I wanted to save weight, lugging around a full Dslr kit particularly on days when not being paid so to do becomes wearing. So after a while you don’t do it. I shoot for coin. Pay me and I’ll do pretty much anything. I first noticed **Olympus** cameras as they were back in the film days when I'd just bought a Nikon FM to take to college to start my photography degree. Nikon was the *preferred* choice, as it should be, they are fine cameras and I've stuck with them all my career, until recently. Back at the time of the FM an uncle of mine who was a pretty decent hobby photographer went and bought an Olympus OM-2 kit, body and couple of lenses. It was a jewell of a camera, so well thought out, such a clever design, small, unobtrusive and it made me realise this is what I *should* have bought. It's taken me the best part of *half a century* to get round to actually owning an ~~Olympus~~ OM-System. They've even had time to change the company name in the time it's taken me to buy one! %% Need to find the mirror photo of holding OM-5 %%  `OM-5 about as compact as you can get in a system camera.` My current camera considerations apart from obviously needing to shoot great photos and convincing video are portability, rugged construction and frictionless in use. It has to fit in a big field coat pocket like a Barbour style or it just won’t get taken. Like a dog who’s too hefty to be lifted over a fence if it can't find a way out (Looking at you; furry faced Fern) %% Fern photo %%. It wasn't so much that I became fed up with lumping bulky, heavy cameras around especially on days when something or nothing might come out of it. It was that I just realised I didn't reach for them any more when £££ weren't in the offing. I had however bought an excellent [Fuji X100](https://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/x100.htm), one of the original ones not the *friends of Tick-Twit* Mk-VI versions. It does most of the above. I was invited to a local launch event for the recent [OM-System OM-3](https://explore.omsystem.com/gb/en/om-3) it looked and handled well, if a little larger than I was expecting and a bit slippier than I’d have hoped. I’m sure SLR’s of the 70’s weren’t that slippery. The lady in front of me at the event bought one there and then on a pre-order. I had a play then looked at an OM-1 Mk II and realised the OM-3 was a bit compromised especially in the viewfinder department. The OM-1 is larger than the 3 and it’s quite a price at >£2000 in the UK. Just when did cameras get so expensive? No wonder you don’t see many *proper* cameras anymore. Anyway, lurking in the display case and dismissed by the man from ~~Olympus~~ OM-System was the [tiny OM-5](https://explore.omsystem.com/us/en/om-5)just about the right size. Even though in film terms Micro 43 the old 4:3 ‘Academy’ format and that of standard TV for so many years looks alarmingly square when seen on a 16:9 TV, it has something of retro charm. The fact there is also a dedicated movie button ready to go on the OM-5, just press and shoot with the same set up as the photos is really useful when much of what I do needs shooting on both still and movie. The quality of the movie recording is better than I’d been led to believe and follow focus is pretty accurate and snappy without being obtrusive. Fully articulating screen and image in viewfinder too. This was the main failing of my now traded in Blackmagic Pocket 4K. Yes, the screen was big and the codecs professional but it was just about unusable trying to follow any action. Try filming a stand-up interview outdoors in bright sun on the BM4k and it’s more by luck than seeing what you are going to get. The screen was fixed so anything more difficult than a sit down, lit, indoor interview became more of a Yoga session than cinema Verité. And to be honest most of the ~~crap~~ interesting stuff I shoot these days for clients could be shot on just about anything anyway. Is it rude to get paid and just turn up with an iPhone? One good reason to hang on to your DSLR is for the bright optical viewfinder, on a sunny day outside it’s proportionally bright, inside it’s proportionally darker. It does what the ambient light does. The Fuji X100 with its fabulous dual function viewfinder which can be either electronic or true rangefinder works the same, un-hindered by bright days. Not so the EVF of the OM-5. On a sunny day and wearing sunglasses it’s tricky to see what you are shooting through the viewfinder. Compared with the surroundings it’s just too dim. This is a disadvantage when most of what I shoot now is outside. The flip out screen again, next to useless in the sun. Just point and pray. But looking back at the pictures I still seem to get them so must be working and probably me adapting. Try using a plate camera on a sunny day and that is the definition of *difficult.* Because of the OM-5’s heritage the OM-5 retains the painfully slow 4Hr battery charge within the camera. No external charger to put batteries in and just charge (it's an extra purchase). Tying up a camera for that length of time is inconvenient to say the least. Given the supplied battery was in a pretty bad state I found two Matahorn USB-C third party items where all you need do is plug in your iPhone charger and wait for the light to go from Red to green. All outside the camera. the OM-5 does seem to get through batteries at a rate. Full credit must go to [WEX](https://www.wexphotovideo.com) who supplied this used camera. Feeling somewhat vexed that I’d had to charge the supplied battery four times over one weekend (4x4 = 16 Hrs charging) I contacted WEX just on the off-chance, plus it was a used camera. In a couple of days a new Olympus original battery arrived for no cost. WEX are a very impressive outfit and I’d always recommend them. So far so good. It’s taken a while to get the hang of moving to OM-System(s). I still think the Fuji X100 purely optical viewfinder makes daylight shooting a breeze to see what you are doing and Leica style there is some breathing room around the outside of the bright line frame so you can see what is about to come into picture. I think the pictures off the DSLR Nikons take some beating. No one has ever complained about any aspect of the picture quality off the Nikons; subject matter and me — yes! The OM though is wonderfully compact the 45mm (90mm 35mm equiv) is a Jewell of a lens and about 1/4 of the size of the Nikon 85mm. My arms and back and tennis elbow (directly brought on by using big hefty cameras and I’m no weed) will thank me for years to come. The OM-5 fits the bill of being small, light, capable, well featured and produces good stills and fine video so what’s not to like? If it was a car it would be a [SAAB](https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/saab/98267/saab-the-cars-the-history-and-what-went-wrong), individual, quirky, well thought and you don't see many off them, which for me is always a big plus point and says a lot about the individuality of the owner.