At this point I was officially infected with GAS. I was just buying cameras because they were new but not because I needed them.

Why I “needed” the new Olympus M10.

There was really no reason to buy this new camera. Sure it had some more megapixels and was faster or whatever. The only real reason was that the viewfinder kept falling off my old camera and this model had the viewfinder integrated again. But the camera also became bigger and heavier. It was a nice camera with decent ergonomics and good image quality. Otherwise I just needed to buy new stuff.

Why I needed the new M.zuiko 45mm/F1.8 lens.

The lens though was actually a sensible purchase. I was not really happy with the performance of the original zoom lens and I very much enjoyed the 17mm pancake lens. So I figured a nice portrait lens would be a great addition. I always wanted to try my hand at people photography. Unfortunately only my wife really offered her services as a model so I never really took many portraits. But I found use for this lens anyway.

Olympus M10 and M.Zuiko 45mm examples:

Furry Mailman

I don’t even know where I took this picture. Someone put a small polar bear stuffy on the mailbox. It was already grey and dirty from the rain and weather. Nevertheless I like small details like this and a portrait lens was ideal to capture this little friend. I just left him there but today my little kid would definitely “rescue” the bear.

Bottlecap

I am an avid collector of bottlecaps in case nuclear war breaks out and the old money becomes worthless. Maybe you get the joke…it does not really matter.

Neubauviertel

A typical socialist cityscape. I said it already I would not want to live in such an artificially designed place but I do like looking at them. Especially here where the buildings are kind of staggered on the small hill. What I dislike with socialist city quarters is the lack of urbanism. The lack of stores, meeting places, areas to just walk and meet others. Those buildings rarely have any commercial real estate on the ground floor levels. Instead each quarter had a kind of mini-mall where you could get basic supplies and had some doctors nearby. I suspect the lack of urban meeting spaces and free exploration was frowned upon in such a conformist society.

Winter River

We went for a walk with family on that very cold winter day. I think it hit almost ten degrees below zero which is quite cold for Germany. The river did not freeze though over because of the current. I really do enjoy crisp winter days as long as there is some sky left. But these temperatures take their toll on electronic camera equipment. The battery went down really fast. Still winter light can be quite interesting with it’s cold harshness.