It started sometime in the early-eighties. Like many of us, I owned a small camera; the Olympus XA2. A famous department store was going out of business, and I used that as an opportunity to buy my first interchangeable lens camera at a very inexpensive price. I remember that day well. I was relatively young and extremely proud of bringing home that camera with a two-lens kit, and flash. That camera was the Olympus OM-G (a choice I made because of my ownership of the afore mentioned "capsule" styled Olympus compact). Entry level to be sure, but it was to set me on my course in life. Within a day of reading the instruction manual, where I was taught about exposure, depth of field, and other necessary knowledge to becoming a photographer, I started taking pictures and was excited beyond words when I got that first roll of film developed. We're talking about the days before digital! The Olympus Zuiko lenses were tack sharp with incredible clarity, and they were small and compact with a strong construction. I had marvelled at my equipment as a feat of artistic engineering.
After a sufficient amount ot time and growth with the camera, I purchased Olympus' top of the line OM-4. Don't forget, this was an era right before autofocus would become the standard, and the beautifully rugged OM-4 had a wealth of features that I'd never seen in a camera like multi-spot metering and highlight and shadow controls. I was hooked and in love.
Years go by, and Olympus took themselves out of the SLR (single lens reflex, the term for most interchangeable lens cameras) camera business. I was saddened. Though Olympus continued producing incredibly strong cameras in the point and shoot market, a talented hobbyist turning pro would now have to turn to a new system to compete with the growing amount of other shutterbugs seeking to start a career as a professional behind the lens. I remember how I regretted selling my cameras and lenses to trade up for the Nikon N90s and the Nikon system. To be sure, that Nikon was first class for its time and no slouch when it came to image making. I was now indocturned into the world of autofocus and autoexposure with a new system. I loved it, yes, but I had lamented the passing of the OM system.
Again, some years go by and cameras evolve into the computer world as almost all imaging becomes digital (There are still some hold-outs, but they will be things of the past). Excitedly, I heard the news that Olympus was getting back into the SLR business in this new digital photography world. I waited a while before purchasing a new DSLR system (insert the letter "D" for "digital" in front of "SLR), and when I did, I bought the now archaic Nikon D100. Things progress rapidly in digital technology and price eventually comes down, so I became fully invested in the Nikon digital system, but then I also had to buy my first Olympus DSLR; The Olympus E-500. It was an eight megapixel camera (a bit better than standard resolution at the time of its introduction), and I bought it with the two-lens kit. I had Zuiko glass again! Those two lenses provided me with the equivalent coverage of 28-300mm focal lengths in comparison to 35mm film photography. I was in heaven again, because I saw something I liked. The color rendition and contrast range was just what I liked almost right off the memory card, leaving me with little time needed for post-processing of images as compared to what I did with my Nikon images. Im not knocking Nikon nor will I ever. It's a pro system that yields incredible results, and that along with cameras made by Canon are considered the top contenders in the DSLR pro shooter categories. I love my Nikons too, as I've constantly upgraded as camera resolutions and features grew in the new photography world, but there's always been something about the images from Olympus.
So, like my Nikons, I've constantly uprgaded my Olympus cameras and lenses. I've been through the E-500, The E-420, The E-520 and finally the new (as of this wrting) Pro oriented E-3, the incredibly feature rich E-30, and the fun E-620. The latter two yield twelve megaixel images with rich colors and dynamic ranges and features that astound me. I can switch aspect ratios (4:3, 6:6, 16:9, 2:3 for example) and I've got a choice of in-camera filters that can produce very specific types of images right out of the camera with no post-processing like "pop art," "light tone," "pinhole," and "grainy black and white." Add to this the swiveling LCD screen and "Live View," and I've got vitrually everything I could ever want in a still camera, and don't forget that Olympus has innovated these features in their cameras! When not using my Nikons for some pro assignments, I'll whip out the E-3 and E30 to shoot side by side with my other system. The E-620 is something else for me. Along with a series of four very small lenses that fit the comparitively small camera, I find that this new system is perfect for personal creative expression and it allows me to carry the low-weight system for long periods of time. I pack my E-620 with the 9-18mm, 14-42mm, 40-150mm and 70-300mm ED lenses, and I've got coverage ranging from 18-600mm in 35mm photography terms. Add the FL-36 small and lightweight flash, and the new vertical grip attachment, and I'm good to go in any photographic situation and resulting images that are almost exactly the way I want them, or surpassing my vision right out of the camera and off the memory card. Olympus has once again made me feel a love of the medium that I can never take for granted.
-Marc Briatack,
photographer and filmmaker.
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