What is your longest and most used camera? Film and digital

[Alfasud]

My Zeiss Ikon Nettar 510/2 was purchased used in 1940. My dad used it until 1958 when he moved to 35mm. I have used the camera off and on since then. It currently has film in it. It has been CLAed only once in it life time. Great pictures! It will probably out live me! I have hope that my grandsons (7&4) may take up photography.

 

[Michael Markey]

Longest : Chinon CX with 50 and 135 lenses .
Bought in the early `70s .

Most used ….. that varies

 

[Rob-F]

My Leica M2, purchased new about 1960, with a 35mm Summaron f/2.8. Faithful companion!

 

[Darthfeeble]

Probably my X100, bought it new shortly after they came out. Had to search like crazy to see who had one and got it from Crutchfields of all places. Recently converted it to IR and carry it and my X-E3 in a small Domke every where.

 

[jsrockit]

Right now, my Fujifilm X-Pro2... I've had it since day 1. So maybe 3.5 years old. Maybe 35,000 actuations on it. I use other cameras too...

 

[oftheherd]

My oldest used film camera would be my Fujica ST 901. I got it new about 1975 and I can't guess how many rolls of film have been through it. I would not be able to guess how many rolls I have put through it, but a lot. Color, B/W, and lots of slides. I have a Yashica TL Super I got in Vietnam, but I really never used it that much until I got to Korea. I used it in conjunction with my Fuji 901 after I got it, until the meter got a little wonky and the mirror stopped returning reliably. It was not a problem since the 901 has never stopped working reliably.

Speaking of German reliability mentioned above, I replaced my fathers Welta Welti which is of the same vintage as my father's. Those things just don't quit working. I used my father's in Vietnam as a crime scene camera at times.

 

[Archiver]

I have numerous cameras which I bought in earlier years, but I stopped using them, or only use them sporadically, after the first two or three years until I upgraded. My Canon 5D Mark II got a lot of use from 2009 to 2011, but I pretty much stopped using it for personal work after I bought my M9 in 2010. Now, it only comes out for jobs or very occasional personal use. It's taken tens of thousands of images but no way near as much as the M9.


I absolutely love the stories that are emerging here. Buying a film camera from some legendary shop and using it for years and years, it shows a lot about film camera longevity. Nikons, Leicas, Canons, Olympusususus.

 

[cary]

Mine is a black Nikon F from 1972. Used the camera in high school as a yearbook photographer, in college at Brooks Institute of Photography and for a couple of assignments at Sandia National Labs. Still works well, just used it last week at a baby party.

Event though I have other cameras I always use the F for important shoots.

 

[shimokita]

Shot with a Pentax SPF for years when it was first released... it was stolen...

Can't count the number of cameras nor number of rolls.

Not counting some P&S digitals in storage, the oldest digital is the Canon 30D, now on loan to a friend. The 5DII was the replacement. Longest used film camera is a Leica IIIf followed by the Nikon F3 & F3P... the F3P is my most used camera 90% with the Ai-S 50 1.2

Since retirement ten years ago I do 2-3 camera shoots a year, up to one month per shoot in different parts of Japan... mostly Tōhoku and Hokkaido. The winter is my favorite season for traveling north. Strictly for fun ; )

Currently taking photos every week... x100t for social media and family updates.

 

[vagab0nd]

My grandfather passed away about 20 years ago and I've been using his Rolleicord IV since 2009. Not counting that, it would have to be the XA I've been shooting off and on for 7 years.

 

[Guth]

My oldest film camera and the one that has seen the most use is my Minolta XD-11 that I bought in 1978. I have no idea how many rolls of film have passed through it. I haven't used it in quite some time. As far as digital goes, I've owned a Canon SD880 IS since 2009(?). I'm not sure how many images I've taken with it. For that matter I'm not even sure where I've stashed it away at the moment as my iPhone has more or less taken it's place.

 

[Ambro51]

I DO have my very first camera, probably got it about 1962 or so when I was 7. It’s a Herco Imperial 620 plastic box camera. Carrying that thing by its little strap always seemed awkward to me. Best photo.....1968 class trip to NYC. . We were waiting to board a boat to go to the Statue of Liberty on a rainy day inside a building. I noticed the brilliant reflection of the lights on the bald head of Mr. Spragg, the principle of the school. Great Photo!!

 

[besk]

My longest owned camera that I still use is my Bush Pressman 4x5. But other than that one I have changed cameras so many times that I have lost count.

 

[narsuitus]

Of all your cameras, which have you used for the longest, and the most?

The Argus C3 35mm rangefinder is the oldest film camera that I still own and use.

The Nikon F2 is the oldest film SLR that I still own and use. I bought it new in 1971.

I own and use a variety of Canon (G5, G11, and G15), Olympus (Ep1 and Ep3), and Fuji (X-Pro1, X-Pro2, S5) digital cameras. The Fuji X-Pro2 is the one I use the most.

The Mamiya RB67 SLR and the 6x7 and the 6x9cm Fuji rangefinders are the medium format film cameras that I still own and use; however, the Mamiya TLR cameras were the ones that I used the longest and the most but I no longer own or use them.

 

[Peter_S]

Contax T3. In use since 2010, with a TVS III prior to that.
Has a broken tooth on the film spool - fixed with plastic piece and super glue. On we go. Marvelous addition to any kit. While all other cameras have seen digital replacements, in that size digital has no equivalent to the T3.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I shift around a bit with these but my longest owned and used is my Leica M4. Most frequently used though is my Nikon F2, it comes in second place.
Phil Forrest

 

[DennisM]

In my case, the camera I used the most was a Minolta XD-11 with a 35mm f/2.8 Vivitar; this was in the late 70's, 80's and 90's. It's been retired now for some time in favor of Leica M's, Konica Hexar RF, Zeiss Ikon ZM, CLE, Mamiya 6 and several others.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

The camera I’ve owned the longest is a Spotmatic F. It was bought new by my parents, and I ‘inherited’ it (ie. put my first roll through it) around 2004. I don’t use it much, perhaps a roll a year.

The camera I’ve had the longest that actually gets heavy use would be my M2. Perhaps ~100 rolls since 2014.

I don’t keep track on my digital shutter counts, but I suspect the camera I’ve use for the most frames would be my old Olympus E-3. Maybe 30,000 shots?

 

[Ambro51]

My Most Used...at least 7000 images in about 17 years, is a bit unusual. I was a traveling Wet Plate Photographer doing ambros and tins. The second camera I built, an English Style Sliding Box Camera with a Holmes Booth and Haydens (1857) radial drive brass lens. It does 1/2, 1/4 and 1/6 plate images. Usually I shoot at about F8 at four second. Superb Camera!!

 

[Guth]

I DO have my very first camera, probably got it about 1962 or so when I was 7.

Now that you mention it, I also still have my first camera — a Kodak Instamatic X-15. I was either 8 or 9 at the time ('70 or '71) and received the little Kodak as a birthday gift after pestering my parents for a camera of my own. I'm fortunate that I also still have the first photograph that I ever took with it — a picture of my brother and our dog. The photos bring back fond memories and the camera now sits in it's box on a shelf in my home office.