Time

[Rob C]

Hi,
I'm 66, and dived into photography 5O years ago, beginning with an Edixa Prismaflex, and a very special lens which was blurring every image at every distance.
Did you say blur ?I now own an EOS5D Mk III, a G1X, a Leica IIIa, a Contax IIb

I understand; you meant superior post-war bokeh. Then they went and ruined it all with coatings, over-complicated diaphragms and higher acutance films. Nobody seems to know when to stop. And the sounds! Who can compare the gunship track off a big Pentax shutter, the superior statement of a 'blad's mirror-and-lens cacophony with the tinny squeak of today's little jukeboxes from Canik etc.?

Golden Ages yet again... (duck!), when paps were paps and not afraid to face off; no superteles for them: a Rollei TLR or a Leica lllg or M, close up and personal.

;-)

Rob C

[Rjohan]

Great comments, I like them all! It's fun when everybody tell a little story about when they started

[Walt Roycraft]

62 years old. Started working as a professional in 1970, as an assistant photographer in NYC. We used an 8X10 view camera(deardorff) to shoot catalog layouts.
Started my own business, specializing in Architectural photography, in early 80's. Converted to digital in 2003. Started shooting landscapes in a serious way in 2006ish.

I plan on another 10 years or so. Maybe more.

[Ben Rubinstein]

32, babe in arms compared to you lot!

Started when I managed a 1 hour lab over a decade ago. Found an old and rather knackered Canon AE-1 and pretty much took off from there! Shot weddings for 10 years starting with film and then digital, I'm now running a large repro studio shooting medium format digital. On the subject of older lenses, my favourite lens at the moment is a Pentax Takumar 50mm 1.4 Super on a FF DSLR, gorgeous rendition, better bokeh than any of my modern lenses by a long stretch and it cost $70 including shipping from the states!

[JohnBrew]

Got my first in 1960 when I was eleven. Photographer for high school newspaper 1965-1967. First SLR in 1982. First money earned free-lancing, 1989. First digital camera, 2001. Continued to shoot film until 2010.

[bobtowery]

I'm 54. Bought an AE-1 at 16 years old (household finance, like $15/month). Then an A1. But my interest waned until digital came along. Plus I needed a new hobby because falling off dirt bikes was getting too painful.

I bought one of the original Canon D30's, and upgraded each time there was a new one. I would see people with a suitcase full of expensive lenses and think they were CRAZY. Then I turned into one of them.

Pro work paid for all my gear until a couple of years ago (i.e. as a sideline, I'm in the software biz).

Now I pursue shooting as much as time allows, and enjoy it more all the time.

[Kirk Gittings]

I"m 62 and been doing photography since the 6th grade (my dad had a darkroom in our house).................ouch 51 years? Full time professional since 1978.

[Robcat]

Turn 59 in 1 week. Got a Mamiya-Sekor 1000DTL in '71. Ex-girlfriend taught me darkroom (B&W of course) in '78 or so. Various SLRs after that, incl. Olympus OM-1, Nikon 8008. Had a hiatus in 90's due to kids (my excuse and I'm stickin' to it) until Olympus 1.2 MP state of the art (for about 3 sec.) came out in ?? late '90s. Now on a D800. Still having fun.
Rob P

[C Debelmas]

48 in three weeks. First camera when I was 17, Ricoh SLR. My dad had a darkroom at home. After some years, I moved to compact cameras, film then digital: For holidays photos, that was enough.
Then in late 2006, I made a big mistake: I bought my first DSLR (Pentax K10). I moved to more personal photography, mainly landscape to make it simple. Then Pentax K-5 in 2010.
I must say I don't make a lot of photos, but I cannot imagine a life without photography.
Ciao
Christophe

[ednazarko]

57 years old.  Been shooting and printing photos since age 10, initially with my older brother's 5x7 view camera (portraits of friends and neighbors), then with a hand-me-down Yashica D.  Have about a 20 year hiatus in the middle during which time I had zero interest or engagement with photography, due to a combination of developing chemical sensitivities that kept me from doing my own processing and printing, and a "main life" that was hugely busy with other things. Recently I've decided my main life is over-rated and have become much more engaged in photography.