What was your FIRST 35mm and how old were you?

[Kvistgaard]

Secondhand Canon EOS 1000 with a, shall we say, entry-level Sigma 35-80 lens in 1995, when I was 24. Quickly traded it in for a better EOS and not least better glass. As a present for my 26th birthday in 1997, my girlfriend gave me a huge box of darkroom equipment + a day in a local darkroom-for-hire, where she taught me the basics of BW printing. I still have both darkroom gear and girlfriend (now wife), but the darkroom was torn down a few years ago. Nothing to do with me, of course.

 

[Glenn M]

First camera purchased was a brand spankin' new Canon fTb in 1971 (cost $279 as I recall with 50mm f1.8 lens)... had wanted the F-1 but just couldn't swing the extra $200. Altho' many cameras have been added since then, it's STILL in use and in perfect working order... altho' extremely infrequently used.

 

[eskyone]

First camera was a brand new Minolta Maxxum 9000 with 50mm lens. I purchased it from the PX when I first arrived in Germany, I was 19.

 

[fiveCARDSdown]

My first camera (and reason I have stuck with the OM system) was my grandfathers OM-10 at 5, I loved it and used it uptill 2000 when I lost my way and got myself a Fuji 5600. Used it for one year then moved back to film with a OM-2n.

 

[Marcus K]

My first camera was my grandpa's Leica IId rangefinder camera with a Elmar 50mm 3.5 lens. (Am I spoiled?)

 

[MartinB]

Retina 1b

My father gave me his Kodak Retina 1b when he bought himself a Minolta SRT - 1?? when I was around 13. I had a 126 Instamatic up to that point. I bought E6 film with money earned shovelling snow from driveways! The Retina did not have a rangefinder (zone focus) so I got very good at estimating distance. I found the linked EV scale a good way to learn the relationship between aperture and time and the folding design made it easy to carry everywhere. I didn't use it much once I bought myself my first SLR.

I still have the Retina but the shutter is not working as it has sat in a drawer for the last 15 years. Someday I will get it a CLA and start using it again as it delivered very sharp negatives when properly focused.

 

[ted_smith]

Olympus OM-10 with 50mm lens. Got when I was 15 (so that would be 1991) and used it for all my photography right up until 2005 when I bought a Nikon F65. Great camera. Took some great shots with it. Not only that, but it taught me the principles of DOF etc - something that a lot of nebies these days don't understand with their point-and-shoots.

 

[harveyje]

I played with my mother's 620 folder at age 10, then had Brownie 620 at age 11, followed by a Yashica C in HS. After married I obtained a polaroid for convenience. When #1 was born I got an instamatic for pictures of children. When I finished medical school I was able to obtain an Olympus Pen F with the cash graduation gifts I received (age 26). I used this extensively for the next several years until I was assigned to Okinawa where I started with a NIKOMAT FTN (same as nikkormat FTN) with a 50/1.4 lens and built from there. By this time I was 32 years old

 

[Wyno]

My first 35mm slr was a Praktica with a screw mount and a Zeiss 50mm F2.2 lens. I got it from my dad when I was 25 and I think he bought it new in 1953, so it's 2 years older than me. I still use it occasionally.
Mike

 

[Rlibersky]

Ricoh 100. 28 years old. Sold it a week later to buy a used Mamiya 645.

 

[cberry2]

First 35mm camera

First 35mm camera was an Argus C3 that I borrowed from my Dad when I was 12 in '69. Next a Minolta SRT100 which I sold to buy a Nikkormat FT2. Currently using the F6 for analog 35mm and mamiya 645 Pro for medium format.

 

[IloveTLRs]

A Carena 35F when I was 10, maybe? My mom bought it for me at InterDiscount under Zurich Bahnhof. I remember dropping it down some stairs around the Renweg about an hour after she gave it to me. Still worked, though.
For a photo class in college I had a K-1000 my dad bought me.
Still have 'em both.

 

[migtex]

My first 35mm was a Nikon F at age of 14 (the one on the left front row) from my father, I need to start shooting weedings for the family photo business. I'm 47 now and the studio and lab closed last Aug.

 

[nocrop]

I was 16 and living in Japan, and I was fixated on getting a newly released F2AS. Though I saved and scrimped, my dad helped out and paid for most of the kit, which came with the basic 50/1.4. Thankfully he was similarly infected with the photo bug. It was a lot of yen, but cheaper than stateside prices. It was too much camera for a neophyte, but I really loved the damn thing and actually won a juried photo competition with it.

 

[Clay2]

A $10.00 rangefinder in 1961. Only markings were: 'Montanus' and 'Made in Germany'. It had no built-in
rangefinder so got one that mounted in flash shoe.Knobs to wind, re-wind. Had 3 shutter speeds and
3 f/stops. It worked ! Sold it in 1964 for $10.00 and got a $25.00 rangefinder that I still have.
/Clay

 

[Clay2]

OOps, Forgot. I was 18 years old.
/Clay

 

[mmcclellan]

My first 35mm camera was an Argus C3, which my dad bought for my mom as a wedding present in 1945 when he came home from the war. She started me using it with an old light meter (not a Weston, but close!) when I was maybe 5 years old and I've been shooting ever since!

I can't thank her enough for getting me into photography, even before I could read.

 

[joemilx]

My first 35mm is a Contax Ie with a collapsible 3.5 Tessar from my paternal grandfather's collection. I first used it in 1954 at age 14 and still use it today!

 

[Colin Corneau]

A Pentax, ME Super if I recall correctly.

I stuck with Pentax all the way up to an LX, an MX (with winder) and an array of lenses that I weep over today I left behind. I went over to Nikon which I have to this digital age.

 

[dickgent]

37 years ago Hanimex 35 screw mount. I was 14. College brought me to a Nikon FM. Istill have this camera. It is pretty beat (1,000s of photos) and it still takes GREAT photos. Ijust bought an Graphic View 4x5 and I'm Learnning all over again. Oh Yea couple digitals that Igave to my son. I love film.

 

[thuggins]

A Pen FT when I was 21 years old. Still have it, still love it.

 

[wazza]

OM1 1972 aged 16, on apprentice wages it took a long time to save the cash for this, my very first purchased camera.
wazza

 

[jasonjoo]

I received a hand-me-down Canon A-1. My old man owned it for quite some time (at least 20+ years) and gave it to me once I started showing an interest in photography.

 

[tac]

Miranda Sensorex, age 15; Dad got tired of me swiping his Spotmatic. Still have both.

 

[mikey99]

The Sensorex really brings back memories.......

Flashback to 1969 : As a 14 year old I recall drooling over the pictures of this camera in the Lafayette catalogs. Unfortunately there was no way I could afford to buy one of these back then :-(

Fast forward to 2008 and I finally bought a Sensorex in good condition from eBay for 20 bucks....

If I could only have got it at this price back in 1969

It's quite a tank compared to my Olympus OM's

Miranda Sensorex, age 15; Dad got tired of me swiping his Spotmatic. Still have both.