I started taking pictures back in the days when the only electronic circuits in many cameras were found in the flash unit, and when one-hour developing was an impossible dream unless you had a key to a darkroom. As a would-be professional photographer, I spent long hours mastering the interplay of aperture, shutter speed, and film, while also studying the elements of composition and the chemistry of color. It payed off. Before long, I could coax properly exposed shots from my camera under nearly all conditions of light and shade, and I was as proud of this skill as I was of my ability to place my canoe exactly where it needed to be in the midst of the swirling chaos of a fast-moving river.

That being the case, it’s not surprising that I didn’t exactly shout for joy when the first all-electronic, point-and-shoot cameras came along. They were just too easy to use. I didn’t want the hours I’d spent puzzling over f-stops and ASA (now ISO) numbers to be wasted, did I? Certainly not. In time, however, convenience won out over control, and practicality trumped pride. I bought a compact, water-resistant 35mm Olympus Stylus

Tags: cameras, digicams