I immediately bonded with it and have rarely ever wanted anything else. I have drifted away and had other cameras (sometimes having both at the same time) but I always keep coming back to Olympus.
My very first SLR was a Zenit TTL from Russia and I've always had a soft spot for Russian cameras ever since. I do still have a Russian KIEV-88CM 6x6 outfit and if I ever tire of todays all singing, all dancing, do everything cameras I take it out, slow down, manually meter and focus and enjoy the art of photography. But I digress.
Then I got that OM-10 for Christmas one year which I had for a long time until it was stolen. To replace that. I tried my first non Olympus Camera a Minolta Dynax SPxi. It had autofocus and I liked that one too. The Minolta impressed me so much that when their VECTIS range of APS SLR's came out I bought one of them too, a VECTIS S-1 (more on that later) But when I emigrated to America one of the first things I did was buy a new camera. I traded in the Dynax and thanks to the glib salesman at National Camera Exchange I bought a Nikon N70. I can quite honestly say that it was the worst camera I ever bought, worse than a Zenit. Complicated set up and operating. It was too hard work to set up and access all the features for my liking. It was only then that I realised how in tune I was with the folks at Olympus and their camera design. So when the chance came (through my job at the time) to get a digital camera I bought a CAMEDIA-2040. Only 2.4MP but I loved it. Once again everything was simple in the Camera world.
It was then the realisation hit me that things don't stand still in the digital camera world. Whereas with film cameras you can have a camera and keep it for years and not worry about upgrading. Here in the digital world, The continual "mega-pixel race" means that your camera is out of date inside a year. Three megapixels, is bettered by five, which is then trumped by seven and subsequently beaten by 10 and so on and so on. It was then that I decided that with my digital camera buying I'd deliberately be one step behind the trend. It would be cheaper and I could buy reconditioned cameras from the Olympus Emporium.
It was then the realisation hit me that things don't stand still in the digital camera world. Whereas with film cameras you can have a camera and keep it for years and not worry about upgrading. Here in the digital world, The continual "mega-pixel race" means that your camera is out of date inside a year. Three megapixels, is bettered by five, which is then trumped by seven and subsequently beaten by 10 and so on and so on. It was then that I decided that with my digital camera buying I'd deliberately be one step behind the trend. It would be cheaper and I could buy reconditioned cameras from the Olympus Emporium.
My next camera purchase was to be my first "Professional quality" camera an Olympus E-20. You can do that when you buy reconditioned, get a darned good camera for a very reasonable price. What an eye opener that camera was! Metal body, outstanding build quality. Here was a camera that just made you feel confident in your abilities to take a good picture. Of course, this camera was hampered by the fact that it did not have an interchangeable lens system. But not to worry, for a good 18 months I was very happy just taking pictures with it. What a camera! All the buttons are in the right place and so easy to get at to boot. It got to the stage where I didn't even need to look where the buttons were, my fingers went straight to them. Spot metering? Press the meter button and a couple of clicks on the dial. Bingo! It was that easy.
But then it came to the stage where I wanted a longer focal length lens. I had a big decision to make. Did I buy the tele-extender for the E-20 or buy the E-1 DSLR and lenses? After much thought I went with the E-1. Once agan I was not disappointed and in the ensung months I bought a full outfit for it. Short telephoto, long tele, flash and even the long life battery pack. I looked extremely cool carrying that camera around my neck. I went everywhere with it. But it was oh so heavy. It weighed a ton with that extended life battery pack on it. I lugged it around the Grand Canyon, Sedona and other such places. It was hard work. So as time passed the feeling that I needed a lighter camera set up was growing. Of couse the fact that the E-1 was only 5MP and now 12-15 is the norm, so there was another reason to change. With that, just one week ago, with a bonus from work in hand and my camera in its carrying case I set foot in National Camera Exchange to see what there was to offer...
Coming next, buying the Camera. A story in itself...
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