Home of the Dutch Gecko

Having pestered my parents for a few years claiming that I desperately needed a camera update, they granted me with a fantastic birthday present last May. I will be attending a workshop with legendary landscape photographer Joe Cornish in a few weeks time as a result, and I cannot thank them enough for this opportunity. Their half-jokingly reasoning for the gift was that I “should be able to use a good camera before getting one.” I of course totally disagreed and therefore purchased a brand new Olympus E-520 digital SLR last week. I’ve been keeping my eye on this range since Olympus entered the mid-range SLR market with the E-500, and the wait has been worth it. Boasting features such as sensor dust removal, in-body image stabilisation, live view with autofocus and 3.5fps constant shooting in one of the smallest and lightest bodies available on the market, this is a serious piece of kit. I’m quite wary of Joe Cornish’s dislike of digital cameras, but I feel more comfortable with being able to cock up a few times without repercussions.

I took the camera for a half-day spin around York, shooting the typical photogenic sights. Never have I been so pleased with a purchase - the extreme versatility makes photography so enjoyable. The automated systems (mainly the focus and exposure settings) often need a helping hand, but that’s exactly what I’d expect, and it doesn’t really matter since making those adjustments is totally effortless. The whole thing is designed for people who know what they’re doing, which makes such a change from most of the technology that I’ve experienced. It’s exhilarating to be able to do exactly what I want and not have some gadgetry or algorithm messing with me. Every mistake which came out of the afternoon is mine, and that’s fine. Every perfect shot produced is also mine, and that’s great!

I’ve decided to adopt “It won’t mess with you” as my new programming mantra. While I think of something to program, look at these.