The top camera is a Pentax ME Super that was the first SLR (and "serious" camera) that I bought in 1983, and the bottom is my current Olympus OM-D. So it does seem that currently I've gone full circle.
Is this the reason for my current enthusiasm for the OM-D and manual-focus lenses? Well I guess its certainly a factor. I have admitted in the past to a penchant for small chrome and black SLR styled cameras which were very much the fashion when I started to get serious about photography. I've always regretted their passing. DSLR's just seemed to get bigger and heavier and I've used medium-format film cameras that were lighter than some of the current Canon and Nikon monsters.
I remember at the focus on imaging show last spring, when I first got my hands on an OM-D, how similar it felt to the cameras that I used, or coveted, back in the 1980's, and there is no denying that some kind of nostalgia for my first faltering steps towards becoming a photographer is at work here. In the post I showed the link for at the top of this piece, I wrote about how fitting my Voigtlander 20mm suddenly brought it all back. I make no apology for preferring metal lenses with aperture rings and manual focusing and even though its not always the case they they make better images, I can't seem to shake the notion that these are "proper" lenses. There is in fact nothing wrong with "focus by wire" polycarbonate modern lenses, but I can't deny the feeling of pleasure I get if one of my "old-school" throwbacks out-performs them, no matter how marginally.
Since photography is my passion, I guess we are talking about some kind of first love here and that usually is something that is sacrosanct and we find difficult to have criticised. So my 35mm SLR styled Olympus / Voigtlander combination is pretty much my definition of some kind of photographic truth and purity. Whatever that means! Lets just say its a reminder of how I got into this and the unbridled enthusiasm that I had for photography back then. To be honest though I haven't really lost that anyway, and looking out the window this morning to see sunlight still got me excited and anticipating.
Its pretty obvious what I'm going to be using when I get out of the door. The OM-D, two Voigtlander lenses and I will be spending my time trying out the faux focus-peaking I detailed in this post. http://soundimageplus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/you-can-get-effective-focus-peaking-on.html
Now if my body as well as my camera ressembled what it was 29 years ago, then I would be onto something!!
For comment and discussion - join me over at Google+
Is this the reason for my current enthusiasm for the OM-D and manual-focus lenses? Well I guess its certainly a factor. I have admitted in the past to a penchant for small chrome and black SLR styled cameras which were very much the fashion when I started to get serious about photography. I've always regretted their passing. DSLR's just seemed to get bigger and heavier and I've used medium-format film cameras that were lighter than some of the current Canon and Nikon monsters.
I remember at the focus on imaging show last spring, when I first got my hands on an OM-D, how similar it felt to the cameras that I used, or coveted, back in the 1980's, and there is no denying that some kind of nostalgia for my first faltering steps towards becoming a photographer is at work here. In the post I showed the link for at the top of this piece, I wrote about how fitting my Voigtlander 20mm suddenly brought it all back. I make no apology for preferring metal lenses with aperture rings and manual focusing and even though its not always the case they they make better images, I can't seem to shake the notion that these are "proper" lenses. There is in fact nothing wrong with "focus by wire" polycarbonate modern lenses, but I can't deny the feeling of pleasure I get if one of my "old-school" throwbacks out-performs them, no matter how marginally.
Since photography is my passion, I guess we are talking about some kind of first love here and that usually is something that is sacrosanct and we find difficult to have criticised. So my 35mm SLR styled Olympus / Voigtlander combination is pretty much my definition of some kind of photographic truth and purity. Whatever that means! Lets just say its a reminder of how I got into this and the unbridled enthusiasm that I had for photography back then. To be honest though I haven't really lost that anyway, and looking out the window this morning to see sunlight still got me excited and anticipating.
Its pretty obvious what I'm going to be using when I get out of the door. The OM-D, two Voigtlander lenses and I will be spending my time trying out the faux focus-peaking I detailed in this post. http://soundimageplus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/you-can-get-effective-focus-peaking-on.html
Now if my body as well as my camera ressembled what it was 29 years ago, then I would be onto something!!
N.B. to see more on the cameras and lenses featured in this post click on the relevant labels (tags and keywords) below.
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
For comment and discussion - join me over at Google+