I was in San Francisco today with my family and my sons wanted to visit a Salvation Army store to check out old camera equipment. Both of them are intrigued by the older 35mm film cameras. In the display case we saw a couple Canon AE-1 cameras, a Canon AE-1 Program (?), and an Olympus OM-1. These are, if I’m not mistaken, cameras from the 1970s. “Back in the day” I shot with a couple of small Pentax bodies from the same ear, the ME and the MX. (Each son has one of those bodies now.)

At this point, I’m a confirmed digital photographer – I have virtually no interest at all in shooting film again. I can sort of understand the retro appeal of film, and I don’t resent those who like to use it. (Though I’ll admit that I can get a bit annoyed when some folks become self-righteous about it… :-)

That said, the better cameras from the era are beautiful little mechanical/optical marvels. At one point I pulled out my excellent Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens – a great performer and a lens I rely on a lot – and held it next to the 50mm f/1.8 lens from the OM-1. My Canon lens simply looks like a big plastic toy next to the efficient and well-crafted little metal Olympus lens. And the body of the camera is solid and tight, and barely larger than the biggest point and shoot style digital cameras today. The control systems are simple and direct – the OM-1 aperture and shutter speed controls are both on the lens barrel, a simple switch turns the meter on and off, there is a MLU switch, and the viewfinder with its match-needle meter is big and bright. These are cameras that don’t give the appearance of trying to look like space ships and that don’t shout “my camera is bigger and more expensive than your camera!”

If a current manufacturer came out with a DSLR body like these, I’d be an immediate customer.

By the way, early happy birthday to Jameson – and enjoy your new OM-1!

(Update: After a comment from Jim Goldstein, I clarified a few things about this idea in a follow-up comment.)