My first experience with photography was with a Brownie. It was a simple introduction: look through the viewfinder, press the shutter, and wait to see what came back from developing. There was no screen to check, and no immediate opportunity to discover that your finger had been over the lens.
Later, I borrowed my father’s Argus C3 rangefinder. From there, my interest grew until, in 1972, I bought my first camera: the newly introduced Olympus OM-1.
I loved how small it was. That mattered when I bought it, but I appreciated its size even more after college, when my work began taking me all over the world. The OM-1 became a traveling companion. Business was the reason for the journeys, but having a camera encouraged me to look beyond the work and bring something of those places home.
I eventually upgraded to an OM-2, continuing with a system that suited the way I traveled and photographed.
Over the years, I also explored Canon cameras, including the EOS A2 in my film days and the EOS 1D after moving to digital. They made me appreciate how apt the Canon name was. Compared with carrying an Olympus, it sometimes felt as though I were carrying a cannon—especially with a long lens attached.
Eventually, I came back to Olympus. My first digital OM camera was an Olympus OM-D, before the camera business was spun off. Today, I use the OM SYSTEM OM-1. More recently, I added an OM-1 Mark II as a second body. After starting with an OM-1 in 1972, there is something satisfying about still having that name on my camera more than fifty years later.
These days, much of my interest is in nature and bird photography. The OM System’s features suit that work, and the advantages of a compact camera system still matter to me. A camera is much more useful when you are happy to carry it.
I am constantly amazed by cellphone cameras and how much they have improved. Having such a capable camera in your pocket is remarkable, and I certainly appreciate the convenience. But for me, there is still something more gratifying about holding a camera body and looking through a viewfinder. The camera settles into my hands, the distractions fall away, and my attention narrows to what I can see through the lens. It is a familiar pleasure—one that has stayed with me through all those years and all those cameras.
From a Brownie to today’s digital OM-1 cameras, the equipment has changed enormously. My affection for a small, capable camera—and the pleasure of looking through its viewfinder—has stayed remarkably consistent.