Felicity

As it happens I didn't actually end up taking any pictures on the day my new camera arrived. By the time the battery had finished charging I knew that my seven year old nephew would be playing on his Dad's Xbox 360. As his favourite (only) Uncle I felt I ought not deprive him of my presence online as it's been a while since we had the chance to game together. We had great fun racing round a virtual Los Angeles, crashing and encasing each other in giant blocks of ice. Amazing how realistic video games are these days.

Earlier in the day I spent a lot of time pouring over the manual in the hopes that I'll learn easier, faster and more convenient ways to get the results I want. Most of it made sense and I'm sure I'll be able to pick more up as I go along. There was just one thing I couldn't quite work out:

Page 46 of the manual informs me that "For the preview function to work by pressing the Fn button, it is necessary to set the function of the Fn button on the menu beforehand (see P.89)". Page 89 informs me that "While holding down the Fn button, you can use the preview function (see page 46)". After getting stuck in a loop flipping between these two pages, unable to figure out how to set this preview function, I realised that there was only one course of action left to me. The following day I turned to the Internet for help.

After much fruitless googling I ended up asking the fine folk on the Olympus SLR Talk forum at dpreview.com for help. Within minutes I had an answer to my question - thank you Internet! I don't actually want to use the preview function by pressing the Fn button by the way. I just want to know how to. And now I do.

The next day, as per usual, Mrs G left me a list of chores of Herculean proportions. One of these is a trip to the local Post Office. On the way back I decided to take a slight detour via a church graveyard and take a few test shots using the 14-42mm lens. The E-520 was a joy to use. So much more responsive that the compact camera I was used to. The layout of the functions seemed well thought out and I had no trouble finding my way around the various settings. I took 20 pictures and loaded them onto the PC as soon as I got home.

I was reasonably pleased with the initial results. Not so much with the images themselves (which were tests and not terribly interesting) but with the amount of detail and colour reproduction. I still have a lot of learning and a lot of work to do though. Later that evening I met Mrs G at her college for a meal and took some low-light photos of the Common Room. I was able to take hand-held shots using the built in image stabiliser at 1/8 of a second. Colour me impressed.

I'm going to enjoy this camera.

To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.

For me photography is to place one's head, heart and eye along the same line of sight. It is a way of life. ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson