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D'Grump

Senior Member
Hi, My name is Andy Anderson, and I'm glad to be a member of Nikonites. I bought my first camera (a Minolta SRT-101) while stationed in Pleiku South Vietnam in 1968. Learned to develop film while I was there too. Since then, I've been taking pictures and developing........UH........bad habits, so I thought at age 75, I'd better learn to do it right. Got my first Nikon, a D-70, when they came out, upgraded to a D7100 when that model came out, and am currently saving my pennies for a D-500. I'm an old school guy that loves mechanical things, so I don't plan on jumping into mirrorless any time soon. Gotta love that mirror slap and shutter click! Retired since December 2015 and divide my time between Massachusetts and Florida, and enjoy both. Married going on 51 years with 3 kids and 3 grandkids, and enjoying life. Hope to learn a lot from the "resident experts" on the site! Thanks for having me, and thanks also to the people that started this site and those that keep it running.
Andy
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Welcome, Andy. My first 35mm camera was a Minolta XG-M - manual focus with Aperture Priority and Manual Mode. I learned the basics with it. In the late 1990's, I took a class that taught how to develop and print black & white film although I opted to only develop one roll. The class was approximately 90 minutes long once per week so I wanted to spend as much time in the darkroom as possible. Lots of fun though and definitely great memories.

Nice to have you here. :)
 

D'Grump

Senior Member
Marilynne, West coast in Dunedin.........right next to Clearwater. Gotta admit that Florida has WAYYYYYY more than enough birds to practice on. Love the ones of the owls that you've posted!
Andy
 
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D'Grump

Senior Member
Welcome, Andy. My first 35mm camera was a Minolta XG-M - manual focus with Aperture Priority and Manual Mode. I learned the basics with it. In the late 1990's, I took a class that taught how to develop and print black & white film although I opted to only develop one roll. The class was approximately 90 minutes long once per week so I wanted to spend as much time in the darkroom as possible. Lots of fun though and definitely great memories.

Nice to have you here. :)

Cindy, Thanks for the welcome! I had a lot of fun taking and developing pictures and slides in Vietnam, but when I got back I met my future wife and photography and printing took a back seat. I prefer the digital era MUCH better, and wouldn't know how to develop a roll of B&W if someone gave me a darkroom. I just remember that there was a lot of standing around waiting, and a bunch of water temp adjustments. I see that you're from Pennsylvania. I was born and raised in Western PA (Greensburg-Westmoreland County), but left there for a job with National Security Agency in 1966. Pretty much just went back to visit my parents until they both passed away and haven't been back there since 2009 when Dad died. Nice to be a member here!
Andy
 

D'Grump

Senior Member
Welcome Andy! Feel free to contribute to the conversations and share your pics with us!

Rob
Hey Beeg! Thanks for the welcome! The camera and the rest of the equipment are still in Florida till I go back there next month to pickup the second car. All of that stuff will come north with me at that time, and then, if I can get over my shyness, I might post some pictures.......
Andy
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Marilynne, West coast in Dunedin.........right next to Clearwater. Gotta admit that Florida has WAYYYYYY more than enough birds to practice on. Love the ones of the owls that you've posted!
Andy

Thanks!

If you ever make it to the east coast (Delray, Boynton area), let me know. I'll give you a tour of Loxahatchee, Wakodahatchee and/or Green Cay.

The owls are at Lox.
 

D'Grump

Senior Member
Thanks!

If you ever make it to the east coast (Delray, Boynton area), let me know. I'll give you a tour of Loxahatchee, Wakodahatchee and/or Green Cay.

The owls are at Lox.

SWEET! I’ll be sure to let you know if I’m ever over that way. Owls are pretty much my favorite bird although I’ve not seen many of them in the wild. I find myself getting my “owl fixes” by looking at pictures like yours!
Andy
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
You don't seem like a grump.:)

My first 35mm camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic E. I loved that camera.

Welcome to Nikonites.

One thing I LOVED about my Minolta XG-M was the user manual. It wasn't very long, but the directions explained how manual mode worked - how to meter manually as well as the effects of the aperture and shutter speed on its images by adjusting camera settings. It was so concise and simply stated that it wasn't daunting to learn manual at all.
 

D'Grump

Senior Member
You don't seem like a grump.:)

My first 35mm camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic E. I loved that camera.

Welcome to Nikonites.

Dawg, thanks for the welcome! The Grumpy part is like how the biggest guy gets called tiny, and the fat guy gets called slim. It started when one of my co-workers hid my tools and wouldn't give them back. So I finally called my boss at about 2AM to complain. Got my tools back, but one of the guys said “Boy, you sure are a Grumpy bas..rd!” The Grumpy part stuck, and the rest of it went away. Even our 3 grandsons call me Grump or Grumpy. But usually, thank goodness, I’m not!

Andy
 

D'Grump

Senior Member
One thing I LOVED about my Minolta XG-M was the user manual. It wasn't very long, but the directions explained how manual mode worked - how to meter manually as well as the effects of the aperture and shutter speed on its images by adjusting camera settings. It was so concise and simply stated that it wasn't daunting to learn manual at all.

I went from an SRT-101 to a Minolta Maxxum 7000, and it was like time traveling into the future. I had a databack on it, and thought I was Hot Stuff. All in all, they were both good cameras, but could not compete with today's stuff. Lot less plastic on them though..........

Andy
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
@hark
I didn't really understand what I was doing. That little camera was an auto rangefinder, and it did a great job exposing images properly. I was thinking it was a manual camera, but looking at it now, I remember it was point and shoot. I thought I was a pro at the time, but it was just a good little camera for a kid. The Hi-Matic E had a hot shoe, but I don't remember if my Dad ever attached an external flash to it. Too many decades have passed for me to remember. :rolleyes:
 
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