What camera really got you going with photography?
- Thread starter Camera Fun
- Start date
That's all very interesting. I never knew there was an accessory to add a hot shoe. I used a cumbersome frame sort of thing that attached to the Nikkormat's tripod mount and held a flash unit. I rarely used it because it was such a pain to set up and carry around.
bluzman
Senior Member
It started with a Brownie Hawkeye when I was 10. I even developed my own film, turning the one bathroom in the house into my darkroom. It was pointless I suppose because I didn't have an enlarger but I had fun. The rest of the family was less enthusiastic. It probably had something to do with the unavailability of that key facility at critical moments, I suppose, not to mention the smell of film developing chemicals that lingered.
Over the ensuing years, various fixed lens film and then digital cameras came and went. All I was doing was taking occasional snapshots but with no real enthusiasm for photography. In 2019, however, with the encouragment of an old friend, I bought my first interchangeable lens DSLR, a refurbished D5600 with the 18-55mm kit lens. It rekindled the fire that I had as a kid with a box camera.
Over the ensuing years, various fixed lens film and then digital cameras came and went. All I was doing was taking occasional snapshots but with no real enthusiasm for photography. In 2019, however, with the encouragment of an old friend, I bought my first interchangeable lens DSLR, a refurbished D5600 with the 18-55mm kit lens. It rekindled the fire that I had as a kid with a box camera.
Danno_RIP
Senior Member
I started very late. I was a work-o-holic. I always liked the idea of photography. My uncle had a Nikon and it impressed me, but I couldn’t find the time. It seemed I was always working toward something. It could be "go fast" parts for a car or motorcycle or school… or family… than in my mid 50s I had my first stroke and I slowed down a bit than the second about the 8 years ago maybe and I got a D3200. I had to go on disability for a dozen reasons, but photography allowed me to use my brain at a pace I can manage.
I have slowed down quite a bit since Pat, my wife, went home to be with the Lord, but I am getting out a bit more. I do love the Z6.
I have slowed down quite a bit since Pat, my wife, went home to be with the Lord, but I am getting out a bit more. I do love the Z6.
Whiskeyman
Senior Member
Nikon FM. I still have it, but haven't used it in years.
lightcapture
Senior Member
Nikon F2 w/ 43-86 zoom in the early '80s.
But it wasn't the camera that got me into photography, but an opportunity to showcase our inner city neighborhood, which needed me to pick a a beat-up camera that I had repaired to working condition to start shooting. I became a Nikon shooter ever since.
But it wasn't the camera that got me into photography, but an opportunity to showcase our inner city neighborhood, which needed me to pick a a beat-up camera that I had repaired to working condition to start shooting. I became a Nikon shooter ever since.
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I started out with a Yashica rangefinder. It took 35mm film but had its limitations. From there I purchased a Minolta XG-M 35mm manual camera. When I decided to move to an AF camera, that's when I made the change to Nikon 35mm with the Nikon N70 and N90s (I still have them). Then the D90 was my first DSLR, and since then I've worked my way thru several Nikon DSLR models to my current D750 and D500.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Which model Argus? I got started with a hand me down C-4.
Dan, I love you photography. I'm glad you took it up, because you have a gift. Everyday locations and events come alive when you take pictures. Keep it going, man!
I don't remember. That was 60 years ago. Looking at pictures on Google the C3 looks the closest. I learned a lot with that camera. 15 years later I bought a Pantex SLR. My first Nikon came a lot later and I've stayed with Nikon ever since as I collected glass.
Bob Blaylock
Senior Member
I got bit by the photography bug in my very early teens. I tended, throughout my youth, to haunt thrift stores, buying old cameras for a few dollars each, buying film for them at local camera stores, and developing it myself, and making contact -prints. Most of them took either 620 or 127 film. A big step was buying an Argus C3 at a yard sale—much more sophisticated than any of my thrift store cameras up to that point. Not having an enlarger until later in my life, though, it mean that I produced much smaller pictures from it than I did from the simpler cameras that took larger film.
In late 1986, having had my first real job since the start of the year, and preparing to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip in connection with that job, I finally invested in the camera after which I had lusted for most of my youth—a used Nikon F2. The F3 was out by this time, but it was a Pre-AI F2 that I always wanted. Pre-AI specifically because it is compatible with both AI and pre-AI lenses, while the post-AI versions are only fully compatible with post-AI lenses. The trip was to the Arctic, to spend five weeks aboard an icebreaker. I took my F2, a few bulk 100-foot rolls of Plus-X, a bulk loader, of course, and a basic set of darkroom equipment; and on a few occasions, I even took over the forecastle of the ship to use as a makeshift darkroom to develop film and make prints.
In late 1986, having had my first real job since the start of the year, and preparing to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip in connection with that job, I finally invested in the camera after which I had lusted for most of my youth—a used Nikon F2. The F3 was out by this time, but it was a Pre-AI F2 that I always wanted. Pre-AI specifically because it is compatible with both AI and pre-AI lenses, while the post-AI versions are only fully compatible with post-AI lenses. The trip was to the Arctic, to spend five weeks aboard an icebreaker. I took my F2, a few bulk 100-foot rolls of Plus-X, a bulk loader, of course, and a basic set of darkroom equipment; and on a few occasions, I even took over the forecastle of the ship to use as a makeshift darkroom to develop film and make prints.
Danno_RIP
Senior Member
Thank You, Woody. I appreciate that. I enjoy your photos as well. You do amazing things with wildlife.Dan, I love you photography. I'm glad you took it up, because you have a gift. Everyday locations and events come alive when you take pictures. Keep it going, man!