What camera did you own before?

[StuartR]

Ok, well here we go:

Owned but not bought (given to me by my avid amateur photog father when I was starting out)
Olympus XA (when I was 12...it was stolen by a classmate at some point).
Canon F1N
Canon T90

both awesome.

That I have bought in rough chronological order:
Canon S30
Leica MP .72 black
Hexar AF
Hexar RF
Leica M3
Fuji G690
Mamiya 7II
Horseman 45LE
Leica R9
Rollei 35
Canon VT
Iskra
Leica M7 .85 a la carte
All phenomenal cameras (except perhaps the s30, which was my first camera of adulthood...)

 

[StuartR]

It was a very slippery slope though. As the purchase order might hint, I kept trying to "increase the functionality" of my kit. The Hexar AF was to supplement the MP so that I could shoot both color and black and white at the same time. Though I loved the AF, I really missed being able to change lenses, so I got the RF. The RF is good, but I was not huge on the noise or on the viewfinder (more the magnification than anything else). So I bid 600 dollars on a mint M3 and 50 collapsible cron and was shocked to win it. The Fuji was the result of really wanting to try medium format. I loved the results but hated the functionality of the Fuji (it came with a screwed up lens, it is giant and no meter etc. I decided to get the Mamiya. Everything was great for about a year. No purchases. Then I was going to enter a photographry school in the masters program that required mastery of 4x5 for acceptance. Hence the horseman that i bought from a former student. From the R9 on, I have no excuse. Sheer sickness. I will say however, that I use every single camera I own, with the possible exceptions of the S30 and the Fuji. Anyway, I think we are pretty much all sick here...just of varying degrees and means...

 

[Doug]

Cameras "before".... I take to mean formerly owned.... I'm surprised at how many there are!
Kodak Brownie Super 27
Regula scale focus 35
PetriFlex V
Petri Half-7
Minolta 16II
Heiland Pentax H3
Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic
Honeywell Pentax H3v
Kyocera Contax G1
Nikon FG
Asahi Pentax ESII

 

[mac_wt]

The first camera I bought for myself was a Canon Eos 300. I went into the store and asked for 'a camera with some manual control'. The salesguy must have thought it was his lucky day. I have put something like 15 rolls trough it. I was still left with the feeling that the camera was taking the pictures, not me. It went into a drawer and still resides there.
A few years later came a real 'Trust' digital camera. It went on 1 trip and then the LCD-screen died. It was replaced with an Olympus c350(?), that is now used by my 74 year old father.
But I was still looking for some manual control. I bought a Panasonic DMC-LC5S. That one has a Leica lens and this brought me to you guys and to the discovery that the best cameras with manual control you can buy are between 30 and 60 years old and (at least some of them) dirt cheap.
And that my Eos 300 is a plastic toy with a lousy zoom lens and about 0 resale value. 🙄

Wim

 

[nomade]

I only have 3..I've a modest list compared to what i've seen till now...

Canon sure shot(that's an automatic camera with zoom(great for speedy film iso800 or 400)
Fed 2 (my father's)
Fed 3, i've just bought it last month.
More to come, more to come 😀

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I remember my first Nikon's.

Nikkormat FT2
Nikon F2a
Nikon Photomic F

That was in college, 1977. I still have all three. I've added some Nikons since then.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'll admit to owning three digital cameras before I bought the Nikon. I won't admit, however, to liking the results I got for more than a couple photos.

You can find the old digital ones, newly uploaded, here. Everything except the squirrelingaround set were taken with various digitals. The squirrelingaround photos were taken with the camera I prefer to forget about, a Minolta Maxxum QTsi. That camera is what made me hate autofocus.

 

[rbiemer]

Hmmm,
Started with an Argus C-3, then a couple of 126 Kodaks, Polaroid SX-70(still have that one), then my high school loaned me a Pentax K-1000 for my last two years in school. A couple of 110 cameras.
Owned and foolishly sold/traded: Yashica Mat 124(not the "G"), Miranda Sensorex II,
Nikon FA(don't regret not having this one--good camera but I'm left eyed and couldn't see all the info in the VF), Pentax ZX-5, Minolta 370n and some others I can't recall right now.
Scads of pinhole cameras in most sizes(35mm up to 11x14 paper negs).

The Argus I still have--inheirited from my grandfather--but don't use because it is in the leather bag with various bits and when I unzip the bag, the smell reminds me of grampa. If I were to use the camera it would soon lose the smell and I'm not ready to give up that reminder of the man.
Rob

 

[Fred]

OK, in chronological order of use from my dodgy memory:

Halina 3000 (first intro to manual shutter speeds an aperture settings)
Praktica MTL3
Chinon CE-4
Pentax MX (Still got it and works a treat)
Lubitel 166B (First foray into MF)
Oly AF-1
Nikon F80
Nikon F65 (Backup for the F80)
Canon A-1 (Saved)
Pentax ME Super (Saved)
Fujica ST605n (Saved))
Canon FP (Saved)
Bronica ETRS (proper MF)
Nikon D70
Leica M7
Leica M7

Cameras marked as saved were being off loaded in danger of spending their last moments in a skip.

 

[TPPhotog]

Too many but never enough for GAS attacks 😉

 

[wierdcollector]

I can't top Honu-hugger's women list or for that matter the quality of his cameras versus my horde of oldies but mostly cheapies. As of last count (I'm falling behind a bit with records, but I keep track in a spiral notebook) I had 137 SLR's, 185 RF's, 100 scale focus, 9 disc, 49 point and shoot, 29 110, 73 folders, 35 TLR, 83 box, 41 126 instamatic, 32 Polaroid, 12 Kodak instant, 57 toy, 2 Press, 366 lens, and 46 or so misc. cams for a total of 890. As most people know this is waaay too many so after I get back from my next trip this month to Nevada, I believe it's time to start thinning the herd to a more manageable 2-300 or so.

 

[wierdcollector]

And yes, they were all bought along the way with the intention of using them at least once, not just shelf queens. I'm a long way behind in that task, but with 450 + rolls of 35mm, 10 rolls 0f 120 and 54 single use Kodak Max cameras in the freezer (don't ask where the food went) I should be able to make a sizeable dent in the job since on Thursday I start 20 days off.

 

[Doug]

Curt, NObody can top you for variety and quantity! Have fun putting a dent in the usage backlog. 😀 Even I with WAY fewer cameras, and in denial that I'm even collecting, have a little trouble keeping the group exercised. I think only my Elikon has not yet seen use... Soon, soon...

 

[kiev4a]

I can't top Honu-hugger's women list or for that matter the quality of his cameras versus my horde of oldies but mostly cheapies. As of last count (I'm falling behind a bit with records, but I keep track in a spiral notebook) I had 137 SLR's, 185 RF's, 100 scale focus, 9 disc, 49 point and shoot, 29 110, 73 folders, 35 TLR, 83 box, 41 126 instamatic, 32 Polaroid, 12 Kodak instant, 57 toy, 2 Press, 366 lens, and 46 or so misc. cams for a total of 890. As most people know this is waaay too many so after I get back from my next trip this month to Nevada, I believe it's time to start thinning the herd to a more manageable 2-300 or so.

We're not worthy!

 

[Honu-Hugger]

I can't top Honu-hugger's women list or for that matter the quality of his cameras versus my horde of oldies but mostly cheapies. As of last count (I'm falling behind a bit with records, but I keep track in a spiral notebook) I had 137 SLR's, 185 RF's, 100 scale focus, 9 disc, 49 point and shoot, 29 110, 73 folders, 35 TLR, 83 box, 41 126 instamatic, 32 Polaroid, 12 Kodak instant, 57 toy, 2 Press, 366 lens, and 46 or so misc. cams for a total of 890. As most people know this is waaay too many so after I get back from my next trip this month to Nevada, I believe it's time to start thinning the herd to a more manageable 2-300 or so.

My comment says more about my bad memory than a list of any significant number 😀 -- old age is creeping up!!! (recently I forgot that Henry Scherer has another one of my IIa's -- no kidding. I just remembered the other day and now I still can't recall if it's a CD or a BD). Curt, you are the undisputed King of Cameras!!! As for me I am really giving a lot of serious thought to the "less is more" philosophy -- I may be weeding out the undesirables.

 

[richard_l]

Cameras I have owned but not now:

Argus C3
Rollei 35 (original German model with f/3.5 Tessar)
Yashica Mat 124G
Olympus XA
Pentax K1000
Minilux (40mm non-zoom)

Cameras I own now:

Olympus C-3000
Nikon FM, FM2n
Leica M3, M2, M6

 

[davidbivins]

I'll restrict to pre-RFF (rangefinder fever) that I actually used:
A Kodak 126 Instamatic (as a kid)
Minolta SRT101 (still use it)
Minolta X570 (still use it - bought it so I could use a motor drive and TTL flash)

And now I have too many rangefinders to list. I mostly use a Canon L1 and Yashica Electro 35 GTN. But I'm also fond of my Canonet QL17 G-III, Taron, Aires 35, Ricoh 500, Kiev...

 

[Byuphoto]

I have always been fascinated with cameras. As far back as '62 when my Uncle Paul showed me his press camera, He was a photographer for the St. Louis newspaper. Then my brothers Polaroid was the next fascination I had.
I talked my sister into letting me user her Brownie in "68 and she bought me 1 roll of film a month.
Here's my list
Some kind of German folder my brother brought back
Argus C3
Pentax Spotmatic
Yashica 124 G
Kodak instamatic
Yashica GSN
Yashica TL Electro X
Canon QL 17
Pentax ME
Pentax ME Super
Canon F1*
Canon A1*
Pentax IQ Zoom 60*
Polaroid???
SX 70
Kodak Disc camera. Still have it anyone have a disc?*
Cheapo Wal mart digital P&S
Kodak easyshare Digital
Kodak DX6490
Canon DReb
Canon 20D
Canon 1D MKII
Kodak DCS Pro14c
Bronica ETRS
Canon AE-1P
Another A1*
F1n*
Yashica LM
Yashica GSN
Konica S2
Canon QL17 GIIIx2**
Bessa R
Yashica 124G*
T90x2**
Kowa Super 6*
Canon Sure Shot Zoom 76x2*
Canon Snappy*
Moskva 5*
Leica M4-2*
Mamiya C330*
Mamiya 645*
Canon AF35ML*
Canon A2*
Zorki 4*
*Denotes cameras I still have

 

[wlewisiii]

Interesting thread, wonder how I missed it? I always get a kick out of these kinds of lists.

I'll just go with the ones I own/owned:

* = still own
** = still own but for sale if you're interested

1983 - AE-1 w/ 50/1.8 from the PX. Learned the basics including darkroom work. Later sold to cover a bar tab :bang: Yes, I was still in the service at that point ... 😀
1993 - Rebel XS w/ kit zoom. Kept me happy for near a decade, started pushing it's limits in manual mode which made me start searching on the internet ...
Yashica 124G (mistake to sell it - gotta get another one)
Yashica GSN
Canon GIII QL17
Canon QL17 Black
Mamiya 645E
Iskra (mistake to sell it - gotta get another one)
Kiev 4a* w/ prewar collapsable 50/2 Sonnar.
Canon AE-1* (My late mother's camera.)
Kiev 5
Fed 5
Mamiya 1000DTL
Pentax K1000 (Given to a teenaged girl interested in learning photography)
Agfa Karat 36* (** maybe, depends on the Contessa 🙂 )
Anniversary Speed Graphic*
Argus C3**
Moskva 5
Balda Baldix**
Canon IVSb*
Fed 5C
Argus 75*
Canon 7*
Agfa Isolette III*
ZI Contessa 35 (enroute)
Still Lusting for: Canon T90, Canon VI-L, Canon EOS 5 & 1V, Linhof Master Technika Classic and about a couple of dozen lenses for LTM, EF, & FD mounts & I'll not even consider the LF ones... 😱 :bang: 😀

William

 

[Uncle Fester]

Here are my cameras

Pre Rangefinder;
Kodak instamatic
Ansco Clipper