Your First Camera: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Sep 23, 2011 09:54:33 #
Okay, now this could be fun.
My first camera was given to me by my then boyfriend who had just graduated from photography school and gotten a new camera from his parents. So he gave me his old Praktica with a 50mm Zeiss lens and his Weston Master V completely manual light meter. He also gave me a couple of hours of instruction on how to put film in the camera (it wasn't so easy ... nothing automatic about the process!), set the f-stop and shutter speed, and use the light meter. Then he said "Go forth and take pictures."
And I did. All black and white, of course. Color was too expensive because you had to send it to a lab, whereas you could process black and white yourself.
I have owned many cameras since then ... I don't even remember what became of that camera, though I think I probably passed it along to someone else who needed a first camera.
What was yours?
My first camera was given to me by my then boyfriend who had just graduated from photography school and gotten a new camera from his parents. So he gave me his old Praktica with a 50mm Zeiss lens and his Weston Master V completely manual light meter. He also gave me a couple of hours of instruction on how to put film in the camera (it wasn't so easy ... nothing automatic about the process!), set the f-stop and shutter speed, and use the light meter. Then he said "Go forth and take pictures."
And I did. All black and white, of course. Color was too expensive because you had to send it to a lab, whereas you could process black and white yourself.
I have owned many cameras since then ... I don't even remember what became of that camera, though I think I probably passed it along to someone else who needed a first camera.
What was yours?
Sep 23, 2011 10:01:21 #
A family friend gave me a Brownie 620 when I was seven. Mom couldn't afford film then but I thought about that camera- a LOT. When I got my first job I bought a 35mm Kodak Pony and never looked back.
Sep 23, 2011 10:02:48 #
my previous avatar photo was of me at 9 years old 1n michigan with a little kodak box camera used 126 film. my first "real" camera was a nikon f phgotomic, that my dad who was a professional photographer for ferris state college gave me. i also was given a nikromat el, then an fe, owned an n-70 till i accidently put my finger through the shutter while loading film, then a 6006 and a d-100. currently own 2 fe's,, 1 f, a n-75 a n-90 and a nikon l-22 digital point and shoot. which is the only thing i can shoot with since i cant afford film development on 103 a week in unemployment.
Sep 23, 2011 10:13:58 #
I Had the usual cameras of the sixties, Kodaks and Polaroids. First 35mm was a Fujica STX1 purchased in early 70's. Purchased additional lenses and accessories. I gave it my son who still uses it. Has his own darkroom and shoots a lot of B&W.
Sep 23, 2011 10:36:24 #
I remember the old Brownie cameras of childhood. They were EVERYWHERE. I don't think there was a household in the USA that didn't have one or more of them. And I remember 126 Kodak film. Gee. That's a really old memory. It was dusty from disuse!
I was really surprised when I learned that you could actually set a camera to take a picture a particular way. I thought all cameras were like Brownie's. Point and shoot. The original point and shoot! The difference was that there was no such thing as auto focus, or for that matter, ANY focus ... so you either got a picture or not. You either were in the range for its lens or you weren't. There was or wasn't enough light. ALL you could do was point and shoot. Mr. Kodak controlled the rest.
We have come a fair distance since then! But funny how many of those old shots from Brownie cameras are still around, isn't it? They have really stood the test of time!
I was really surprised when I learned that you could actually set a camera to take a picture a particular way. I thought all cameras were like Brownie's. Point and shoot. The original point and shoot! The difference was that there was no such thing as auto focus, or for that matter, ANY focus ... so you either got a picture or not. You either were in the range for its lens or you weren't. There was or wasn't enough light. ALL you could do was point and shoot. Mr. Kodak controlled the rest.
We have come a fair distance since then! But funny how many of those old shots from Brownie cameras are still around, isn't it? They have really stood the test of time!
Sep 23, 2011 11:34:04 #
My first camera was a Canon FTQL, a film SLR purchased in Misawa, Japan in 1970. Misawa Air Force Base moved out a squadron of B-52 bombers that used 35mm mapping film, ASA 2. They gave away 10,000 foot reels in tin cans to anyone who wanted it. They also passed out 2 pound cans of Dektol powdered concentrated developer for use on that super fine grain film. I RAN downtown to buy my first camera, thrilled to be in Japan during Winter with a new camera and all the film I could ever use.
Sep 23, 2011 12:07:34 #
My first camera was a Kodak Retinette purchased in the Army PX in Orleans, France in 1958. Shot colored slides and Kodak Tri-X black and white. I recently had all my slides digitized by ScanCafe. After over 50 years they still retain nice color.
Sep 23, 2011 12:16:41 #
bobharron wrote:
My first camera was a Kodak Retinette purchased in the Army PX in Orleans, France in 1958. Shot colored slides and Kodak Tri-X black and white. I recently had all my slides digitized by ScanCafe. After over 50 years they still retain nice color.
That was when Kodak still made cameras and lenses. Too bad they gave up.
Sep 23, 2011 12:19:20 #
bobmielke wrote:
My first camera was a Canon FTQL, a film SLR purchased in Misawa, Japan in 1970. Misawa Air Force Base moved out a squadron of B-52 bombers that used 35mm mapping film, ASA 2. They gave away 10,000 foot reels in tin cans to anyone who wanted it. They also passed out 2 pound cans of Dektol powdered concentrated developer for use on that super fine grain film. I RAN downtown to buy my first camera, thrilled to be in Japan during Winter with a new camera and all the film I could ever use.
I remember Dektol. For that matter (gulp) I think 1970 was the year that I got my first camera too. We must be about the same age.
Sep 23, 2011 12:27:55 #
My first camera was the Brownie- actually my Dad's camera. My uncle had a very nice Zeiss camera which I admired, but could'nt afford. Luck would have it, I wanted to sell my train set, and the man who was interested had a Voightlander Prominent. I asked my uncle about it, and he said the Prominent was better than his Zeiss! So I swopped the trains for the camera and used it for several years with excellent results. For a 1930's camera it had the Heliar lens, a rangefinder and a non electric exposure "meter". Eventually I traded the camera for a new Voightlander because it had the film advance connected to the shutter (too many of my earlier pictures were double exposure!). I've kept every camera I ever bought except for that early Voightlander and a Thornton Picard plate camera (it was huge). Now I wish I still had both of these cameras (and the box Brownie) just so I have a complete collection.
Sep 23, 2011 12:38:31 #
Sep 23, 2011 12:42:52 #
bobmielke wrote:
fivedawgz - I was born in 1949 - I'm 62.
Got you beat. 1947, 64 nearing 65 (ouch).
Sep 23, 2011 12:44:54 #
well fivedawgs according to your avatar photo you don't look a day over 50. :!: do I get a cookie?
Sep 23, 2011 12:46:29 #
sinatraman wrote:
well fivedawgs according to your avatar photo you don't look a day over 50. :!: do I get a cookie?
TWO cookies. And a glass of cold milk, too :-)
Sep 23, 2011 12:59:15 #
thanks I have been meaning to ask about your lovely avatar photo. I really like the pose and the look on your face especialy the smirk that is warm and friendly with just a hint of give me greif buddy and you will be singing soprano :!: :lol: is that a self portrait or did someone else take it ? All seriousness, it is quite impressive. I know more about quantum physics then I do portraits and i know nothing about quantum physics.
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