47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Don’t remember the year, but it was a Sony DSC-W5, that was replaced by a Canon XSi, then a 60D in late 2010. And the money continues to flow….

hcmcdole

Christmas 1999 - Kodak 3MP 2X optical zoom for $800 ($100 off normal price). Nikon pro cameras with digital backs were going for $12,000 to $25,000 at the time - hard to imagine.

I thought of the Kodak as a toy but after the first download I never shot film again. Had it until I could afford an upgrade to Nikon Coolpix 5700 in 2003 and it went belly up in 2 years. GRRR! Finally bought my first DSLR in 2006 Canon EOS 20D which was hard to see the image after shooting (very tiny review screen).

I had the Kodak for a Cancun trip in May, 2002. Did a halfway decent job back then.

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bodiebill

Sony DSC 75 with Zeiss Vario Sonar in ??
Great camera with excellent resolution and true colors.
Still use it.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Too bad we can't post some of the archive comments when the digital vs. film wars were in high gear. Do you think we could match up names during the DSLR vs. Mirrorless wars... ? Some folks just don't like change... Now we have the Phone cam vs. Real camera debates... NOTHING ever changes but the names...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

As for your film vs digital comment, one has to realize these are two different genres. It's not a contest.
--Bob

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It's rare now, but it does still happen, that some lost soul is found on some remote Pacific island still claiming film is 'better' than digital. But, it is rare now in April 2022.

The DSLRosaurs aren't fighting against change at anywhere near the same level of ferociousness. They can see with their own eyes: Mirrorless images are winning all the prizes. It's already not even fair. It's not even a competition.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

First digital was in 2005.

A relative had just finished helping redesign our company website. Shortly thereafter, a package arrived- a Nikon D70. He told me that we needed to create a portfolio of our work, and to learn how to use the camera and just keep shooting and shooting. And when I thought I had enough photos, to shoot more.

Made the jump to full frame in 2010, a D700.

For now, I'm using with a D7100 and D750. Sold the D70, still have the 700.

NikonPete Loc: Utah

Not counting cell phones, 2004 D70, 2009 D700, 2011 GoPro, 2017 D7200 mainly for videos. D70 fell down a cliff hence the D700. Still love my D700 to this day, the best camera ever.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

I started with a Minolta Dimage in the early 2000s, great little camera, took great pictures, still have it but doesn't work anymore.

PhotosBySteve

I preordered the Canon 7d when it was first announced in the fall of 2009. I gifted it to a student 3 years ago and it is still going strong

radiojohn

I got into it early (1998?), when a consumer megapixel camera was a big deal.

My first article for Shutterbug's eDigital Photo was about a 1 MP fixed focus a Kodak that was essentially a digital box camera. It was one of the first times a photo taken WITH the camera was printed as opposed to pictures OF the camera. Those early 640x480 camera pictures did not print well!

For other articles I did for the magazines I used a SoundVision CMOS Pro. It was a tethered metal box with a R/G/B rotating disk that took three shots and combined them. Aimed at product photography, it works well with things that did not move! I used it with a ring light for shots of whatever I was writing about.

SoundVision also made a still camera that was "almost a megapixel" that did noise reduction, etc, with a separate program. You also adjusted the white balance by aiming it at a blue sky and holding down several buttons. I used it on NYE 2000 while bar hopping!

I ended up producing a multimedia CD called "How To Buy Your First Digital Camera." It explained things such as resolution, compression, digital zoom and all those new-fangled terms!

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

My first digital was a Rebel XT back in 2005. That was followed by a T2i in 2010 and I sold the XT. Now my main camera is an 80D bought in 2016. I still occasionally use the T2i. Along the way for portability I picked up an SX50 HS, then a DMC-ZS100. Wanting a longer lens than the 100, I got a DCZS80.

Gort55 Loc: Northern Colorado

My first digital camera was a Casio bought in 1999, and I've had GAS every since.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I started using an Olympus digital camera around 1997 or 1998, primarily to shoot real estate properties. It cost close to $1000 and, if I recall correctly, made a 1.5MP image. I eventually gave it to my brother-in-law, who used it for eBay images until four or five years ago. It was still working, but he had to update his computer and couldn't find a memory card reader that worked with the camera's unique memory on the newer computer operating system.

My first DSLR was a Canon 10D that I bought in 2003. It was 6MP, APS-C and a really nice camera. With the battery grip (best one Canon ever made for a DSLR) and a second battery, it cost about $2400 at that time. The 10D body alone was the first DSLR to cost less than $2000 ($1999). That was a significant drop in price compared to the D60 and D30, and especially the 1D and 1Ds that preceded it. It used essentially the same 7 point AF system that Canon put in their Elan 7/EOS 30 film cameras.

From shooting Canon SLR film cameras for some years I already had a bunch of Canon EF mount lenses and accessories such as dedicated Canon flashes... So the 10D made sense. The 10D was the last Canon APS-C camera to NOT be able to use EF-S lenses especially made for their APS-C format cameras. The first of the EF-S lenses (18-55mm) was introduced with the Digital Rebel (300D) less than a year after I bought the 10D. But, as a result, there were no Canon lenses that were particularly wide on the 10D. The only lens I sold and replaced to accommodate the smaller sensor format was a Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM. Nice lens, just not very wide on the 10D. After testing a series of the 3rd party lenses available at the time, I ended up buying a Tokina AT-X 12-24mm f/4. That was a decent lens that looked and felt a lot like the L-series Canon it replaced. After I graduated to later Canon APS-C DSLRs I eventually got a Canon EF-S 10-20mm f/3.5-4.5 USM.... one of the best ultrawides, crop sensor lenses anyone has made.

EDIT:

I just tracked it down... my first digital was an Olympus D500L that was 1.4MP: https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D600/D650A.HTM The lens on this camera was superb... 50-150mm (full frame equivalent) and f/2.8 throughout. The autofocus system drove me nuts! It was pretty slow and the shutter wouldn't release until focus was achieved. I recall swearing at the camera at times!

This also was one of the camera models that started the whole craze about shutter actuations or "clicks". Early digital used the same shutters as film cameras. Manufacturers didn't anticipate that users would go nuts shooting "free" digital images. No longer encumbered by the cost of film and processing, people who switched to digital started taking a whole lot more shots! It turned out these Oly cameras at best only had about 20,000 clicks in their shutters. As a result, some of the heaviest users of the camera were getting shutters replaced under warranty... sometimes more than once. Oly was going broke replacing shutters for free! (For comparison, in recent years on one or two occasions I've shot 8000 or 9000 images in a day. But I commonly shoot 1500 to 3000 at an event.)

All the manufacturers took note of this and put a lot of effort into developing more durable shutters. They also started citing predicted shutter actuations for marketing purposes, and to some extent still do that today. Even the most entry level cameras today have shutters rated for around 75,000 clicks and many have 100,000, 200,000, even 400,000 and more click-rated shutters. These aren't guarantees... but at least get the manufacturer through the typical warranty period before the shutter wears out and needs replacement!