Ah, a little trip down photographic memory lane!
I'm 44. All through my childhood my father passed along some pretty
interesting hand-me-down cameras, including a 1936 Retina, and an
early Pentax H1 SLR (a fairly svelte camera after you removed the
gawky clip-on light meter). So rather early I began terrorizing my
high-school classmates as a yearbook photographer.
Finally I bought my own first camera: Canon's entry-level TX. In
retrospect, not a bad camera; but even at the time I was lukewarm
about its bulky, soviet styling, and the startling "Pang!" that
exploded in your ear each time you fired the shutter. I did (and do)
admire the Canon breechlock mount, and eventually I bought a lovely
FD 100/2.8, plus a truly wretched Sigma 28.
Then one day in about 1976, a classmate brought in his dad's new OM-1
to show me. I was stunned at the size and feel of it. I fired the
shutter a few times. I told him in a firm tone, "I am borrowing this
today." I shot through a roll of film in just a few hours, and was
completely hooked--from then up to to the present day.
Unfortunately, it was a good dozen years before I could scrape
together the rationalization and the wherewithal to abandon the TX,
and finally pursue my true love.
One breaking point was attempting to carry all that Canon gear on a
multi-week bike tour across Europe--the weight in the handlebar bag
made the whole bike shimmy dangerously on descents! That was also the
trip where I met some wacky Australian cyclists who had been off for
a year with a camera I found equally jaw-dropping, the XA. So that
actually became my first Olympus purchase, in 1986.
Eventually the TX kit went to a Canon-using friend, for some cash and
a lovely Minolta Autocord TLR. So finally at age 29 I bought a used
1N and 2N body. Eventually I put together the 85/2, 24/2.8, 50/3.5
macro, 135/3.5--AND, after much pleading with a local shop to buy
their lone display model, the 40/2.
Somewhere in there I had a little domestic rearrangement which
subtracted the 1N, the macro, and the 135; but everything else I
still use. It all went into a drawer for about 5 years; but after an
energizing/frustrating brush with digital last year, I had a massive
revival of affection for my OM gear, where everything just works the
"right" way. So I joined this list in December; picked up a 200/4
(love it); and most recently a 50/1.4.
The 1.4 is old hat to most of you I'm sure--but it's the fastest lens
I've ever owned! I was just on a weekend trip with friends to a
northwoods log lodge--dim lamps and firelight--and I shot *dozens* of
grabbed portraits wide open with the 2N on auto, braced against
chairbacks etc. I'm more excited about this series than anything
I've shot in years. Flash would have utterly wrecked the mood, both
socially and creatively. We'll see.
Still on the want list: another 2N (black) so I can carry two film
types; possibly another 1N for mechanical backup, the 100/2. . .
cheers,
--Ross
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42.2855 North
83.7497 West
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