my new toy, olympus OM-2N

Having discovered serious photography only a couple of years ago I really only know digital. I did have a much-used analog point and shoot since age 14 though and have always loved shooting black and white film.
I knew my dad had some analog SLRs somewhere and on my begging got them out for me. So here’s my newest toy:

It’s the Olympus OM-2N, an analog SLR from the late 1970’s and I am in love with it. Now don’t be fooled by its relatively small size and vintage look…this baby was the height of technology in its day and is still a serious and professional camera. But oooh, isn’t it cute, too?
And the even better news: there’s more where that came from! My dad not only has two more models of the OM-series but also a set of lenses in every size imaginable, most of them prime lenses! He was planning to be a professional photographer in his youth (guess it kind of runs in the family).
I chose the OM-2N because it comes with aperture priority as opposed to only full manual, which I thought would be easier as I am still figuring out the various knobs and manual focus. For starters I also took along a 50mm 1.4 and a 180mm 2.8 lens (sigh).
I shot the first test roll of film today and will be taking it to be developed tomorrow (provided I figure out how to rewind the film and get it out of the camera first). If the photos turn out anything close to how awesome it felt to shoot them I predict this Olympus and I are going to be very fast friends!

It’s funny how automated you become when you shoot a lot…the first couple of photos I found myself quickly looking at the black back of the camera and wondering immediately after why I was doing so. Then I understood I was looking for the (nonexistent) preview picture to see if I’d gotten it right first try.
I will be shooting mainly black and white film I think and I am so excited to get to know film in general and this camera in particular better. That said, I am still loving the digital world…I googled the camera just for fun and the first thing that came up was the complete manual as a free pdf – thank you internet!

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Back to the 1970s

While my dad’s in hospital I do some business appointments for him, along with the italian boss of the company we’re selling shoes for. I picked him up at the airport yesterday morning and after paying a little hospital visit we set out to drive to the client. Thankfully he has no problem driving my dad’s big Audi…if I had to do that in german traffic I’d die…or cry. German people are mean when they’re driving and they have no patience for someone trying to figure out a vehicle three times as big as the one they’re used to and so crammed with shoe cases that you can’t see a thing behind you. And automatic…I’ve never even driven automatic before.
We got to the client’s office and it was a big villa. Once we stepped inside we were literally taken back to the 70’s. Dark wood paneled walls, brown plush armchairs, brown stained glass coffee tables and on the walls pictures from the client’s shops as they were in the late 70s/early 80s. It was all in good condition but I could totally picture my dad starting out business as a young guy in these very rooms 30 years earlier. It was quite fascinating.

Heck, even the coffee cups and milk trays were totally still stuck in the 70s!

It’s actually a bunch of really important clients who do this appointment together and there were about 10 of them. I’d previously thought they would just cram around the shoes on the shelves and poke them and discuss them.
But no, they filed into the room quietly, made a big circle around the first group of shelves, looked at me expectantly and said “You may start”. Gulp. I’ve presented a collection before, but usually that is a one-on-one interaction with one client. Also this collection is brand new and I am not really familiar with it yet. Still, I dove in and made an impromptu presentation of the whole collection and I think it went pretty well. Phew.
To leave you with another picture, this was our way back at dusk in awful weather and bad traffic…so glad I wasn’t driving 🙂

fleamarket finds

Thrifting is not as big in Germany as in, for example, the States. I don’t know any thrift stores which I could visit regularly. There is however a huge fleamarket every month in my city where you can find lots and, importantly, only vintage stuff. Usually markets around here are flooded with cheap plastic stuff, so I don’t bother visiting them.
Yesterday I went to visit that market for the first time and boy, am I coming back next month!! It was cold and chaotic and disorienting because of the location but it was also so exciting and they had such lovely, lovely things! I am in love with the things I bought and also with a couple of things I didn’t buy.
First of all, I got these 1970’s records:

I paid half the marked price by the way! I love records and can’t believe everyone is throwing them out. I love setting the needle down on one and I love the scratchy, warm sound that is so different from cd players. Now I just need to get my record player fixed, it’s been broken ever since my cat jumped on it and sent it crashing to the floor, doing a backflip in between (the player, not the cat)… as are my VCR (does anyone else actually use that word any more?) and the dvd player. Being a student and having to go by priority lists of things to repair sucks sometimes (the car is at the top, in case anyone was wondering).
Ok, back to the things that do work and make me happy right now!

Seriously, how adorable is this little sewing basket? And how perfectly does it match my treadle table? And what a great deal was 5€ for it! I am so in love with it and I’ll keep a look out for a little brass lock to cover the patch.
My stuff is finally organized and looking so nice and neat in it. Up to now I kept most of it in old glass jars.

On the left there’s my handsewing thread, pins and markers and on the right I keep buttons and ribbons. Speaking of buttons, these were 1€ a card (buttons are ridiculously expensive here normally!):

And then, almost by accident, my boyfriend’s mom stumbled across a plastic bag full of thread in all colours imaginable. Will you believe me that I paid all of 2€ for it? I think I’m good for the next decade at least!

I also bought one other very very pretty thing which I will show very soon. It’s so pretty it deserves it’s own post!