>
> From what I can see, one of the main reasons why you see so many pro
> shooters using EOS gear is because Canon aggressively maintains a presence
> by sending reps to demo gear & give out freebees & do equipmnt checks.
>
> But one Photo Studio Manager did tell me that after his pool equipmnt went
> over to Canon, he'd seen more repairs in 5 years w/ EOS than in the
> previous 20 w/ Nikon.
>
> I've seen plenty of press photogs using Leicas...but I cant ever remember
> seeing one using a leica R.
> -BMD
>
>
>