What cameras did you use in the late 80s and early 90s?

Dear Board,

I began the 1980's with a Canonet 28 and a Canon F-1 and a Vivitar 135mm f2.8 with matching 2X converter. In the late 1980's I traded the F-1 for a Canon A-1 but never really got along with that camera.

In 1989 when my grandfather passed I got his Nikon FTN and 5.8cm f1.4 along with flashes filters and some other accessories which I still have and use on occasion.

Somewhere around 1989 I bought a Minolta 35mm AF P&S to carry on a lanyard in a pocket of my fishing vest. I can't even remember the model but it documented a lot of fishing trips.

Around 1993 I made what I considered a big sale at work and used the commission check to splurge on a brand new Canon EOS Elan and 28-80mm and 70-300mm USM lenses along with a Minolta 35mm Weathermatic Dual. I took a lot of pictures for work with the Elan and used that and Minolta to photograph our fishing and camping trips for years.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂
 
Pentax K1000 with SMC Pentax 55/2 from very late 70s to present. I bought a Pentax *ist DS digital as a discontinued new model in 2005. That started this entire thing as I bought into the whole megapixel mess and bought a new digital every couple of years after that. What finally ended it was paying more money then I had EVER spent for any camera before for a Leica M9 with a couple of Leica lenses. I thought it was my forever camera but the sensor went bad and I finally woke up.

The K1000 along with the 55mm lens is still going strong. Surprisingly, even the Pentax *ist DS is still working perfectly with only an occasional cleaning.

I now own far to many film cameras but most of the other digitals have either been sold or traded.
 
Early 80's to the later 90's it would have been the two Black Body Pentax MXs with Winders.
Lenses then would both be Vivitar Series 1 versions...35-85mm and 70-210mm zooms.
The two lenses no longer function but both MXs work fine...currently they are shelf queens.
 
My father bought me a used Minolta SRT101 in the late 1970s, I was in middle school or maybe a little earlier. I learned photography, film development and dark room printing using that camera. When I graduated from college and got a job I bought myself 2 things, a new bike, and a camera. I went shopping with a friend and was drawn towards what would have been the Nikon FM2 and Leica M 4p. Then I saw the auto focusing cameras and could not fight back the song of the siren. I ended up purchasing a Canon EOS 10s. I shot a lot with that camera and don't regret the buy, but looking back, I should have grabbed the Nikon or Leica.
 
I wasn't interested in photography as a teen in the late 80s. I remember my dad had a couple of Canon SLRs—one was a black A-1—and a QL17 G3. I don't recall ever using the SLRs myself but I do remember using and enjoying the Canonet. We also had a Polaroid camera and I think my sister had one of those Kodak disc cameras.
 
In 1989 I was using a Pentax LX.
In 1992 I traded it and all my Pentax glass for a Nikon F4 and a 50/1.4.
In 1993 I added a Pentax 67 and 90mm lens.
In 1994 I bought a used Hasselblad 500C, my first LF camera, a 1950's Speed Graphic with 127 Ektar, and my first Leicas, an M3 and M3 DS.

From there, things got a bit crazy. I still have most of that gear.

I finished the 1990's by adding a Zone VI 4x5 in peach wood (sold), a Wisner 5x7, a Rajah 8x10 (sold), a Deardorff 5x7 (also sold ..dammit), a Leica M4, M6 and newer Leica lenses, a Linhoff Teknika, a Sinar 4x5 rail camera...used gear was plentiful in NYC, and KEH was in speed dial.
 
Nikon N90, then F2 and F3P.
I took lots of good pictures with that N90. They are very good cameras. I recently sold it on eBay, working perfectly, for about $25.
N90 is a great and cheap camera for someone who wants to learn how to take pictures with 35 mm film.
I still have the F2 and F3P, including a pristine F3P that is brand new.
 
Olympus OM cameras -- OM-1n, OM-2n and OM-4Ti. Most used lens was Zuiko 35-80 f2.8. Literally took thousands of photos with it. Also used a Contax T2. Still have all of the above and they are all still in good working order.
 
MarkWalberg said:
Nikon N90, then F2 and F3P.
I took lots of good pictures with that N90. They are very good cameras. I recently sold it on eBay, working perfectly, for about $25.
N90 is a great and cheap camera for someone who wants to learn how to take pictures with 35 mm film.
I still have the F2 and F3P, including a pristine F3P that is brand new.
Click to expand...
I still remember myself and my silly friends dry firing our F90X and F100 at the end of 90's / beginning of 2000 just to drool over that burst. They were excellent cameras. Still are.
 
That era was when I went back to school to study photography after a six-year hiatus. We all had to have 4”x5” cameras so I started off with a Toyo 45D. The camera was okay but the case was huge (muscling it on the Toronto transit system was a struggle), so in second year undergrad (1991) I swapped it out for a Toyo 45A, which I ended up keeping for almost 15 years. During that time I also had a Leica III with a 5cm Summar which I bought from Queen Street Camera Exchange in Toronto in 1988 and ended up taking that on multiple motorcycle trips, including to Alaska. I kept that camera for over 25 years. Other Leicas during that time were an ELCAN M2 (modified to accept an M6 motor drive), an M3 which I didn’t really bond with, and an M6 which I thought was the biggest piece of crap. I’m sure there were a number of other cameras in the mix at that time, but I can only remember two — a Bronica S2a and a folding Moskva-5, plus a homemade pinhole camera that was a first-year undergrad tech project. The S2a was a great, great camera (why I sold it I’ll never know), and the Moskva-5 was a surprisingly good camera. The pinhole wasn’t half-bad either.
 
Last edited:
AntonioC said:
I still remember myself and my silly friends dry firing our F90X and F100 at the end of 90's / beginning of 2000 just to drool over that burst. They were excellent cameras. Still are.
Click to expand...
MarkWalberg said:
Nikon N90, then F2 and F3P.
I took lots of good pictures with that N90. They are very good cameras. I recently sold it on eBay, working perfectly, for about $25.
N90 is a great and cheap camera for someone who wants to learn how to take pictures with 35 mm film.
I still have the F2 and F3P, including a pristine F3P that is brand new.
Click to expand...
If people knew how good these cameras are, their prices would double and triple. Super reliable cameras based on the super reliable F801. I love mine

IMG_3050.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom