My New Olympus

Picked this up at a lawn sale today for $10.00...

Olympus OM-T 35mm SLR

At first I thought it might be broken, but it turns out it just needed a battery to cycle the shutter so the film advance would unlock.

My wife is an Olympus gal. She swears by them. She owns not only this camera, but the venerable OM-7t as well.

Like my original Canon AE-1, it’s a great camera to have in my collection. Unlike the Canon, it’s an aperture priority camera, and does not have a manual mode, hence the “manual adapter”. Just one of the little quirks of Olympus that makes them a unique camera brand. I definitely plan on shooting with this, but before I do, I may need to replace the seals and mirror damper. Then, I can determine whether or not it needs a full-blown CLA.

Not only did I get the body and the excellent 50mm f/1.8 F. Zuiko lens, but it also came with the manual adapter, and a Soligor 95-310mm f/5.6 zoom lens. Nothing to write home about, but fun to play with nonetheless. All in all, a nice find.

My Fourth Lens

For my fourth lens, I had given myself certain criteria; It had to complement my existing lenses; do something they didn’t do in terms of focal length or aperture. A fast prime lens perhaps, such as the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G, or the AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8G. Maybe something really wide, like the AF NIKKOR 20mm f/2.8D. Or a high power zoom, such as the AF-S VR NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED.

Holga? What’s a Holga?

OK, I’ll admit it; deep down, I’m a camera snob. So, when I overheard a conversation by a colleague who mentioned that they couldn’t wait to take some pictures with their new “Holga”, some enlightenment was in order. And now, I can’t wait to take some pictures with my new Holga, which arrived today.

Holga 120 FN Plastic “Toy” Camera

Regardless of one’s professional status as a photographer, I don’t think the relevance of this “camera” can easily be dismissed. It’s fun. It’s quirky. It brings you down off your pedestal and gets you thinking again. Or, maybe not thinking, but just shooting. And wondering. Anticipating how the image will look. Not unlike pinhole photography, but with much shorter exposure times.



There are actually many flavors of this camera from which to choose. Some with built-in flash, some with a hot shoe (either or, unfortunately). There’s even a pinhole model, and a 35mm model. I chose this model because of it’s seemingly robust flash. There’s another flash model with three built-in color filters that I came close to choosing, but I wasn’t sure how effective it would be. The built-in flash appealed to me over the hot shoe, as traveling light seemed to be what this camera is all about.



I’m not at all put off by the quality of construction, which actually seems pretty good for what it is. I only wish I had known about this camera before I bought my daughter’s first film camera, which was a not just a toy camera, but a “kiddy camera”.



So, with this inexpensive camera, I’ve officially entered the world of true Lomography. And while I understand the concept, I fear the only way I will truly “get it” is once I start shooting with it.

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You can learn more about the Holga and its cult following by visiting the Holga Microsite.