First of all, this is my first ever comment and I enjoy reading the articles in this forum very much.

I remember my first camera which was a Rollei 35 half frame camera and I purchased the little black electronic flash Rollei 128 which I still own. I was a teenager in the late 1960s at that time and I wish I had kept the Rollei as it was my first camera using the larger 35mm format. As a teenager, approximately 15 years old, I loved that I was able to get twice the photos from a roll of 24 or 36 film. Being young and foolish I traded it in on my next adventure which was the Pentax Spotmatic “F” camera. I enjoyed this camera so much when the Pentax ESII came out I traded my Spotmatic “F” in and purchase the ESII as my next camera which was about 1972 - 1973-time frame if my memory hasn't failed me. I used it for a few years and changed camera vendors and went to the Canon AE-1. I liked the AE-1 so much I finally purchased the Canon A1 to use. I used both Canon film cameras for years until my wife surprised me with my first Canon EOS digital camera on my birthday. It was the basic entry level, 6.3 Megapixel camera but it introduced me to the digital side of the world. I utilized the camera until I was able to upgrade to my current EOS 5D Mark II which I purchased new and is still the camera I use for all my photography hobby. Being retired I am now saving for my next upgrade the Canon R5 which should last me through many years of happy use. I never had any training with my cameras and learned through the school of hard knocks and I read a lot of books and a lot of experimenting with settings. I am so happy I started with full manual cameras as the lessons learned I haven’t forgot (at least not everything). What I learned with my manual cameras many years ago I still use today when I take my photographs. The newer cameras make taking pictures so much easier but you still have to understand the Exposure Triangle, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO (ASA when I was growing up) which I had to learn while using film and seeing the results when the film was processed. It was at that time I was able to see what impact my settings made. I have captured many memories over the years and my only regret is that I did not take more pictures when I was younger. So, my advice to you all is to get out and use your cameras and shoot frequently and often as that is your legacy you are leaving for your family to remember. Happy shooting everyone!!

Hi fellow hoggers! I’m Paco Fernandez from Mexico City. I would like to share a little bit of nostalgia from the times of analog photography. These two cameras I’m talking about are, my first SLR, which I bought at a department store in 1970, (on my mother’s account) and paid her religiously every month. Back then I was 18 years old.
Now after searching for some time I finally found the exact model I used to have in those days a Praktica Super TL, German made by Pentacon.
The other one is my current camera the Nikon D850, as everybody knows Japanese made.
*Note: My very very first camera actually was a Kodak Instamatic 50 and it was a gift from my father back in 1963, I was only 11 years old. I remember I used to open the camera’s film cover right after taking a picture to see if there was something visible on the film!!
I believe it would be interesting if you guys could share stories or anecdotes of your first camera ever, at least, I would be very interested in reading them. Thank you very much