Your FIRST 35mm Camera...

EdColorado · Apr 18, 2014

As with plenty of others, an Argus C3. My father gave it to me when he upgraded to a Minolta SRT 101. I put hundreds of rolls through that Argus, rebuilt the shutter mechanism once (actually the part that trips the shutter and controls speed) and it still works fine. I haven't used it in a while, perhaps this summer...

cobbu2 · Apr 19, 2014

The Yashica TL-Electro that I bought in 1976 as a high school junior. I had/used that camera until it was stolen from my car in 1984. I was lucky to find another in like-new condition in 2009 and it's still one of my favorite go-to rigs.

TechnicalPan · Apr 22, 2014

MY FIRST CAMERA

On a trip to Buenos Aires on my 16th birthday my parents gave me the perfect gift. I was given a Nikormat fT2. 38 years later I still have and use it. Nikon then, Nikon now! Nikon forever !!!

Archimedes the Dog · Apr 24, 2014

My first 35mm that belonged to me (as opposed to my father or the high school) was a Minolta Freedom III auto-focus point and shoot. It took great pictures and I still have lots of enlarged pictures framed in my house from it. I recently bought a purportedly-working example of the same camera at a swap meet for $5 (US) and am awaiting a test roll back.

Someonenameddavid · Apr 26, 2014

BradleyK said:
A black Nikon F2AS with a 28mm F2 Ai, 55mm F3.5 Ai Macro and a 105mm F2.5 Ai purchased new on 17 May 1979. By the end of the year I was so smitten, I added a second F2AS with an MD2/MB1 motor drive, a 24mm F2 Ai, an 85mm F2 Ai, 180mm F2.8 Ai, 300mm F4.5 and an 80-200mm F4.5. Before purchasing the set-up, and I had "borrowed" my father's Canon Ftb Ql and his five lens kit for a year or so before deciding I should buy my own camera instead of grabbing dad's all the time.

You must have been rolling in the dough back then, $3-4K when a base mustang was $7k

bob01721 · Apr 28, 2014

My first 35mm was a Minolta SRT-101 that I bought at the China Beach PX when I was in Vietnam ('67 - '69). I still use it -- I shoot all my 35mm with SRTs (101s, 201, 102), almost exclusively with B&W. I have 'em CLA'd every ten years or so, and the shutters and meters are still spot on.

nicholaskong · Apr 29, 2014

My first 35mm is Konica Hexar RF with Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM. Currently is using Canon EOS 1V-HS. Prefer SLR than the RF

Forrest Conifer · Apr 29, 2014

My first 35mm camera was a Ricoh FF3-AF I bought for $1 at a thrift store in Northern California in late 2011 while on a trip. I took some photos with it while in San Francisco, but I left it in the back of a rental car when I got home. I just bought an FF3-AF Super on eBay - slightly later model, but fairly similar - because I like its design. I'm hoping to get my first proper SLR soon - I'm liking the looks of a Pentax K1000 that's sitting at a local camera shop.

Silvertooth · Apr 30, 2014

My first was a Pentax K1000 with a 50 mm f2.0. Birthday gift from my parents when I turned 18. I still have and use it, along with my ME Super, Minolta SRT 102 and Minolta X700. I think they will outlast the Nikon D90 I have.

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2014

First slr was a Minolta SR-7

Regular Rod · Apr 30, 2014

My word! What a great number of us used 35mm at some stage in our photography! How many of us now would be prepared to admit that, way back when, we actually made a mistake and should have chosen rolls and sheets instead of the ludicrously tiny negatives that are the results of lugging cameras around that are far too big for the size and quality they produce?

Digital is a good replacement for the grab shot world that was served by 35mm. However, every other requirement is still served quite well by film in rolls and sheets.

RR

CHX · Apr 30, 2014

Regular Rod said:
My word! What a great number of us used 35mm at some stage in our photography! How many of us now would be prepared to admit that, way back when, we actually made a mistake and should have chosen rolls and sheets instead of the ludicrously tiny negatives that are the results of lugging cameras around that are far too big for the size and quality they produce?

Digital is a good replacement for the grab shot world that was served by 35mm. However, every other requirement is still served quite well by film in rolls and sheets.

RR

I started with 35mm, and tried 120, but now prefer 35mm. There are many advantages, including a wide choice of equipment, some of it very fine indeed, and is very affordable, as is the film itself. For those of us with a limited budget and many commitments, 35mm is a flexible and affordable way to create art we care about.

beegee675 · Apr 30, 2014

Started with a Miranda Sensorex.... Just happened on a used one at the thrift shops and had to see what it was like again. One heavy chunker, but nicely made. This one came with a miranda 50/1.4, something I never had a chance to get, not exactly a system camera in those days, just third-party stuff.
-BG

bob01721 · Apr 30, 2014

Regular Rod said:
My word! What a great number of us used 35mm at some stage in our photography! How many of us now would be prepared to admit that, way back when, we actually made a mistake and should have chosen rolls and sheets instead of the ludicrously tiny negatives that are the results of lugging cameras around that are far too big for the size and quality they produce?

Digital is a good replacement for the grab shot world that was served by 35mm. However, every other requirement is still served quite well by film in rolls and sheets.

RR

Hmmm. Not sure what you're getting at. I still shoot 35mm and 4x5. Each has its place.

Black Dog · May 1, 2014

I agree...I've taken many a good image with both. However MF and LF opened my eyes to a whole new world of detail and sumptuous tones.

darkosaric · May 6, 2014

My first 35mm camera was nikon F801s, sold it long time ago when I got F3 ... but last weekend on flea market I bought one together with nikkor AF 70-210/f4 for 10. Could not resist .

I forgot how nice this camera is - so well build, nice and stable in hand, it is a great value for the money.

Jim Noel · May 6, 2014

My first 35mm camera was a Kodak 35 bought new in the early 40's. I was in high school but don't remember the exact year, probably 1943.

kossi008 · May 7, 2014

My very first own 35 mm camera was the Canon AT-1 which I still own today. I remember, I was 14 and saved up to it for my birthday, with my parents topping of the amount for me to make the purchase.
Still doing mostly 35 mm, but rangefinders have now displaced my old AT-1. I do give it a spin now and then, though...

jtcliff · May 7, 2014

My first slr was a Zenit M (?). I bought it in Southampton in 1967. I fancied myself as the character in the movie "Blowup" and shut everything in sight. I moved to working in Uganda in 1968 and on a trip to Kenya In 1969 I got my car broken into and lost the camera. Very depressed about that but splurged on a 1970 Nikon F in Nairobi a year later and felt a lot better.
I still have the F. The old photo album still gets pulled out and the Zenit and Nikon wild life pictures looked over. It was great to be in your twenties and carrying an slr in those days. Point and shoots seem so less cool today.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · May 8, 2014

Zenit ET factory new 58mm Helios bought after a sell of an Istanbul 46 crash cymbal for 80 lira. I traded it with factory new German Military boots and saved a winter. Than I bought a Yashica FX D Quartz with 35-105 and traded it with factory new Kiev 88 , 80mm , 250mm , two backs , one top lightmeter and an bag with parasolley and 3 filters. I traded it with III C Leica with 5 cms Elmar and I bought my 8th Leica after 20 years.

DmaalaM · May 29, 2014

I worked after high-school for a sports photo company about 2005. They still used film then. I was able to purchase a beater Nikon FM2n which I used for a 3 or 4 years to take .... thousands of photos on it. I used 3 third party zoom lenses until the zoom/focus locked up and had to replace it for the next. I ended up selling her to go digital. I'm glad to have had that experience at the tail end of working film photography. Receiving blocks of film for work, loading film quickly, cranking each shot, and marking every canister. It is only within a year that I have returned to film after being jaded by digital photography. I once again have a Black nikon FM2n and my now prefered 35mm focal length.

Peter Trenchard · May 29, 2014

My first 35mm camera was a Zeiss Contaflex, given to me by my father in 1975. It had a fixed Zeiss 50mm F2.8 lens with a leaf shutter and no metering so I had to use a small Lumix light meter. The lens was sharp from F5.6 to F22 but useless at F2.8. The shutter speeds were very optimistic and until I got used to it I had a lot of overexposed negs. I used it until 1980 when I could afford to buy a new Yashica FX3 which I've still got and use occasionally. I passed the Contaflex on to my brother.

patois · Jun 1, 2014

I had a Minolta X370. I recently returned to Minolta with an X700.

Russ - SVP · Jun 1, 2014

Black Nikon FM that I purchased new in the 70's. Still using it.

Mikeulman · Jun 7, 2014

My first 35 was a Pentacon provided by my father and cousin. I was hooked.

Your FIRST 35mm Camera...

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