The year was 1956, for my 13th birthday. The camera was a Minolta A2, a rangefinder with a 45mm f/2.8 Rokkor lens, case, Kalimar fan flash and Kalimar light meter with booster and case. My dad bought the whole outfit for me ($69.95)from Clifton Camera in NJ. BTW, my dad was making about $65 a week, so it was a BIG DEAL back then. I shot hundreds of rolls of Kodachrome 10 and Anscochrome 32 (high speed back then), later began shooting Ilford HP-S, the forerunner of HP-5. Great memories.