Where did it all start?
Discussion
A couple of recent 'I am just getting started' threads have got me thinking back to my early days. So I thought a 'how did you start thread' might be fun. Along the lines of 'What was you first car and who taught you to drive?'
So heres mine (well one like it.) A microcord twin lens reflex. No light meter, hand cocked shutter and rolls of films that would unravel themselves if you looked at them funny. Also came in a lovely leather case lined with red velvet. It got nicked one day at Hampton Court. I still miss it.
I was taught by my dad, who was semi-pro, so I was lucky enough to get to use some very nice kit from an early age including Nikon, Bronica and Hasselbald whilst he clung like a drowning man to the neck strap in case I dropped them.
[pic]http://www.tlr-cameras.com/British/slides/MPP%20Microcord.JPG[/pic]
[pic]http://www.tlr-cameras.com/British/slides/Microcord-ad.JPG[/pic]
So how about the rest of you?
So heres mine (well one like it.) A microcord twin lens reflex. No light meter, hand cocked shutter and rolls of films that would unravel themselves if you looked at them funny. Also came in a lovely leather case lined with red velvet. It got nicked one day at Hampton Court. I still miss it.
I was taught by my dad, who was semi-pro, so I was lucky enough to get to use some very nice kit from an early age including Nikon, Bronica and Hasselbald whilst he clung like a drowning man to the neck strap in case I dropped them.
[pic]http://www.tlr-cameras.com/British/slides/MPP%20Microcord.JPG[/pic]
[pic]http://www.tlr-cameras.com/British/slides/Microcord-ad.JPG[/pic]
So how about the rest of you?
My father's main cameras in the late 1960's-70's were a Minolta SLR and a Yashica-D TLR, though he'd got through quite a few before those.
Perhaps because there was always a camera to borrow, I didn't get my own until the 6th form - a Chinon 35mm compact. That lasted until my first year as an undergraduate, when I sold it and got a Chinon CM4 SLR (£99 in Dixons!). That was superseded 3 years later by a Ricoh XR7 (automatic exposure, wow!). That served me well for 16 years until it developed a fault and I got a Nikon F70 (automatic focus, wow!) in 1999. You know the rest
Perhaps because there was always a camera to borrow, I didn't get my own until the 6th form - a Chinon 35mm compact. That lasted until my first year as an undergraduate, when I sold it and got a Chinon CM4 SLR (£99 in Dixons!). That was superseded 3 years later by a Ricoh XR7 (automatic exposure, wow!). That served me well for 16 years until it developed a fault and I got a Nikon F70 (automatic focus, wow!) in 1999. You know the rest
Given to me on my 7th birthday - used it for several years until Kodak invented the 'instamatic' 
simpo two said:
Ha, the Zenith - a favourite of Arts students and the Tiger Moth of the SLR world. Probably one of the few things that would survive a nuclear holocaust too!
A mate of mine at school had a Zenit SLR. You could hear the shutter going on the other side of town. I am sure they recycled the mechanism out of old Kalashnikovs (sp)
boots beirette was my first weapon... no real controls just cloudy and sunny instead of f-stops.. to fire the shutter took so much effort you were always going to get camera shake..lol.
then when doing my o level photography I managed to get a minolta xgm... wow what a beast full aperture priority and manual just loved it...
not entirely true.. flogged to a shop to get money to take a bird out at college for dinner... seemed a good trade at the time!
then when doing my o level photography I managed to get a minolta xgm... wow what a beast full aperture priority and manual just loved it...
not entirely true.. flogged to a shop to get money to take a bird out at college for dinner... seemed a good trade at the time!
My first camera was a Lubitel-2. Bit too complex for an 8-year old, but I've still got it 33 years later and it still works.
Used Mum's Kodak Instamatic with the sunny/cloudy option until it accidentally got thrown away and was replaced by the next model up with the 3 apertures/2 shutter speeds version - something like the 155X and 255X if I remember. Good for fun snaps.
Then there was the little 110 Cartridge camera that came with a couple of quid and four Frosties tops when I was about 12. Could be surprisingly creative with that and it produced quite decent pictures. Wonder where that is now ?
Took a few shots with Dad's Zenit-E back in the early 80s but the manual stop-down was too easy to forget. Horrible thing to use really, had to have the eyepiece ground down to get rid of the dangerous sharp edge. Dad didn't believe in these new-fangled TTL meters (this was the 1980s) or using anything other than a standard lens so my interest died off a bit
First proper camera was a Canon EOS650 in 1988 bought with my first ever bonus from work. Chosen because I liked the all electric interface to the lens, because I couldn't see the viewfinder information in the Nikon 401, and not only did Dixons have a manager's special for £360 including 50mm lens (and thumbprint on the rear element) but Boots were divesting themselves of SLR kit so I picked up a Canon 70-210 F4 lens for just £120 more, a real bargain !
Picked up a secondhand EOS620 a few years later then sold the EOS650 in 1990 to get a secondhand EOS1. Bought a Mamiya 7II secondhand last year. Great Camera.
Used Mum's Kodak Instamatic with the sunny/cloudy option until it accidentally got thrown away and was replaced by the next model up with the 3 apertures/2 shutter speeds version - something like the 155X and 255X if I remember. Good for fun snaps.
Then there was the little 110 Cartridge camera that came with a couple of quid and four Frosties tops when I was about 12. Could be surprisingly creative with that and it produced quite decent pictures. Wonder where that is now ?
Took a few shots with Dad's Zenit-E back in the early 80s but the manual stop-down was too easy to forget. Horrible thing to use really, had to have the eyepiece ground down to get rid of the dangerous sharp edge. Dad didn't believe in these new-fangled TTL meters (this was the 1980s) or using anything other than a standard lens so my interest died off a bit
First proper camera was a Canon EOS650 in 1988 bought with my first ever bonus from work. Chosen because I liked the all electric interface to the lens, because I couldn't see the viewfinder information in the Nikon 401, and not only did Dixons have a manager's special for £360 including 50mm lens (and thumbprint on the rear element) but Boots were divesting themselves of SLR kit so I picked up a Canon 70-210 F4 lens for just £120 more, a real bargain !
Picked up a secondhand EOS620 a few years later then sold the EOS650 in 1990 to get a secondhand EOS1. Bought a Mamiya 7II secondhand last year. Great Camera.
Olympus trip 35 point and shoot started it all off when I was about 12 or so.
Started using Mum and Dad's OM-1 and OM-2. Was given the OM-1 and learnt all about exposure and depth of field with that. Brilliant camera and mum still uses it occasionally rather too many years later ;-) I just replaced it with a really neat Olympus 5MP zoom compact for her which she loves.
Graduated from here to sneeking a use of my dad's F3 (with MD4 motordrive) which he kindly gave me on my 18th brithday. Traded this for an F4 and then made a huge mistake and traded the F4 for a Mamiya 645 which I just didn't get on with. Went back to Nikon with an F5 and then finally gone digital with the venerable D100.
Have had a brief dalliance with a Mamiya 7 but my example was pants and broke twice in three months and it took ages to repair so Mr dealer got it in the ear and I returned it in exhange for a super mint condition FM2T which was my backup camera / got used out in the hills when I didn't want to take the weighty F5.
Chris
Started using Mum and Dad's OM-1 and OM-2. Was given the OM-1 and learnt all about exposure and depth of field with that. Brilliant camera and mum still uses it occasionally rather too many years later ;-) I just replaced it with a really neat Olympus 5MP zoom compact for her which she loves.
Graduated from here to sneeking a use of my dad's F3 (with MD4 motordrive) which he kindly gave me on my 18th brithday. Traded this for an F4 and then made a huge mistake and traded the F4 for a Mamiya 645 which I just didn't get on with. Went back to Nikon with an F5 and then finally gone digital with the venerable D100.
Have had a brief dalliance with a Mamiya 7 but my example was pants and broke twice in three months and it took ages to repair so Mr dealer got it in the ear and I returned it in exhange for a super mint condition FM2T which was my backup camera / got used out in the hills when I didn't want to take the weighty F5.
Chris
Canon AE-1 with a 50/1.8 lens
great camera, and I still ues it today
www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/1976-1986/ll_product/1976_ae1.jpg
great camera, and I still ues it today
www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/1976-1986/ll_product/1976_ae1.jpg
I think it all started hundreds of years ago when a young physics student was hiding in a dark shed and he noticed that an image (upside down) was being projected through a hole in the side of the shed onto the wall the other side.
This proved that light travelled in straight lines and must have been the start of our understanding of light and imagery.
GN
This proved that light travelled in straight lines and must have been the start of our understanding of light and imagery.
GNWhile younger I used cheap disposable film cameras and cheap non-disposable film cameras to take pictures once in a while, but I never really got interested in it.
Then, last November when I got a job at an electronics retail store, I was thrown into the digital camera department, and got interested in photography. So in February of this year I decided I wanted to buy a good camera, so I asked around about what the best camera was that I could get for under $3000. The common recommendation? A D70. So hence, my first camera:
Then I added this one:
And now I also shoot one of these:
Then, last November when I got a job at an electronics retail store, I was thrown into the digital camera department, and got interested in photography. So in February of this year I decided I wanted to buy a good camera, so I asked around about what the best camera was that I could get for under $3000. The common recommendation? A D70. So hence, my first camera:
Then I added this one:
And now I also shoot one of these:
All started for me when I borrowed my Dad's camera to take to Le Mans a few years back. Didn't have the faintest idea how to use it, but I persevered. I've since "adopted" the camera, since he never uses it, so I have always used, and still use:
>> Edited by MarkBarton on Wednesday 12th October 09:37
>> Edited by MarkBarton on Wednesday 12th October 09:37
Mr Noble said:Try a few thousands, it's generally recognised that Ibn al-Haytham solved many optical problems and discovered the camera obscura around 980 (yes, nine hundred and eighty AD).
I think it all started hundreds of years ago when a young physics student was hiding in a dark shed and he noticed that an image (upside down) was being projected through a hole in the side of the shed onto the wall the other side.
This proved that light travelled in straight lines and must have been the start of our understanding of light and imagery.
J
My first camera was a Petri something or other, my Gran bought it for me, all of 50p!
The first one I bought was a Minolta Dynax 404si, which I still use.
That was followed by a Mamiya C220 TLR which is my main camera.
I have no plans to get another one at the moment, but when I do it will most likely be a large format, a Cambo or something similar (Linhof if I win the lottery!).
The first one I bought was a Minolta Dynax 404si, which I still use.
That was followed by a Mamiya C220 TLR which is my main camera.
I have no plans to get another one at the moment, but when I do it will most likely be a large format, a Cambo or something similar (Linhof if I win the lottery!).
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