Sometime in 2025 we decided to go to the UK for our summer vacations. Plans were hatched and discarded again, countless flight options were checked and finally we decided to go to North Devon for two weeks.
Among other cameras I took my early 21st century 3.2 MP Olympus X-250 (aka D-560ZOOM, C-350ZOOM) on the trip, which has all the weaknesses of vintage digital cameras. It’s slower than most film cameras, the dynamic range is not so great, the screen is the size of a stamp which does not matter much because there is also no live view. Anyway, it runs on AA batteries and the 512 xD card (which is today maybe even more expensive than 512 GB SD card) is good for about 650 photos. Once you got used to waiting for the beep when the shutter is pressed you can enjoy shooting it. If you have forgotten about (or never heard of) shutter lag – shoot a vintage digicam. So, I was ready to go.
The day after the arrival and after the initial shock of driving on the left-hand side with a right-hand side steered vehicle had passed we decided to explore the surroundings by foot and grab something to eat in the nearby village/town of Woolacombe. Austria is a landlocked country so the sea is always a magnet for us and we were rewarded with beautiful light and a magnificent view over the Atlantic Ocean to Lundy Island. The waves were capped with foam and the sea presented itself in a marvellous green colour.
It was the right weather for the surfers which were a plenty there and the pub we went to catered mainly to them or so it appeared. The inside was surfing themed and there was also a stained-glass window so we felt like in a surfer cathedral. I’m not sure if the Beach Boys played off the speakers but if they did it wouldn’t have been out of place. The photo of the colourful window clearly shows the CCD sensor wants light and also poses the question “Why does he need a board?”
One of the following days we hiked up to the neighbouring village of Mortehoe, just on top of the next hill. From there we walked the beautiful coast path to Morte Point where many a ship ran aground (and was subsequently looted by the locals). A late lunch at the Pub by the cemetery was well deserved before we made our way back.
A few days before our return home our adventures in the vicinity of Woolacombe were concluded by a walk to Baggy Point, which is the other end of the bay, and which gave a great view over the bay and villages/towns of Mortehoe and Woolcombe which I captured in the below panorama that was stitched from 5 frames made with the little 3MP Olympus which looks very much like its famous film cousin the Olympus [mju:]
The question remains if CCD sensors really give THAT film look or if it is the famous Olympus JPEG colours. I think the combination of the CCD sensor and the rendering make the pics easy on the eye and trigger some collective memories how photos “used” to be back in the days and if only in our memories. The grass is always greener with a CCD sensor (at least as compared to my film shots from the same location).
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