CMur12
Veteran
That looks exactly like my first camera, except that it had a different plate/label on the front. Mine was purchased with breakfast cereal box tops and a dollar!
- Murray
What was your very own first camera?
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That looks exactly like my first camera, except that it had a different plate/label on the front. Mine was purchased with breakfast cereal box tops and a dollar!
- Murray
geoffallen
Member
A Minolta Maxxum STsi (or, Dynax 404si if you were outside of the Americas in the early 2000s).
It was the first camera that was 100% mine-all-mine. I sold it 5 or 6 years later to a co-worker. I should drop her a line to see if it's still around..
I sometimes wonder if learning on that particular camera has affected my shooting style in ways I don't even realize. One carry-over that I am almost positive I can pinpoint: The Minolta had a handy spot meter that could be activated by pressing a dedicated button next to the eyepiece with your thumb. I remember I used it all the time, especially shooting concerts. To this day, I still feel most comfortable with a spot.
It was the first camera that was 100% mine-all-mine. I sold it 5 or 6 years later to a co-worker. I should drop her a line to see if it's still around..
I sometimes wonder if learning on that particular camera has affected my shooting style in ways I don't even realize. One carry-over that I am almost positive I can pinpoint: The Minolta had a handy spot meter that could be activated by pressing a dedicated button next to the eyepiece with your thumb. I remember I used it all the time, especially shooting concerts. To this day, I still feel most comfortable with a spot.
ASA 32
Well-known
They apparently made several varieties, just changing the front plate. The website shows a Girl Scout camera, and a few more.
jazzwave
Well-known
My first camera is Nikon F90X with battery grip, is amazing camera.
Replaced by F5 4 years later.
~ron~
Replaced by F5 4 years later.
~ron~
Nyc Dito
Established
my first official "i wanna shoot professionally" camera was a Canon rebel something from Sears. I think it was 1997-1998. I returned it after 2 weeks since it sucked at taking pictures. You know because i wanted great images on a kit lens using iso 100 speed film at night. haha... serious, i blamed the camera. I returned it and bought a subscription to American Photo and Popular Photography. I taught myself the basics and read a lot of books and magazines to start. Plus the interwebs..
My next camera was an OM-1 which was nice, but then i got a good deal for a Nikon FM. And from there it continued.
My next camera was an OM-1 which was nice, but then i got a good deal for a Nikon FM. And from there it continued.
CMur12
Veteran
Thanks to your link, I found my first camera. I haven't seen it for almost 50 years! It's the Adventurer 620:
http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2343
- Murray
mdarnton
Well-known
When I was in the 5th grade my brother gave me his 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 press camera when he got a 35mm Beauty Canter, and for about a year I shot with that. The man who owned the local studio developed the film for me and I printed on proof paper, keeping my prints in a film box. Then a year later he gave me the Canter and got himself a Miranda. At that point he let me start using his darkroom. For the next few years I used a variety of borrowed small press and roll film cameras until I bought a Nikkormat in my senior year. . . Which was quickly replaced by a Leica IIIf. My longest-owned camera is a Graflex Super D the studio owner gave me around 1974, after I had turned into a real photographer for a living.
Some of those original shots are in my Flickr pix.
Some of those original shots are in my Flickr pix.
Pentode
Well-known
Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. Bakelite!
I don't have it anymore.
When I was little, maybe 8 or 9, my parents gave my older sister and me a matching pair of Hawkeye cameras. As this was the 70s, they were already old and I have no idea where they came from. A neighbor, maybe? I remember the quality of the photos being terrible, but that could just as easily been the fault of an eight-year-old photographer as it could the camera!
At 11 or so, my grandfather bought me a cheap Imperial Magimatic Auto 318; a little 110 point & shoot that I used through my teens. That one is still with me.
I don't have it anymore.
When I was little, maybe 8 or 9, my parents gave my older sister and me a matching pair of Hawkeye cameras. As this was the 70s, they were already old and I have no idea where they came from. A neighbor, maybe? I remember the quality of the photos being terrible, but that could just as easily been the fault of an eight-year-old photographer as it could the camera!
At 11 or so, my grandfather bought me a cheap Imperial Magimatic Auto 318; a little 110 point & shoot that I used through my teens. That one is still with me.
mich rassena
Well-known
I still have my first camera, which as some Kodak 110 with a brown cover. Whatever model it is, there are spots where one can paste stickers with one's initials. I remember using it with flashcubes and taking a few rolls of film with it. I also remember being incredibly disappointed with the results, save for a few images. The photos were nothing like the ones I'd seen in National Geographic. Now I know better, and would probably be able to get the most out of the camera. But back then, it was a terribly discouraging experience. In fact, it soured me on photography so much that it was only 10 years ago (about 20 years after using the camera) that I got into photography. I'd always wanted to take good pictures, but until digital made it so much easier to see how what I did with the camera affected the image, I just didn't bother with cameras.
Jake Mongey
Well-known
Mine was my families ten year old pentax IST*DS - Worked daily with me until it died
JHutchins
Well-known
Kodak Ektralite 10 when I was perhaps 11. A couple of years later, when I was desperate to make photography a serious hobby a Minolta X-700.
The first camera I *bought* myself -- also the first camera I used to take pictures that I'm still happy with today, came about two years after that and was a Mamiya C3 TLR. I still have it in storage somewhere, though I replaced it with a Rolleiflex 2.8e that I used almost exclusively (once I got a real job and had money I bought an M3 and used it as well, though never as much as the Rolleiflex) until the Leica M8 was introduced.
The first camera I *bought* myself -- also the first camera I used to take pictures that I'm still happy with today, came about two years after that and was a Mamiya C3 TLR. I still have it in storage somewhere, though I replaced it with a Rolleiflex 2.8e that I used almost exclusively (once I got a real job and had money I bought an M3 and used it as well, though never as much as the Rolleiflex) until the Leica M8 was introduced.
lbstollar
lbstollar
First Cameras
First Cameras
Kodak Instamatic, as a kid. Followed by a Minolta Hi-Matic 7S and, later, a Mamiya-Sekor MSX-1000.
First Cameras
Kodak Instamatic, as a kid. Followed by a Minolta Hi-Matic 7S and, later, a Mamiya-Sekor MSX-1000.
d_c
Well-known
Kodak 126 Instamatic - it may even still be in my father's attic.
creenus
Established
I could not afford a Kodak Instamatic 126, so I had a Korean model called a Kamero. Took lots of 126 slides with it. It was a nice little camera until the shutter speed went wonky. =)
AZPhotog
Keith S
Canon AE-1, circa 1978.
Traded it in on the A-1 in 1980.
Decades later, added another AE-1 to my collection.
Now have an extensive collection of <serviced> Canon AE-1, AE-1P, F1n, F1N, FTb, EF, A-1's and many of the FD lenses and accessories.
Yes. . . they all do get put into service from time to time.
Traded it in on the A-1 in 1980.
Decades later, added another AE-1 to my collection.
Now have an extensive collection of <serviced> Canon AE-1, AE-1P, F1n, F1N, FTb, EF, A-1's and many of the FD lenses and accessories.
Yes. . . they all do get put into service from time to time.
Last edited:
lxmike
M2 fan.
a Kodak x177 in the late 1970's
stompyq
Well-known
Yashica FR was gifted to me when I was a kid. First camera I bought with my own money? Canon powershot S60
Gregm61
Well-known
First camera of any kind goes back to high school in the mid- 70's, when I'd venture a guess most kids my age were totting something similar to the Kodak 110 pocket camera I was using. I remember one kid in the marching band with me on a trip to Colorado hauling a camera with a bag full of Sylvania Press-25 Blue Dot flash bulbs, LOL...
My first REAL camera, was a Ricoh KR-5 SLR.
My first REAL camera, was a Ricoh KR-5 SLR.
Lux Optima
Established
My first camera was an all-plastic Agfa without any lightmeter or so, fully mechanical, in 1976.
I voted wrongly, because it is lost since decades and replaced by Leicas... But I still think of it and of how easy taking pictures was in these old days.
I voted wrongly, because it is lost since decades and replaced by Leicas... But I still think of it and of how easy taking pictures was in these old days.
fotomeow
name under my name
Canon film camera, the Rebel X ... I’ve heard it quoted as the best selling camera of all time, not just for Canon, but all time, but maybe they were ncluding the Digital Rebel sales.
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