Nikon F was the first ever camera that I purchased myself back in 1971
Sep 6, 2018 05:41:03 #
The first time I bought a camera with my own money was an Argus C-3 in 1945. I was 13 years old and carried two paper routes: one in the early morning and the second after school. It cost $75 and that was a small fortune for a kid. My second purchase was 1956 as a fresh caught Ensign, USN in Yokusuka, Japan where I paid $25 for an Asahiflex IIa, the predecessor of the Pentax without the pentaprism on top. One third the price of the Argus C-3 and 100 times more camera. My daughter still has and occasionally uses the Asahiflex and she also puts the lens to work on an enlarger. The Argus (?) I have no idea where it is but it did give me some great enjoyment.
Sep 6, 2018 05:58:22 #
I started with a Kodak Hawkeye 120 roll film in late 50's. My first enlarger was a Leitz "Egg", then I got a Bessler 23C enlarger. I had both stainless and plastic film reels, plastic sheet trays, a Graylab Timer and kodak safelight, all size easels and paper safe. I sold all of that a few years ago, but still my original Testrite Copy Stand. At age 72, I can look back with joy and pride of my accomplishments and now own (4) Nikon Digital cameras, my favorite being a D200 with 8-400mm lens, as well as the gamut of a well stocked lens stable. I'm not bragging, only thanking God for the many,many blessings I have had!
Sep 6, 2018 06:06:02 #
Minolta SRT-201 with a great Minolta 50mm lens. The SRT was a great camera, but Minolta’s lens line was lacking and the Vivitar zoom I got as a gift was pure crap. That is when I realized 1) that no pros were shooting Minolta and 2) that good glass was the reason for that. I traded the Minolta kit in on a Nikon N90s with a 50mm/1.4 & 80-200/2.8 (all of which I still have), and noticed an immediate improvement in IQ with the Nikkor long lens (over the Vivitar).
Sep 6, 2018 06:20:16 #
The Miranda G model was called: "The poor man's Nikon F" back in the sixties. I started with it and added many screens, finders, and lenses. It was a very well made camera and highly versatile. The exact camera is still being used today by a close friend of mine that I gave it to maybe 25 yrs ago! Still works perfectly.
Sep 6, 2018 06:28:07 #
Wow...time to clean/rearrange the cobwebs. My first cameras were box cameras, bellows cameras, TLR, and a wonderful Speed Graphic. By age 14, the photography bug had bitten deeply, and I began processing/darkroom work. The first camera that I bought, at about age 16, was a 35mm, rangefinder, fixed 45mm f/3.5 lens, totally manual, made in Japan (can't remember the brand)....for $12 at a pawn shop. My dad, who inspired my interest in photography (he had worked at Kodak before WW2 and gave me the Speed Graphic)....was happy with my $12 purchase. My mom, not so much. Within it's range, that $12 camera took incredible images. Wish I still had it. When I was in college, I loaned it to my younger sister, who dropped it overboard into the Gulf of Mexico.
Sep 6, 2018 06:29:21 #
grandpaw wrote:
This is not my first camera but it is the first on... (show quote)
Same camera but in '66 in Japan when my ship (USS Kearsarge CVS 33) stopped in Yokosuka. Still have it, still works. Now shoot a D7200. Nikon is the only camera I ever shot.
Ken S.
Sep 6, 2018 06:33:33 #
Sears, (made by Ricoh). My friend lost it in a river in Florida, so he gave me a big Benbow tripod, which I still use today.
Sep 6, 2018 06:35:37 #
My first camera was a Konica rangefinder purchased at EJ Corvette in 1963. It was followed by 2 Pentax SV's from a Canadian PX in Germany in 1967. I inherited 2 Nikons, a Rollie and a Leica M2 from my dad but primarily shoot a Nikon D600.
Sep 6, 2018 06:52:09 #
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
grandpaw wrote:
This is not my first camera but it is the first on... (show quote)
My first DSLR camera was the Konica Auto Reflex that could take 1/2 frames, so I could get 72 shots on a 36 exp. roll, sometimes 73. I had that about a year and traded it on a Nikon FTN with a 105mm 2.5. And I have never looked back.
Sep 6, 2018 06:57:07 #
grandpaw wrote:
This is not my first camera but it is the first on... (show quote)
My first SLR purchase, coincidentally in 1971, was a Pentax Spotmatic F with a 50mm 1.4 lens. My first SLR, however, was a Practica Nova 1B, which my mate gave me in exchange for some Beatles records. That was in 1970.
Sep 6, 2018 07:01:52 #
Mine was a Canon EF bought in 1986 in a pawn shop in downtown Fairbanks, AK while visiting my brother. Used that for years until I upgraded to a Canon T-90 which I recently sold to that same brother. I still have the EF and will be taking it on an upcoming trip to Utah for shooting IR film. Now I use a Nikon F5 that I bought last year from a local used gear dealer for virtually all of my 35mm film work. That is quite a camera.
Sep 6, 2018 08:06:28 #
grandpaw wrote:
This is not my first camera but it is the first on... (show quote)
I had one just like that, from around the same time period. I sold it on eBay to someone in Dublin, Ireland.
Sep 6, 2018 08:06:47 #
How about a Dejur Dekon? A single lens reflex that did not have interchangeable lenses and blacked out after you pressed the shutter release. I took this camera up to the top of the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano Bridge back in 1963, when there were only two towers and four cables done. The pictures I got on E.J. Korvette's color slide film, (The only film I could afford at the time.) are still among the very best pictures that I have ever taken.
Sep 6, 2018 08:28:01 #
I bought a Hanimex Practica Super TL in 1970. As I recall, it was an East German copy of the Pentax with the Pentax screw mount and a top shutter speed of 1/500. I traded it for a Nikon Nikkormat w/ 2.0 50 mm in 1971 and have used Nikons ever since. F, F2, F3, lenses from 21 mm to 500 mm reflex and now D7100 with five lens setup.
Sep 6, 2018 08:33:39 #
My first camera was a Russian made Kiev, a cheap imitation of the Zeiss Contax. The quality was so poor that it lasted with me only 3 weeks.
My next camera was a Minolta rangefinder. It gave me problems also but in 1963 I bought in Madrid, Spain, my first Nikon F. No meter, I was using a hand held Sekonic meter at the time.
I still have the camera and it still works like the first day.
My next camera was a Minolta rangefinder. It gave me problems also but in 1963 I bought in Madrid, Spain, my first Nikon F. No meter, I was using a hand held Sekonic meter at the time.
I still have the camera and it still works like the first day.
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