Your first SLR...would you buy it again?

pathdoc · May 20, 2017

Minolta Dynax 3xi.

I can't complain about it - it served me very well indeed, and as an amateur I have nothing bad to say about it - but in retrospect I shouldn't have allowed certain people to pressure me into getting a bells and whistles SLR. I went SLR to get away from the nearly zero manual control found in the Olympus Pen EE-2, but found myself overwhelmed by all the capabilities and mostly found myself using auto everything most of the time with no real understanding of what I was doing.

I ended up, several years later, buying a less lavishly equipped manual-focus film-wind SLR and getting rid of the Dynax. The only reason I miss it is nostalgia - if I think I'm going to need high frame rates and AF today, I'll bring a DSLR; for film I'll stick with manual focus and winding.

In retrospect I would go for a K1000 or something else with a similar level of manual control (my current favourite film body is the MX).

removed account4 · May 20, 2017

it was a pentax K1000, and i would buy the same camera in a heartbeat. I still use it.

Sirius Glass · May 20, 2017

I owned Minolta SR-7, SRT-101, SRT-201, ... and finally a X-700 before switching the Nikons. I would always give serious consideration to Minoltas and Rokkor lenses.

ulysses · May 20, 2017

Miranda Fv, to which I later added a "T" prism, making it an FvT for fully manual TTL metering. I have one I found at auction recently with the original Miranda-Soligor 50/1.9. It mostly works (except for the metering, which is semi-functional) but I wouldn't want to rely on it today. I replaced it in 1971 with a brand new Nikon F with the FTn prism and a 50/1.4 (the whole package cost $443!) and I've been shooting Nikons ever since. But the Miranda got me started (for around $100) so I still have a soft spot for it.

Steve Smith · May 20, 2017

RichardJack said:
Your first SLR... would you buy it again?

No need. I still have it. An Edixa Prismaflex.

Steve.

guangong · May 20, 2017

Minolta SR1. Given to me at about the same time that a Minolta went into outer space by the folks at Minoltas's US headquarters, then located on the northern edge of Union Square in NYC. Minolta produced extremely fine lenses with an outstanding reputation in Japan. Considering its quality/price ratio compared with Nikon, Leica and Zeiss at the time and my ready cash I would have bought one. I forget what happened to my SR1, but a fully operational one would be a nice addition.

btaylor · May 20, 2017

I remember it, it was a Contax D. I hated it. It had a preset stop down lens so you had to manually stop it down after focusing wide open before taking the shot. The grease was dried up in the lens so the focus was stiff. The wind knob was so small it hurt my fingers. Just awful. I didn't have the money or desire to get it serviced. I think I paid $40 for it. I would never buy it again. The next purchase was a Contax IIa. The shutter was wonky but I really liked it. 50 years later I bought another one and had it restored, I still like using it.

nsurit · May 20, 2017

My first SLR was purchase in 1963, the year after I graduated from high school and was a Miranda F. Also purchased a preset 135mm not OEM lens. My only regret about it was when I let a friend use it on the Selma civil rights match and it was damaged. Got it repaired and later passed it on to my brother. Would I buy it again? Yes, because it was what I could afford at the time. My next SLR was a Nikon Photomic FTn purchased in Vietnam in 1968. Would buy that one again, although I moved on to the Olympus OM system, a smaller camera with which I am very pleased (and heavily invested.) Bill Barber

eddie · May 20, 2017

My first was a used Pentax H3v. I was about 13-14 years old. I don't recall what it cost, but I do remember shoveling a lot of driveways, and mowing a lot of lawns to save enough money. I used it for about 2 years before trading it in towards a Spotmatic. ( Years later I sold the Spotmatic to a friend, and bought an OM system. A few years ago, she gave me back the Spotmatic, after decades.)
Would I buy the H3v again? Yes, but mostly for sentimental reasons. My skills, at that time, were non-existent, and it would be nice to use that camera with the ability to make it shine.

mooseontheloose · May 20, 2017

I bought my first SLR here in Japan in 2001, a very gently used Nikon FE, and I believe it came with a 35-70mm lens, which I stopped using as soon as I upgraded to primes. I still have the camera, but don't use it, since a bout in cold weather (-40 C) screwed up the shutter. However, I have had 4 or 5 FEs since then and it continues to be my favourite camera - I just love the model and there's very little it can't do for me. I've tried other models (manual) but none of them appeal to me the way the FE does, not even the FE2 (although I suppose a FM3a might, if I ever got to shoot with one). I do have a F100, but it's different enough that I don't feel it's competing with my FE. But the F100 definitely stays behind much more often if I have to choose one or the other.

cooltouch · May 20, 2017

Rachelle, I agree about the FE. Nikon managed to include just the right amount of features into a very ergonomically friendly body. It is one of my most favorite Nikon designs. I even prefer it over the FE2, mostly for one reason: Nikon decided to get cheap on the FE2 and replaced the AI tab on the FE with a plastic ring, so no longer was it possible to use unmodified pre-AI lenses. I have both an FE (black) and an FE2 (also black) in my personal collection, but when it comes time to use one or the other, I almost always select the FE over the FE2.

If the FE had been my first SLR, most definitely would I get another one nowadays.

ron917 · May 20, 2017

I learned photography with my father's Argus C3. In high school and college, I shot for the schools' newspapers using the C3 and cameras owned by the schools: Pentax Spotmatics and K1000s. All fully manual cameras.

When I decided to buy my own 35mm SLR, I chose a Pentax A3000. I'm not sure why I chose that model. It took good photos, but only has Program and Aperture Priority modes. After a short time, I was totally frustrated with the lack of Manual mode. I bought a used Pentax Super Program and the A3000 was relegated to backup camera status.

When I switched to Nikon, I sold the A3000 and traded the Super Program to my brother for some computer gear. Recently got the Super Program back when my brother was clearing out stuff he no longer uses in preparation for a move. Just gave it a new set of light seals & mirror bumper and will film test it soon.

To answer the question, I would not buy my first SLR (the Pentax A3000) again due to lack of Manual mode. However, my 2nd SLR (the Super Program) would be a possibility, but unlikely since all of my other 35mm gear is Nikon.

BMbikerider · May 20, 2017

Not the 1st (Kowa E) or the 2nd (Russian 'Start', a sort of mix of an Exakta and a Zenith) But the 3rd a Pentax SV with the Mk2 meter fixed to the prism. A lovely camera and one of the market leaders in the day (1965).

Sirius Glass · May 20, 2017

Nice to see that some got one of their past cameras back from the people that they gave it to.

jernejk · May 20, 2017

1.) It was my grandfathers/mothers Praktica MTL 3

2.) For most of us in the eastern block the only options were USSR/DDR cameras. In any case, Praktica was and still is a great camera. If it were a little lighter, I'd love to have one.

Hawkeye · May 20, 2017

Canon AE-1, black body. Bought when I was in High School in '77. I'd buy it again. In fact, I am going to try to buy it again. I just sent the guy that I sold it to about 20 years ago an e-mail to see if he still has it.

Have a couple of Nikon F-3's and an F that I use now. Would be fun to get that old Canon back.

GRHazelton · May 20, 2017

My first SLR was a Komaflex-S, which I bought in perhaps 1962. It was a leaf-shutter 127 roll film camera. What a thrill to project a SuperSlide I'd shot and processed! Buy it again? I still have it but it needs shutter work - the auto diaphragm sticks - and film is VERY limited, to say the least.

My first 35mm SLR bought in about 1972 was and is a Praktica LTL, with a really good f1.8 50mm. The body works perfectly after all these years despite heavy use and being bounced off a sidewalk. The lens needs a cla; the auto diaphragm is sluggish. That lens, BTW, focuses to about 12 inches, most useful. Buy again? Well it was perhaps the best implementation of stop-down metering, shutter and meter key adjacent on the front panel very quick and convenient to use. Focus screen a little coarse and the overall fit and finish hardly equal to a Pentax, for example. But a good, rugged, ergonomically pleasant camera.

RalphLambrecht · May 21, 2017

RichardJack said:
It's hard to believe that my Minolta SRT 101 is turning 49 years old this month. I still have it, it's original box, packing, USA tag, case and even the Japanese battery that I chose not to use at the time. For it's time it was a wonderful camera that did everything I wanted it to. It still works along with it's 58mm f1.4 MC Rokkor PF which moved on to many other Minolta bodies in time. It was a present from my dad and I had the option of picking any camera under $250US. It was a difficult choice between it and a Nikkormat FTn w/ f2 lens, a Honeywell Spotmatic w/ f1.4, or a Miranda Sensorex w/f1.4 (which my dad wanted me to buy because it was rated #1 by "Consumer Reports"). Since then I switched to Nikon and use their FX DSLR's, so the Nikkormat might of been a smarter choice, but I don't regret my pick.

1) What was your first 35mm SLR?

2) If you could go back in time would you pick the same one?

mine was a Practice and it only worked for a week then the shutter went kaboom Never would get another. I went to a NikonFm after that and that is still working.over time I bought three more of them and they all still work fine.However, my Hasselblad 501c is my all-time favorite.

Hans Mulders · May 21, 2017

My very first camera was a Praktica Super Nova, i think it was.
That one I would not buy again, not a bad camera but M42 mount and no TTL metering.
The one that came after this one I truly did buy again a couple of weeks ago a Nikon F2AS.
I had some different brands in between, Olympus OM, Minolta Dynax 7 and 9 then I moved to digital, Canon and now fuji X. But analog I kept the Olympus OM. However maybe due to my large hands I keep struggling with the shutterspeed selector close to the mount.
now back to nikon and no regrets.

Michael Firstlight · May 21, 2017

Would I buy it again? I did. I bought a near-mint condition Canon FTb - I loved that camera - shot many thousand of frame with the original in the mid-70's, and also bought near mint condition versions a few other classics I had for pennies on the dollar, including my beloved Nikon F2as, a Pentax MX, and recently, a complete Pentax 67II system in virtually new condition. It seems I've re-purchased most of the cameras I've once sold, including some digital ones. Each time I acquired replacements in as good or better condition than when I sold them, and amazed I could obtain them for so little cost.

darkosaric · May 21, 2017

1) Nikon F801s.
2) Yes. I just got one today on flea market for 5 euros .

anfenglin · May 21, 2017

darkosaric said:
1) Nikon F801s.
2) Yes. I just got one today on flea market for 5 euros .

That's agreat camera, used to have one. I especially liked he finder which is borrowed from the F3.

wy2l · May 21, 2017

First camera was a Mamiya Sekor 500 DLT. Worked, but was a POS. No, I would not buy it again. Cash was really short in those days.
Second camera was a Nikkormat FTN, a wonderful camera.

MontanaJay · May 21, 2017

I learned the basics on my Dad's Argus C-4, but my first 35 mm was an Exacta VX, which I might buy again, but only for sentimental purposes. Too exotic and too fragile. I think I paid $150 in 1968.
I traded it in and bought, for $250, a Nikon F, Ftn meter and a 50/1.4 which was new in box, from a returning Vietnam War soldier. I accumulated Nikon bodies and lenses right up to the digital age, when I switched to Panasonic.

pentaxpete · May 21, 2017

I was given back my original 'Asahi Pentax S3' bought for £87 in 1961 -- the guy to whom I sold it said "It's not working" --- i took off the base-plate to check and gently lubricated all the cogs and levers with a minute amount of sewing-machine oil on tip of a small brush . Then I gently wound it on and the shutter creaked into action , but the slow speeds were not working -- so I put shutter onto 'T' and tried and shutter opened, then onto 'b' and it worked then onto 1 second and it 'creaked into life' -- after that all the speeds worked and I took a series of photos and all were well exposed !

Asahi Pentax S3 03 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
YES -- I would buy it again -- it earned me quite a bit doing local Press Photography !

Your first SLR...would you buy it again?

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