While strolling through a large electronics store on my usual route, I noticed that they were selling a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera named OM-1.
When it comes to OM-1, it shares the same name as the high-performance 35mm film single-lens reflex camera that Olympus once produced.
The film OM-1, released around 1972, was Olympus’s flagship model, breaking the norms of SLR cameras at the time with its compact and lightweight yet highly praised performance.
Compared to the earlier Nikon F and Canon F-1, it was about two-thirds the size.
I mean, it was just so small, light, and incredibly cool, not losing to Canon at all.
I recall its development concept was a “high-functionality camera that you can take outdoors.” It was a model greatly appreciated by those who were tired of the heavy and bulky cameras from Nikon and Canon. I wondered if this aspect had been faithfully inherited by the digital OM-1 this time, ‘Logical Connection Taro’ thought suddenly.
Speaking of 1972, it’s 50 years ago from now (November 2022), and ‘Logical Connection Taro’ is seven years old. It seems that a product with the same name has been reconstructed with current mechanisms and introduced as the top-of-the-line model in the series.
Interested, I took it in my hands, and it looked impressively cool. The feel of the body was also very pleasant.
Olympus cameras have always been stylish (Canon was also very stylish in the past), and this digital OM-1 is also remarkably cool. Probably because it was developed with the same ism. I also liked its compact and lightweight design, just like in the film era.
Recent digital cameras are very large and heavy, almost like heavy artillery. I wasn’t interested because carrying them around casually and learning their complicated operations seemed troublesome.
Especially the size and price of full-frame cameras & lenses have an extraordinary weight that feels like mid-range cameras from the film era to Rikutsu-Kone-Taro. Anticipating from the experience of touching a mid-range film camera a little in the past, I can’t imagine ‘Logical Connection Taro’ would ever want to take a full-frame camera & lens outside. Moreover, in today’s world where image processing and construction technology has advanced, isn’t Micro Four Thirds perfectly okay for recording daily life photos?
Actually, for most everyday record photos, a camera built into a smartphone is sufficient. Enlarging and putting it on a blog with a computer is no problem.
In short, it’s a different story from the 110 film era.
Both film and image sensors with larger sizes increase the amount of recorded information. However, to make use of that size, cameras and lenses must also become larger and heavier.
In the balance of information and size, the rationality of building an advanced shooting system was very small, and the demand for it was also very small in the era of 110 films with their performance. The high mobility derived from the 110 size couldn’t cover the low depiction power derived from the film size.
The resolution of the Four Thirds size image sensor is about 20 million pixels. If the screen is considered square, it is about 4400 pixels on one side. Even if you stretch it to 50 cm on one side, it becomes 0.1 mm per pixel.
The human eye’s resolution is said to be about 0.1 mm, so even with a Four Thirds image sensor, the image won’t appear pixelated up to a size of 50 cm on each side.
Even if you crop the image, it seems fine up to about 20 cm on each side.
Rather than creating elaborate works, as a tool for conveniently cutting and recording daily life, the digital OM-1 felt okay in terms of mobility, expandability, reliability, and performance, so I decided to buy it after spending a few hours at a cafe contemplating about money.
The lens I purchased with the OM-1 is a 40mm (equivalent to 80mm in 35mm format) F1.2 medium telephoto lens.
By the way, I want to make it clear here that ‘Logical Connection Taro’ is a person who can only take uncool photos no matter how good the camera or lens is.
This is because I’m hardly interested in the photos taken, and my only interest lies in manipulating the camera while connecting various logical thoughts. The result of manipulating the camera in this way is that a photo is taken.
The photos that were taken in this way are the records of my daily life.
Probably, ‘Logical Connection Taro’ likes the appearance, feel, and smell of cameras. I believe that there are not a few people who can understand this.
So, this time, the story was about the incorporation of playing with a digital interchangeable lens camera into my life.
That’s it.
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