I have been putting off getting a new camera for a long time now, saving up for something really nice. It wasn't what I originally planned on, but when I came across the new Olympus PEN, I fell in love. I can't explain it, but somehow the camera seemed perfect for me.
I was inspired to trust my gut and purchase the PL-1 in part by something unexpected my father did just last week. Let me spin you a tale…
Our coffee maker broke three weeks ago. I love coffee, but I am perfectly capable of getting through the day without it (not that I don't have a caffeine addiction like the rest of us; I can be sated by Diet Dr. Pepper, nectar of the gods). My dad, on the other hand, drinks a pot of coffee before noon every day; in fact, on weekends I would sometimes wake up to an already emptied pot, dad jumping to his feet to say "I guess I should make some more coffee." Our little coffee maker had worked hard for five years, and then it stopped, right before my dad left town for two weeks.
While he was gone, I was at Williams Sonoma, a place I often go to lust after things, dream of future space and money, and buy nothing. I spotted a beautiful Moccamaster coffee maker that had Dad's name ("Dad") written all over it. I figured it would be one of the candidates in an exhaustive body of coffee maker research. I was wrong. Dad walked into the store behind me, looked at the specs of the gorgeous machine, and said "well, let's get it."
I was shocked! I even suggested that he look around a bit and think about it before biting the bullet. But much to my surprise (again) Dad said it was something I'd told him that made him feel like going for it. After reading Dan Ariely's Predictable Irrationality, I'd talked non-stop about Ariely's study showing that comparing similar things with totally different features can be more frustrating than helpful, and often leads to an (economically) irrational choice. Dad stated his reasoning simply: he didn't want to frustrate himself with a big search when it was already clear that this was the ideal coffee maker.
Long story short, I bought the PEN. I didn't consult my photographer friends. I didn't do a particularly thorough side-by-side comparison of the PEN and other cameras. And I couldn't be happier with my decision.
All photos taken by me with my new camera! Yay!!! Check out my Flickr.
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