What was your first RF?

[Flinor]

Yashica Lynx 1000. I bought it new in 1960 to take on my honeymoon. Tremendous step up from my Brownie Hawkeye.

 

[remrf]

My first rf camera was a Yashica Electro 35 I bought new in Viet Nam in 1970. I was working as a photographer with the 25th Infantry Div. and using my Yashica TLR 6x6 cm for my field work. The Electro 35 was bought on a lark. I liked the cool black look. I shot a few rolls with it and sold it to a friend. One of the other photographers had been working as a pro before he was drafted and he used his own Leica M series camera rather than the Graflex XL's the lab owned or any of the then current "hot" slr's. His field work was superb ( backed by his mastery in the darkroom) and I never saw such clear sharp prints from any other 35mm we used. After I left the Army in 72' I owned a Nikon F and a couple of lenses and I ran across a guy who worked at a photo store. He was hot for a Nikon F and he had a complete ( down to the original leather case) Leica IIIc with a Leicavit and three lenses and all the original Leica filters. We did an even swap.

And then I needed money and I sold it. And I have cursed myself every time I thought about Leicas and how fine they were and are. And how much it would cost to try and replace that wonderful system. A few months ago my friend bought a Fed 4 and I started looking at the rangefinfer cameras. I bouth a Zorki 2c because it looked like my old Leica. But it sure didn't feel like one when you advance the film or fire the shutter. So I broke down and shopped around a bit and bought a IIIa and a 50 mm Summitar. It isn't my old system but it is a Leica with the silky feel of the gears and the quiet "snick" of the shutter..

I have many other cameras . All of which are excellent at what they do. But none of them will fit in a jacket pocket like the IIIa and perfom so well when you pull it out and use it.

 

[ERV]

My first was a Contax G2 which I still have. I eventually bought a Bessa T and a CV 35, which I used for a while and sold with the intention of saving for a Leica. I detoured to the Ukraine for a Fed 2, 3a, and a Kiev 4am. Sold the feds, kept the Kiev, bought a nice Contax IIa, and got really lucky when I found a beater Leica M5 that I had Sherry at Golden Touch perform her magic on. It looks like hell but runs like a charm.

 

[back alley]

what a long strange trip it's been...🙂