Change is inevitable

My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic, a little black and grey affair that took cartridge film that reminds me of those disposable film cameras you can buy with Fujifilm. I don't remember much of the pictures I took but I have one or two left that I was given by my brother on the death of my Mother.

I must have been interested in photography as I also used to use my Dad's SLR cameras - an old Pentax and the Minolta SRT101, which I now have as part of my inheritance, but no longer feel compelled to shoot. 

Some people to have a very good memory of their past and childhood. There have been enough books published by celebrities of their memoires to prove the point, but I have very sporadic ones of very few events. It is not that I had an unhappy childhood or early adulthood, far from it, its just that it doesn't seem that important to remember to me. I suppose I tend to live more in the moment, not being nostalgic for things past.


Sometime after coming to Bristol (UK) I began again my interest in cameras and bought from "Jessops of Leicester" as it was then known my own first SLR, the Olympus OM-1N. The only reason I went for this at the time was my then brother-in-law who had not long bought the OM1-N and OM-2N for himself and was beginning a new business in Commercial photography. I really liked the camera. It was quite a bit smaller than my Dad's old Minolta and it had a built in light-meter - state of the art at the time. I don't even recall looking at any other camera.

This served me well for a time but the cost of prints always seemed high and with only 24 or 36 exposures, you didn't want to snap away at everything. I ended up trading this in for a Nikon Coolpix 5Mp camera for my wife's birthday, but we both ended up "sharing" the camera. 

In 2008, I returned to (D)SLR with the Olympus E-520. Things had moved on & although on paper the Canon and Nikon alternatives seemed a better bet, the Olympus had a nice feel about it. It wasn't too big or heavy - important as I have small hands and a light frame. At the time I didn't keep up with the camera news, so it came as a surprise that Olympus had pulled out over the beginner and enthuisiast level DSLR market with only the E-5 as an alternative - a rather heavy and bulky camera for me. 

I started on a spurt of 2nd hand purchases to build up a collection of E Series bodies and lenses

Unfortunately, I was suffering from GAS - Gear Aquisition Syndrome - and the collection of items seemed to be more important than the photography. The other factor was the weight. Those high grade lenses with the bodies (especially the E-30) were causing me serious neck-ache.

After buying 2 E-PL2s in 2012, I was impressed with the size and weight of the new micro four-thirds, far more than I would ever have thought & the lack of a viewfinder did not bother me as much as I thought. At Easter this year, I finally let go and traded most of my older four-thirds for the OMD E-M5 and a serious collection of small lenses.

I don't think I have been more pleased. The image quality is superb and boy does my neck feel a lot better. I have now invested in a "security" belt that I attach my camera bag to around my waist & the neck straps of the cameras replaced with wrist straps. I no longer feel compelled to buy gear, but I do need to spend more time taking photos