Author Topic: Your very first camera (Read 16522 times)

Francois · « **on:** February 28, 2010, 05:37:18 PM »

There are things we always remember like our first car, our first bicycle and possibly our first camera. Most of us probably had a camera when we were kids.

I am wondering what was your very first camera?

moominsean · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2010, 06:09:13 PM »

Polaroid...probably a Super Shooter. Got it as a gift when I was 7 (1977). Put it to good use until I ran out of film...

My second camera was a Kodak Disc.

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Urban Hafner · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2010, 06:17:53 PM »

My first camera was a black point and shot. I don't remember what model it was. But then I got a Minolta X-300 with a Tokina 28-85mm zoom lens. And that one was my only camera for many years and was the standard that none of my digital cameras could surpass. Which is why I went back to film eventually

Urban

choppert · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2010, 06:50:40 PM »

My first camera was a Polaroid Land Camera 1000 (?) that my folks bought me for my seventh birthday (or something like that).
It was brill, but I used to get through film quite quickly!

After that I inherited a Zenith camera that was pointed at everything! I used to send my films off to Tudor for processing.

I eventually was bought a second hand Canon AV1 which I bloody loved!

Windy · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2010, 07:17:13 PM »

I remember having a Kodak Instamatic. From there I progressed to using my dad's FED and Rollei 35T. The first 'real' camera I bought for myself was a Rollei B35 back in the 80's and I'm still using it.

cmdrray · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2010, 07:49:37 PM »

I still have my first camera...a Kodak model 124 that takes 126 film and flashcubes.
I just might take it with me to Tokyo this May.

sapata · « **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2010, 09:15:45 PM »

A fake point and shot Yashica made in Paraguay in the mid 80's was all I could afford, I guess was 13 or 14 can't really remember and it was my very first camera. At the time in Brazil the economy was still recovering from a dictatorship reign so things like that were not cheap so there were loads of fake junk stuff being smuggled through the Paraguay border to Brazil.

In the early 90's I bought my first SLR camera and I still have it ...

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This-is-damion · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2010, 10:11:35 PM »

My whole family were schooled on 110's

Its kind of strange as we do have a lot of old family pictures dating back from 1930 onwards (i think), I know my Grandfather owned a leica. "liberated" from a German during WW2. Then for some reason my own parents must have rebelled against it all and bought some 110's

Horrible things.....

Francois · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2010, 10:39:44 PM »

Funny to see how many people had a Polaroid as their first camera. Mine was a Polaroid too. B&W peel apart only. I don't think the thing even had a focus knob! Or at least, that's the first camera I remember. It came from a charity shop. I also had a 110... though I can't remember exactly which one came first...

astrobeck · « **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2010, 10:46:08 PM »

Very first was an Imperial Mark XII
a funky adobe red color.
Parents gave it to me for a road trip to Disneyland with my aunt and uncle before starting first grade
still have it.

My first SLR was a Sears KSX (Ricoh) that was stolen after a trip to Big Bend.
Replaced it with a K1000 that I still have and use.

euge... · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2010, 11:25:37 PM »

A fujica stx 1.My dad bought it of somebody at work but never really used it so I borrowed it .It died en route to glastonbury in 1998.Theres a corner of the sacred space that will be forever fujica.
It was reborn 4 years ago for 30 quid from sepia memories.A glasto leyline led me to it.

edthened · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2010, 01:31:15 AM »

Och ma furst camera wizza Kodak 44A an took 127 film (rat shows hoo old a am), an ma first SLR wizza Canon T50, so ther

vicky slater · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2010, 07:29:24 AM »

A Kodak Instamatic, but it was rubbish and cut off people's heads and feet ;)

Pete_R · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2010, 08:38:36 AM »

A Diana.

I still have one film I shot with it, taken in 1968. Here's a sample.

hookstrapped · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2010, 11:57:08 AM »

A Polaroid Swinger. My brother and me each got one for Christmas. Loved that thing. Loved the smell of the gunk you had to roll over the pics.

al · « **Reply #15 on:** March 01, 2010, 12:26:13 PM »

An instamatic 126 which I bought at the school jumble sale for 10p aged about 10. Didn't put any film in it for about 3 years, just used to play with the "controls"! When I was 16 when I "upgraded" to a cheap konica 35mm p&s, and then a Praktica MTL5 SLR a bit later, thinking it would make my photos good. It didn't! My mum carried on using the instamatic until just a couple of years ago when the mail order lab she used stopped processing/supplying 126, but its still around somewhere.

mikeg · « **Reply #16 on:** March 01, 2010, 02:08:29 PM »

My first was a Zenith E. Saved up my paper round money each week for about 9 months before I could buy one. I remember the back used to spring open at annoying intervals.

After another 6 months of saving I managed to buy one of those Russian suitcase enlargers.

Mike

Stu · « **Reply #17 on:** March 01, 2010, 02:41:36 PM »

Mine was a red Kodak '110 pocket' which i got on my sixth birthday from my Grandma and Grandad (1990) and it rocked. It's sad to think that kid now will likely have a digital as their first camera, never knowing the excitment of getting your film back 3 days later.

gothamtomato · « **Reply #18 on:** March 01, 2010, 03:55:25 PM »

My little Koday Instamatic. It shot 126 film. I loved that thing.

But the camera that changed my life was my second camera: my Nikon FM. I bought it with my Christmas Club money over 30 years ago. I had it on layaway and when I went to pick it up I was actually $3 short, but the store let me take it anyway. I had originally put down money on a Pentax, but then switched to Nikon after (and this sounds crazy, I know) I heard Jerry Lewis talking about his cameras on a chat show. I figured that since he was a movie director, he knew about quality cameras. I'm glad I took his advice.

I'm still using that camera today. The pictures I have made with it bought me my home.

gothamtomato · « **Reply #19 on:** March 01, 2010, 03:58:57 PM »

Quote from: mikeg on March 01, 2010, 02:08:29 PM

After another 6 months of saving I managed to buy one of those Russian suitcase enlargers.

Mike

Hmmm... I'm wondering if, after all this time when certain CIA-type people have been 'worried' about the Russians developing suitcase nukes, they were way off base and the Russians were just developing suitcase enlargers.

Someone call Monty Python. This sounds like the makings of a great farse.

Karl · « **Reply #20 on:** March 01, 2010, 10:31:00 PM »

a Kodak Instamatic. A present when I was around 9 years old. I've still got my first photo album on the shelf behind me

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #21 on:** March 01, 2010, 11:30:18 PM »

I was another plastic lens 110 format sufferer. It put me off photography for years!!

Miller · « **Reply #22 on:** March 02, 2010, 07:31:08 AM »

A compact Miranda about the size of a XA2. Bought as a teenager to document London's finest officers after I got my first ride and their constant checking of me and my compadres 'documents'.

I guess I have them to thank...

otto k · « **Reply #23 on:** March 02, 2010, 03:04:44 PM »

My first camera was a Canon AE-1.

gregor · « **Reply #24 on:** March 02, 2010, 04:43:59 PM »

The family camera was a Brownie Hawkeye Flash. My 1st personal camera was a Diana - my teacher sent us home with a permission slip asking for 50 cents so us kids could have the experience of taking photos. Wish I still had that just for sentimental reasons, instead of over priced eBay purchases...

Not sure where the negs went, but there's a couple of shots glued into a family album....

Andrea. · « **Reply #25 on:** March 02, 2010, 08:57:32 PM »

Not sure I ever had a first camera..............

Blaxton · « **Reply #26 on:** March 03, 2010, 12:49:13 AM »

I remember taking pictures of our dog with my older brother's Brownie Bullet and my father's Kodak Dualflex but my own first camera was an Instamatic knock-off. I only used it twice that I remember--a trip to New Orleans and a high school party at my house. These pictures are in some box, somewhere. It wasn't until 1979 that I began wasting film in earnest. I bought a camera to take with me on a trip to the UK. The camera store clerk gave me the choice of a simple rangefinder (Canon G-III) or, if I thought that I might want to do more with photography, an slr (Canon AV-1). I bought the slr and realized an addiction. (I later gave the AV-1 to my older brother and, very recently, bought a G-III.) Here is a scan of one of the Ektachromes I made on that trip.

[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]

original_ann · « **Reply #27 on:** March 03, 2010, 09:59:33 PM »

Gosh I wish I could remember the name of it... it was one of those slim Kodak Instamatic pocket type (110 film) cameras. Got it when I was 14 and used it for 3 years until I got my first Canon SLR. I was a whiz with that thing! Hahah

Francois · « **Reply #28 on:** March 03, 2010, 10:28:07 PM »

Quote from: original_ann on March 03, 2010, 09:59:33 PM

I was a whiz with that thing! Hahah

I'm pretty sure you're the only one who could pull something decent out of an Instamatic

Roger Thoms · « **Reply #29 on:** March 04, 2010, 06:57:59 AM »

My first camera was a Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic which took 126 film. I was 6 years old and received the camera for my birthday from a family friend. I was totally amazed, it was one of the coolest gifts I have ever received. I was blown away because in my world a camera was something that only an adult could have. 44 years later I'm still photographing.

Roger

sapata · « **Reply #30 on:** March 04, 2010, 04:05:44 PM »

Quote from: blaxton on March 03, 2010, 12:49:13 AM

I remember taking pictures of our dog with my older brother's Brownie Bullet and my father's Kodak Dualflex but my own first camera was an Instamatic knock-off. I only used it twice that I remember--a trip to New Orleans and a high school party at my house. These pictures are in some box, somewhere. It wasn't until 1979 that I began wasting film in earnest. I bought a camera to take with me on a trip to the UK. The camera store clerk gave me the choice of a simple rangefinder (Canon G-III) or, if I thought that I might want to do more with photography, an slr (Canon AV-1). I bought the slr and realized an addiction. (I later gave the AV-1 to my older brother and, very recently, bought a G-III.) Here is a scan of one of the Ektachromes I made on that trip.

blaxton... I love everything about this picture ! the colour tones, the light, the couple chatting on the background, the machine on the left ( what is it by the way...?), the glass and of course the main subject... ! It reminds me some of those 70's cigarrets or beer magazine adverts...

moominsean · « **Reply #31 on:** March 04, 2010, 07:19:38 PM »

looks like a poker/slot game for bars....(something) fruit is the name of it.

and i agree...very cool shot.

Francois · « **Reply #32 on:** March 04, 2010, 10:14:42 PM »

Quote from: tkmedia on March 04, 2010, 08:27:49 PM

I think the Pentax PC35AF was the first one I ever bought.

And no camera as a kid? I'm slightly disappointed

Skorj · « **Reply #33 on:** March 05, 2010, 10:16:59 AM »

choppert · « **Reply #34 on:** March 05, 2010, 10:51:23 AM »

Wicked Skorj!

Blaxton · « **Reply #35 on:** March 05, 2010, 01:49:53 PM »

Quote from: sapata on March 04, 2010, 04:05:44 PM

the machine on the left ( what is it by the way...?)

I remember being amazed at the number of people who put money into these machines--they are sort of like one-armed bandits, without the arm--instead of giving the money to the barkeep.

Thanks for the compliment about the photo. It is a nicely balanced picture. After thirty years, I can't remember anything about taking it but, considering how new I was to camera work at the time, I have to assume that luck was the main operating force.

Sunny_16 · « **Reply #36 on:** March 05, 2010, 03:22:37 PM »

Skorj! Amazing! That is such an ace photo!

This was mine, as you can see I have always been well good at this photography malarky....

I totally knew it was upside down.
Actually I remember this little camera going everywhere with me until I dropped on the beach and the sand ruined it.

What a great thread!

Clare x

Diane Peterson · « **Reply #37 on:** March 05, 2010, 04:05:12 PM »

Skorj! That is wonderfully terrific! I think my first personal camera was only about 10 years ago..My daughter insisted I have one on our first trip to Europe! Can't imagine why I never had one before that..to think what worlds cameras have opened for me..I believe it was a little Canon point & shoot that took that film that looks like a little cassette..I believe I gave it to someone who didn't own a camera..

tkmedia · « **Reply #38 on:** March 07, 2010, 01:26:39 AM »

I wish I did indeed have a camera when I was little. But we were just too poor and because of that we were cheap bastards; didn't spend money on anything. Prob could not afford to get anything developed anyway. The Pentax was bought in Hong Kong, when visiting our "rich" Godfather, who was not all that financially stable, but just seemed that way to us as he actually owned a radio, a bicycle and had something amazing out of this world thing called air conditioning.

Miller · « **Reply #39 on:** March 07, 2010, 08:36:05 AM »

Quote

I remember being amazed at the number of people who put money into these machines--they are sort of like one-armed bandits, without the arm--instead of giving the money to the barkeep.

Pretty standard Fruit Machine from the late 70's and early 80's. The buttons below the reels were for 'nudging' allowing you to independently move the reel if you were lucky.

When they were defunct as the payout too low, I had one in my bedroom bought from a friend whose pops owned a dry-cleaners...! The look on my mothers face when she came home early and saw us halfway up the stairs with it was a classic...

The picture even reminds me of the stale smell of cigarettes and beer, passive smoking at its worse...

LT · « **Reply #40 on:** March 07, 2010, 12:52:56 PM »

I had the same one that Clare is holding upside down - kodak instamatic of some kind, for my 7th birthday. I was always trying to be arty and taking photos on the slant.

My next camera was an APS auto thing that I got at about 26. It was rubbish but did have a comedy zoom that always brought a smile to my face. Next up ... my brother moved into a new house, and when clearing out the attic of all the rubbish left by the previous owners, we found an old Prakitca slr and a few CZ jenna lenses. It was rubbish and the lenses were funky, but it got me hooked. I dread to think of all the money I've wasted on the various cameras I've used since then before settling on what I've got now. Oh well ... you cant take it with you.

LT · « **Reply #41 on:** March 07, 2010, 12:55:23 PM »

Quote from: Miller on March 07, 2010, 08:36:05 AM

The picture even reminds me of the stale smell of cigarettes and beer, passive smoking at its worse...

Dont remind me of that ... it's only been a couple of years, amazing how quickly we forget. that smell of smoke in your hair when you wake up with a hangover ... awful.

Janet_P · « **Reply #42 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:48:21 PM »

Mine was a 110 camera in the shape of a coca cola can that I won in a competition. It was a great talking point whenever I took it out. I still have it.

calico · « **Reply #43 on:** March 08, 2010, 10:22:10 PM »

A Yashica D TLR in 1967, closely followed by a Pentax SL (black) which served me well for many years!

original_ann · « **Reply #44 on:** March 09, 2010, 10:11:45 PM »

Quote from: Francois on March 03, 2010, 10:28:07 PM

Quote from: original_ann on March 03, 2010, 09:59:33 PM
I was a whiz with that thing! Hahah
I'm pretty sure you're the only one who could pull something decent out of an Instamatic

Francois - I remember a requirement in my first college level darkroom class we had to shoot a roll of 120mm in a kodak point and shoot (should have kept that camera, I have no idea today what it was). The professor didn't believe I shot the roll using the crappy camera and accused me of using "a real camera" because my pictures were too sharp. (That's what shooting with a little instamatic 110mm camera does for you! Hahah!)

Skorj! That is an awesome documentary photo and what a cutiepie you were!

Wensleydale Blue · « **Reply #45 on:** March 10, 2010, 02:48:06 PM »

Mine was a Miranda Sensorex with a removal prism/top viewer, a few prime lenses and a stack of colour filters I bought from a retired major in our village in 1982. Still have it but can't get the batteries for it any longer. Still seems to weigh ton for what is is but I retain a sentimental affection for it.

Graham

Ken B: eyes, I just do eyes. · « **Reply #46 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:32:45 PM »

A Diana, which had I known what they are worth today I would have treated better

Phil Bebbington · « **Reply #47 on:** March 14, 2010, 05:32:01 PM »

A Kodak Instamatic 25 - a Christmas present for me which almost immediately became the family camera!

The first one I bought myself was a Chinon I think, from Dixons.

[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]

christopher walrath · « **Reply #48 on:** March 14, 2010, 11:15:36 PM »

First was an old box camera that used 620 roll film in the early 80's. Then I was given a Disc camera for Christmas in 1984. But my first serious camera would have been my Minolta XG-M, given to me in 1996. Until last October I've have been a Minolta man with occasional trips to Mamiya-land.

moominsean · « **Reply #49 on:** March 15, 2010, 02:30:55 AM »

Quote from: original_ann on March 09, 2010, 10:11:45 PM

Quote from: Francois on March 03, 2010, 10:28:07 PM
Quote from: original_ann on March 03, 2010, 09:59:33 PM
I was a whiz with that thing! Hahah
I'm pretty sure you're the only one who could pull something decent out of an Instamatic

Francois - I remember a requirement in my first college level darkroom class we had to shoot a roll of 120mm in a kodak point and shoot (should have kept that camera, I have no idea today what it was). The professor didn't believe I shot the roll using the crappy camera and accused me of using "a real camera" because my pictures were too sharp. (That's what shooting with a little instamatic 110mm camera does for you! Hahah!)

Skorj! That is an awesome documentary photo and what a cutiepie you were!

you realize he's the surly character to the right? future boxer, beat up some big reds.

Author Topic: Your very first camera (Read 16522 times)

cmdrray

astrobeck