Anybody remember the first cameras they owned?

[Kagetsu]

Funny actually... I went hunting for my old photographs from when I was a kid. I found my first SLR... Canon AV-1 with the f/1.8 50mm prime.
Gave it a clean up and found the lens and view finder to be in perfect condition, and the battery still had charge and it worked! The best bit was I found an old film in it, that had a few exposures left, got it developed... Three (and a half) exposures of horses in a distant field at an obscure angle, plus one of the sofa I photographed to see if it worked. It was a good learning camera.

[Alexandre Buisse]

For me, that would be a Nikon D50, which I retired only last week.

[Ben Rubinstein]

AE-1!

[John Chardine]

Something got me musing on how this all started out nearly 50 years ago. My first 3 cameras were a Box Brownie, Ilford Sporti 4, followed by a Halina 35X. I think my first SLR was a Miranda Sensorex, although I lusted after a Pentax SV

Vest Pocket Kodak. An old bellows camera taking 120 film. Did star trails with it mainly (circa 1960). Then Hanimex 35 mm, Exa with Angenieux 90mm lens, Pentax Spotmatic (superb), Minolta SRT-101, Canon A-1, Nikon D70, and finally back home to Canon!

John
Sackville, NB, Canada

[mikeguil]

I had various cameras 'handed-down' to me from my dad including a Baldix fold-up (120 film size) camera and a Yashica LM Twin Lens.  But the first SLR I purchased was a Canon Ftb.  Great camera.  I then moved to an AE-1, an EF (I really liked this camera), and then moved through a few F-1's and a T-90 (loved this one as well).  I still have one of my original F-1's sitting on a Shelf of Honour in my den.  When I turned pro, I had a Mamiya RZ67 for a while, then moved on to Hasselblads for most of my career until switching to Nikon for digital.  Kinda wish I hung on to that D1 - to sit it beside my F1.

[Thomas Krüger]

Ahh, that was long ago, at my 12th birthday, an Olympus Trip 35 with a yellow filter, a couple of bw films and a Jobo drum for developing the films. The first SLR was a Canon AE-1.

[budjames]

In 1973 I saved money from my part time job in High School to buy a Canon FTb with 1.8 50mm lens. It was awesome first camera. I've been a Canon shooter ever since, except for a stint photographing weddings with Mamiya C330 twin lens 6x6 cameras from '79 to 81.

My current DSLR bodies are a 1DsMkIII and 40D.

Bud James

[vandevanterSH]

Argus C3.

Steve

[Kirk Gittings]

Leica IIIc sweet, a hand me down from my Dad. There was a quality to the film that I have never been able to reproduce in 35mm again.

[Paul Sumi]

First 35mm film camera was a little Konica P&S when I was in Boy Scouts.  First SLR was an SRT-101.  First DSLR was the EOS 10D.  Latest (but not only) camera is a Canon G10.

Paul

[dalethorn]

Minolta 16 - looks like a Minox but slightly larger - $15 from a PX in 1967. Followed that with a used Minox III in 1968. Shot a lot of Agepe FF. Years later a Rollei 35, then Leica M4.

[Alex_B]

I do not really remember the camera brand or anything. All I know it was a 35mm rangefinder-ish camera, I was 8 years old or less, and I had to use a hand-held light meter.

[Mike Normandeau]

Bought a second hand Nikon EM back in the late seventies.  Although a bit beaten up after all those years, still works like a charm today

Mike

[witz]

My 1st was a ricoh kr5 for my 11th birthday.... then ( the ricoh did not last long ) was a contax 137 in high school.

me with my contax around 1983.... notice the sexy britanica jeans and the calculator watch?
.
.
.

.
.
.
Then bought a used hassy 2000fc in cambridge england.... with a 110mm f2 and a 50mm f2.8..... used this camera until about a year ago with a phaseone h25 back.

[jasonrandolph]

Le Clic disc camera.  The (tiny) negatives were mounted on a little flexible disc.  I think the camera was supposed to b e a girls' camera, but i didn't care.  It was exciting to snap the shutter and get a 4x6 print!  I wish I could find some of those old negatives.  It would be interesting to see my "virgin" photographer's eye at work!

[Wolfman]

Something got me musing on how this all started out nearly 50 years ago. My first 3 cameras were a Box Brownie, Ilford Sporti 4, followed by a Halina 35X. I think my first SLR was a Miranda Sensorex, although I lusted after a Pentax SV

My first camera was my roommates Pentax Spotmatic with screw mount Takumar lenses. I looked through the viewfinder and it looked so beautiful. He asked me if I wanted to buy it from him. I did. That is what propelled me into being a photographer. Those Takumar lenses were the first multi-coated. Pentax makes beautiful lenses. Years later it's now the 5DII after 3 Pentax slrs and 1 Pentax 6x7, 1 Nikon 8008 , Canon 1n slr and now my 4th Canon dslr.

[Morris Taub]

This was my first camera, a Mamiya DSX1000. I bought it around 1974 I think. I still have it and it works like it did when I bought it.

 but it's in fine photo taking shape...



And then I bought this off ebay for spare parts : seller had no idea if it worked or not...I got lucky...it's like freakin' new so I'm gonna use as is...cost, about 20 US dollars...

[dalethorn]

We've had quite a selection of old cameras, but what would be really interesting would be one or two photos from the original camera, especially if taken early on, like the first few days.  If the photos aren't interesting, never mind.  Sometimes an early photo is more interesting than many of the later ones.

[Brent McCombs]

When I was in 12th grade, my dad took me to a mall camera shop and bought me a Minolta 5000i (way too much a camera for me), but we got cheapo Quantry lenses in a 'set'.

[kikashi]

Then bought a used hassy 2000fc in cambridge england.... with a 110mm f2 and a 50mm f2.8.....

From the camera exchange shop (Campkins, I think) on King's Parade? I used to lust after the kit I saw in their window, but it was way beyond my means.

My first cameras were my mother's Brownie and a Kodak Instamatic (grain like wood shavings!). I graduated to a Minolta XE-1 when I started messing around in the darkroom at school.

Jeremy