What was your first proper camera?

[chris@seary.com]

Mine was this:


http://www.praktica-collector.de/157_Praktica_PL_nova_I.htm

Huge, and built like a tank. Got it second hand while I was at school, it was quite a few years old. No poncey built in light meter - you used a hand held meter or estimated. It kind of looked like a Soviet tower block - you could just picture red drapes hanging down it, and tanks driving past.

Look at the angle of that shutter release!

It had an automatic diaphragm. That's not auto exposure, it's simply the fact that the aperture stayed open until the shutter was released.

No hot shoe. It had a 50mm 2.8 lens.

To change lenses, you had to screw the thing on and unscrew it (42mm screw thread was the most popular lens mount at the time!).

Had a great time using it, and learnt loads about close up photography (all I could afford was extension tubes and a cheap Boots flashgun).

What about you lot? I hope there's a hefty limit on the length of each post, otherwsie OldBoy will have some issues....


Can you try to add a picture of your cameras when you post?

[Alfonso_Frisk]

Oldboy is banned from this thread

[Malcolm1938]

Be fair even OB can only have had one first camera - anyone mentioning more than one should be edited....

[Alfonso_Frisk]

He did a bulk buy of cameras and lenses after his first bank job though

[Oldboy]

Oldboy is banned from this thread

OK. 

[Alfonso_Frisk]

sorry OB but we only have 20000gb space left so your kit list would not fit

[oRGie]

when you say proper, does that mean polaroids dont count ?  that was what got me into taking photos 

[picsfor]

My 'first' ever camera was one of those pocket jobbies that took 110 film cartridges.

When it failed to capture anything decent from a train trip through the Pyrenees i got a Praktica with a 28-200 'Super Zoom' as it was called at the time.
A few months into ownership these got dropped from a loco cab and smashed and the resulting insurance payout allowed my to get a Canon A1 which i had until the late 90's

My Praktica was 'state of the art' compared to Chris's but none the less its basic build was great for learning and were it not for the accident i would have been pleased to carry on with it for who knows how long...

[Hinfrance]

Zenit B

[jinky]

Mine was a Zenit  too - cannot remember the model.

[anglefire]

My first proper camera was a Canon A1 - bought by my parents for my 21st birthday. Still have it. Must take it out of the cupboard and use it again!

[Nemesis]

My first 'serious' camera was a Zorki 4K rangefinder - a fairly blatant Leica clone.

[minky_monkey]

Canon 350D, which I`ve just sold.

[hevans]

Nikon FM. Bought it with money earned mowing lawns. It took a lot of lawns to earn the money.

Then some really nice person stole it in the early '90s.

H.

[Eileen]

Olympus OM1. Bought when I was a student and used until a few years ago, when I got a D70. A great little camera which is sitting on my shelf looking a bit forlorn as I write this.