i was 12 or 13 and began shooting with my dad's Contaflex IV. great camera and some of the best shots i have ever made. did some really fun stuff: time lapse, infrared b+w and color. external light meter, all manual camera so i really learned how to shoot.
we built a darkroom in the garage and i learned that side.
several years later i used my meager accumulated savings and bought my 1st 35mm: a Nikkormat FTn with a 50mm f2.0. really loved that camera and it wasn't too different from the Contaflex, all mechanical but it had the TTL metering. used that camera for 20+ years and even took it to mt everest. unfortunately, it was stolen in 1996 -- it was still in perfect working condition at that time.
but by then i had two small kids, a real job, etc., etc... so i just used 35mm point and shoots, some type of nikon and then a Contax tvs, mostly for familiy and vacation pics. in 2002 i went digital which worked well for that type photography: inexpensive, can be emailed to relatives, photo books printed and so on.
last year i got a nikon d-slr and was expecting great things. however, i just didn't like the results: the shoots just had no life to them. but most importantly, the shooting experience was horrible -- more like programming a computer than setting the exposure and composing the shot.
so last summer on our vacation to grand teton and yellowstone i took the d-slr and the contax loaded with FILM and shot the two side by side. got some great shots with both cameras -- but the film results are just better. i can't articulate it well, but they just are -- and it was more fun to use the film camera.
so anyway, i just bought a Nikkormat FT3 and 50mm f1.8 from KEH (how many digital cameras are going to be in perfect working condition 30+ years from now?). i have cleared out a room in the basement and looking at the practicability of installing a darkroom. maybe i can even talk my kids into learning real photography.
wow! -- i feel like a 15 year old kid again.
"you have to walk a long way to come back a short distance" -Edward Albee