Your very first camera ? (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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Rather than tag onto the other debate about buying an SLR I started this one...

When I was about 12 my dad bought me a Halina 35X .. that was my introduction to photography.. a fully manual 35mm camera, no light meter or auto focusing with a manual film winder... I learned about exposure, aperture, shutter speed, film speed, focusing and the relationship between them.. had it right up till I was about 37 .. until my present wife Jan decided I needed something a big more up to date so she bought me an all singing dancing Pentax SLR and a couple of lenses..

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1959 Halina 35X. Cast metal and very heavy made in Haking in Hong Kong. it has a 45mm lens with an aperture of f16. The lens has to be independently cocked by a small lever on its side. It was very easy to make double exposures if you forgot to wind on the film even though it has a double exposure prevention device. It was a good seller in the 1950s and early 1960s.

did I take better photos ? No, they may have been better technically but no better than my photos taken by my old faithful Halina .. Sadly I gave it away when I went full time in the RV ..
Since moved on from film :roflmto: now use a Nikon D50 .. but still hanker after my old camera..


So.. what was your first camera and do you still have it ??
 

JeanLuc

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Yes, I had one of those too Jim. It was a Christmas present when I was around 11 or 12. At the time my dad was very keen on photography and had an Edixa Flex (bet not many people have heard of those - poor man's Nikon F) so I was schooled in control of aperture, shutter and film speed. My dad had a Weston Master to measure exposure, but I had to make do with a plastic dial estimator - mostly the answer was 125th at f8 whatever the shooting situation. I shot B/W film and used my dad's developing and enlarging kit so a printable image could be got from quite a few of my negatives despite my 'rough and ready' exposure estimates.

The Halina 35X was weak in two areas: the lens was quite poor and suffered from light fall-off around the margins; and over time, the focus ring became stiff and almost impossible to turn.
But it wasn't my first camera - that honour went to the Brownie 127 - a testament to the bakelite-moulder's art!
 

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normanandsue

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My first camera Jim was bought for me by my gradfather when I was about 10 just before I went on holiday with my dad. It was a Brownie 127; unlike yours Jim it had no settings at all, you simply looked through the viewfinder and clicked and hoped you hadn't blurred the image by shaking the camera.

Whilst I enjoyed taking pictures at the time I have never yet found the joy of taking pictures which is why Sue features in very few of our family snapshots.

Norman
KODAK+127+BROWNIES+002.JPG

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DESCO

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I also started with a Halina 35x and got some good results with it, it taught you what all the figures round the lens meant as you had to use them to get good results.
Most of my early pictures I took on slide film and learnt a lot from it. But I have never been 100% happy with the pictures I have taken, don't seem to have the eye for it. Have since gone to video and get the results I like and leave the still photography to my wife.
 
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My first camera was a Kodak instamatic with the drop in cartridge film roll that didn't ave to be changed in the dark and had a cbe of four flassh bulbs on the top.


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steveclecy

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Mine also was a Kodak Instamatic - bought for my 21st birthday.

Steve

Instamatic-300x300.jpg

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mike mcglynn

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first camera

Mine was an Agfa rekord bellows type folding one my Uncle gave it to me when I was 12 it still works Its about 65 years old I have it tucked away in a drawer whenever I take it out for a look it evokes so many happy times :Smile:
 

niggle

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olympus OM 1 and i bought ut in singapore . it got bashed n smashed about n still works today, god that was in 73 ,good value



461288324_def8b5647f.jpg
 

sue1959

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My 1st camera was 1/2 a win on the bingo at the seaside! All plastic, view finder (no glass in it you just looked through an empty hole) 127 film when I was 6. Have had a camera ever since.

My husband always complains when I mention I need (well would like another) as I have 2 SLR film (Canon and Nikon) a Bronica SQA (redundant since i stopped doing weddings, portraits etc. (Very hard to get the money in!) and I now have 3 digital cameras!

Also have my Mum and dad's box brownie.

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Zenit E - took it everywhere, learnt how to develop black+white photos from a book using enlarger from a jumble sale. I used to buy bulk rolls of outdated 400ASA film and snap away.

In the 80's I bought a Nikon FA - it cost me so much of my savings I still have it, although it rarely gets a film in it now.

Sold my soul - gone digital
 
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I was given a second-hand Instamatic. I remember I needed to buy a flash adaptor to use flashcubes because it had a hot-shoe.

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JeanLuc

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Time to own up to what's in the loft/under the stairs/den/etc then? Who still has their old cameras?
My Brownie 127 and Halina are long gone, but I have a Nikon F4S and F801 sitting in boxes - never see a film nowadays. The F801 worked quite hard (it was lighter so got slung over the shoulder when walking) but the F4S is, by professional users' standards, pristine.
I also have a Bolex 8mm cine camera - my dad traded in his Edixa and went cine. That is a beautifully made piece of engineering, powered by clockwork, but, of course, not used for many years.
 

sue1959

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non as yet, hired in Canada a couple of times. hope to buy in the next few years.
I've still got all my old cameras. The only one I haven't got is my 1st SLR a Ricoh KR5/10 (can't remember so long ago now) bought with money my Mum and Dad gave me for my 21st. Sold it on so I could buy a Pentax ME Super which was my baby for 17 years until the meter went and wasn't worth replacing.

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Chris

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Those flash cubes were great weren't they?

I had forgotten all about them until this thread.

I recall they went all smoky once they had been used.
 

Jim

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I think my first was a poloroid, but the first serious camera was an Canon AE1, I had that for a few months and then traded it in Hong Kong for the beauty which I had for many years. The Canon A1 I sold it on ebay just a year or so ago for £100, half what I paid for it.

800px-Canon_a1.JPG

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stcyr

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1) Mum's old Brownie box in canvas case
2) Brownie 127
3) Dad's prewar Zeiss Ikon bellows jobbie with wire frame viewfinder
4) Rank Mamiya -
5) Zenit E
6) Pentax Spotmatic

Still got them all somewhere ... ::bigsmile:
 

656

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Mine was a Praktica 35mm SLR that my dad owned. I took loads of photos with it - mainly B&W that I developed and printed. My mum still has all the pics! Later on I went to an Oympus OM10. Both cameras long gone. The last 2 film cameras I had were a Bronica and a Rollie. Only sold then about 4 years ago. My first DSLR was a Nikon D70, followed by a D80 and D200. Present DSLR is a D300 with a Leica V-Lux 30 as my point and shoot. Keep looking at the nikon D3s and nikon D4 to as replacements for the D300, but Eddi recons I wont get enough use to justify spending £3-£5k for a new camera body. I on the other hand do :ROFLMAO:
 

wivvy's dad

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This... ... was my first proper camera, and I still have it.

I also still have... http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Olympus_XA2
and... http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Olympus_XA2 ... still with a half used film in it.
I also still have... http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_Espio_115(M)/IQZoom_115(V)

and a couple of bellows Kodak's in the loft.

All the SLR's, TLR's and larger formats went on fleaBay a few years ago.

My only regret is now selling this... http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Contax_G2 ... along with the full range of Zeiss glass. All excellent stuff, but I never quite gelled with it, but it did produce some excellent pictures, even if I do say so myself, the Zeiss glass being particularly good.
 
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started when I was 11 with my parents-forgot to stop!been real one since 1980!
Kodak 127 Brownie,then dad's Zeiss Ikon bellows 120 half frame,then an Inastamic before earning.I only used b&w and developed and printed it myself in the bath/darkroom
With my wages I saved up and bought a Yahica TL electro SLR and a 200mm lens,cop[leted the outfit with a Sunpack flashgun. Later added to the kit with a Yashica twin lens which was a copy of the Rolieflex.My father in law gave me a Voitlander rangefinder camera and an Olympus Pen E half frame. Mainly used Ektachrome which I processed myself. Never quite got the technique of home processing colour prints.
The SLR travelled all over the world with me.

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JohnH

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When I was 16 I worked for a photographer/camera shop and was allowed to take home the second hand ones with a b/w film which they had processed for me. All in the name of learning, what a fabulous person to work for.
While there I bought my first camera which cost about 16 GBP (about a month's salary) and hopefully this is a picture of one, a Zeiss Colora:
 

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MikeandCarolyn

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Here's my very first when I was 8 and my 1st serious camera when I was 16.The only camera I have retained is the little Rollei 35B. My 5x4 monorail,2 Bronicas,Canon outfit all went when I retired and went digital.I was fortunate to have the use of Hassleblad and Nikon outfits when working in the Media.
Mike
 

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vwalan

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hi, my first camera as a coonet twelve 20. made in england .very similar to a box brownie. takes roll films both 120and 620.
found it the other year in my parents house after they both died . didnt knoew they still had it . even stillgot my name inside the lid of the brown case it was in. even still had a rubber band on it to stop light entering.
unfortunately i cant take digi pics or am not very good a putting pics up . but brings a tear in my eye when i think of the places i took that camera as a kid with my parents . all over europe in the early 60,s . great times . even as that funny smell you expect as well.
 

vwalan

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just googled mine .the wikky bit as a good picture of it . on ebay seems its worth about 3.50 . much nicer as an ornament . and full of historical memories for me .
 

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