What was your first slr?

AgX · Aug 7, 2019

blockend said:
...in 1975. ...I was a status anxious teenager back then, and wanted a brand people would recognise.

I did not know that such already existed back then, over here nobody cared.

removed account4 · Aug 7, 2019

k1000 ( still have and use it )

bdial · Aug 7, 2019

First was a used Nikkormat FT

Rick A · Aug 7, 2019

Bought an Olympus FTL kit in the summer of 71, Blumenthal's in Olean N.Y.

blockend · Aug 7, 2019

AgX said:
I did not know that such already existed back then, over here nobody cared.

I'd begun to pick up a few paying gigs and thought people might wonder if this kid and his gear were up to the job. The story is the same today, people hear only full frame sensors are professional, or nothing less than 50mp can cut it, or L glass or whatever. Back then Nikon or Canon were the cameras non-photographers had heard of, so the brand was one less obstacle to be taken "seriously".

Peltigera · Aug 7, 2019

Zenit E bought in 1973 with all the compulsory overtime I had had to do. An excellent camera which never gave me a moment's problem, even when I dropped it when descending from the top deck of a Routemaster bus - it bounced down the stairs, off the platform onto the road at 30 MPH. Solid!

choiliefan · Aug 7, 2019

Brand new Minolta SRT101 with 58mm 1.4 lens during the summer of '71 purchased at The Broadway department store in Panorama City, CA.
Ran lots of film through it in HS. The plastic advance gear stripped within 8-10 months which was fixed under warranty.
Started shooting with a used Mamiya C33 so the Minolta saw less action thusly the replacement advance gear didn't strip again until maybe 1975.
No warranty that time so had to pay but I believe a brass gear was installed instead so the camera still advances fine today. It's seen a lot less action the last 40-years though.

polka · Aug 7, 2019

In 1969 : TOPCON RE2 ; nice 1.8/50mm TOPCOR lens ; metal focal plane shutter synchronizing at 1/125 ; coupled through the lens CdS cell (on the mirror) ; exakta bayonet ; still working like a charm today - never cla'd !

POLKa

btaylor · Aug 7, 2019

Contax D. Dreadful. Dim viewfinder, knob film advance, “pre-set” aperture, very stiff focus.

mrosenlof · Aug 7, 2019

Yashica TL-ElectroX worked all summer (1973) to get it. 50mm f/1.7 Yashinon. maybe f/1.8. Still have and use the lens, it's pretty good. The body has died.

Ariston · Aug 7, 2019

Mine was one of those AE-1 Programs that are all the rage today. I traded an old guitar for it.

mshchem · Aug 7, 2019

My Dad helped me buy a used Pentax SP500 in 1970. I was in heaven!

BAC1967 · Aug 7, 2019

The first one I used was my fathers Minolta srTscII which I now own. The first one I owned was a Chinon SLR that I bought from a friend in college, probably around 1987. I still have it and it still works great.

Chinon SLR by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

DWThomas · Aug 7, 2019

I bought a Konica FP with 52mm f/1.4 Hexanon lens in 1963. All manual all the time. Still have it, although the shutter, a Copal Square metal focal plane, started acting up -- in 1981 and I moved on.

Yes, there's some covering missing from when I took a brief look at trying to open it up for a DIY CLA -- and changed my mind!

StepheKoontz · Aug 7, 2019

My first SLR was an OM1 MD I still own and use. I recently replaced the foam and recovered it with some blue vinyl from cameraleather.com, I like the way it turned out. It's a reliable, super compact SLR with a fantastic viewfinder and equally compact lens system. The shutter speed and aperture both being around the lens always made so much sense to me. The only design feature that aesthetically is out of place to me is the oversize ISO dial on the top plate. I later got an OM2n and that probably is my favorite SLR, the TTL OTF metering works amazingly well.

bsdunek · Aug 7, 2019

Retina Reflex S. Was a Christmas present from my Dad in 1958.

Michael L. · Aug 7, 2019

A Contaflex I from 1953, bought second-hand and newly CLA'd in 1976. Wonderful (if a little heavy) camera which served me well for nearly 20 years.

ronwhit · Aug 7, 2019

A Canon Ftb w/ 50 mm Canon Fd f 1.4 lens purchased 46 years ago this month. Has had two CLAs in its life, and I still use it occasionally.

Vaughn · Aug 7, 2019

A Nikon 2002 (aka N55) that was my uncle's. A nice camera, really. Shot a couple weddings with it, some snapshots of the boys when they were young and before we got a digital snapshot camera. It is still around the house somewhere. I started photographing with a Rolleiflex and skipped doing much work with a 35mm.

Pieter12 · Aug 7, 2019

A Nikon F Photonic, bought new in 1967.

abruzzi · Aug 7, 2019

A black Nikkormat FTn.

I still have it, I still use it, and it still works perfectly.

jim10219 · Aug 7, 2019

K1000.

tomkatf · Aug 7, 2019

Black Nikkormat FTn... Stolen c.1971 and quickly replaced by this one, which I still have. Both purchased at Adolph Gassers on Geary in San Francisco.

Brendan Quirk · Aug 7, 2019

Ricoh Singlex TLS with Prinz 50/1.7. Still functional, but well worn.

Theo Sulphate · Aug 7, 2019

A Pentax SP500 bought new in November 1971. This one:

For the next 15 years this camera and its 55/2 Super Takumar was all I used. I've added the other lenses only in the last six years or so. I still use the camera. I have made my best photos with it, possibly because it is so simple, its viewfinder is uncluttered, and it has become an extension of me.

What was your first slr?

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