I’m carrying this new camera with me everyday, a birthday present from my wife last month. It’s an Olympus E-P2 with the 17 mm f/2.8 lens and electronic viewfinder. I wanted it because it’s the closest thing to my beloved old Leicas out there. Well, short of a new Leica, but they’re a little out of my price range these days.

The one camera, one lens ideal suits me really well. The 17 mm lens, while not the sharpest lens, gives me a field of view really close to how I see the world. (About a 35 mm if you do the math to compare it to the old film days.) But, every now and then … I just wanted a little more reach.

One of the nice things about the micro four-thirds format is the ability to adapt older lenses to the new cameras. You don’t get the autofocus and all the autoexposure modes, but the E-P2 does a nice job when focusing manually. I ordered a $30 adapter off of Amazon.com and then scoured the internet for an Olympus 50 mm f/1.4 lens and found one at the right price at Adorama.com (so my friend Jeff got a little commission off of the deal).

Lens showed up a few days ago. Had it sitting on my desk as the sun set out the back window and the color caught my eye.

I’d guess this lens is from the 1970s, no telling how many sunsets it has already seen.