I have always been surrounded by cameras, my father worked in photography industry such as Kodak film testing dept, Cassio film and Hadland (and escaped the young poisoner Graham Young at the latter). With free film and free prosessing always available, photography was inevitable for our family.
My photograhic start was an instamatic to take photos of the fish I caught when i was a kid. At xmas in the early 80's I recieved an Olympus OM10 (plus the vital manual adapter!!) and I went from there.
Along with the fishing, I also had an interest in birds, so I tried to do my best with the limited focal length of my Zuiko 50mm f1.8
I did progress to a 200mm and teleconverter.
I can't remember when, but I swapped out and went Nikon in late 80's, culminating in the purchase of a 300/2.8 and teleconverters, then in the 90's I was using a spotting scope with a 35mm adapter to take bird photos. Then digital arrived
cheers,
Andy