Camera History.

Dale.

Bo Derek
Moderator
Messages
11,965
Name
Dale.
Edit My Images
Yes
Many moons ago, I was about 14, I got my 1st camera, it was a Kodak 110 and I thought it was the bees. I lost interest though and ended up being more interested in fast cars and girls. :p
However, in 2004, I had mellowed somewhat. My Bro in Law handed me his new camera for a 'look'. I knelt down, took a pic of some flowers, then my dog, that was it, the bug had bitten.

That afternoon, I ordered my own camera and a few days later, one of those personal printers that did 6x4s.

So, my camera history started with a point and shot Canon and goes as follows,

Canon Powershot A40, (still have),

Fuji S7000, (still have),

Canon 350D, my first DSLR, (now handed down to my daughter),

Canon 40D, (still have),

Fuji HS20 (sold),

Canon 7D, (still have),

Fuji X-T10 (still have)

Canon 5Dmkiv, (my main body and I love it)

I've lost count of the lenses I've had over the years and sold on but that's it body wise,

what's yours?
 
Long in time but not in cameras
Toy point n shoot given to me when I was about 9 - got me hooked
126 cassette camera (anyone remember them). This was back when 35mm was still in a paper wrapped roll and I had a few disasters with my father's 'proper' camera
Then 35mm made it into an idiot proof plastic cartridge so time for a manual-everything Praktica MTL50 (I think). It's still in the loft with a collection of older/newer Prakticas I managed to build up. Ah the joys of having one camera for colour film, one B&W, one with fast film for astro................ I still had the odd potential film loading disaster but learned to avert them - memories of being out in the middle of Dartmoor upside down in my rucksack while I opened up the camera back.............
Then a Canon 350D for astro - still have and it's now had the sensor mod
Panasonic Lumix point n shoot for when I didn't want to lug the Praktica up mountains - still have. It has proper batteries as we were camping off grid and boy does it eat them.
Canon 550D - my current camera. I don't know why but I can't quite make myself press 'buy now' on an 800D which would be an improvement for wildlife.
I also have a collection of manual lenses in the loft.
Current lenses Canon 18-135mm (my walkabout lens), Tamron 70-300mm (my going abroad long lens), Tamron 17-50mm (my landscape lens), Sigma 150-600mmC and Sigma 105mm macro. That's where the money's gone - into lenses.
I've never been good at selling anything...............
 
D3100 then sold for D7000.
Added XF1.
D7000 then sold for E-m10 then added rx100 Mk2.
XF1 died.
X30 bought
E-m10 then sold for E-m1
X30 sold
X100T added
E-m1 sold for d500
X100T sold
E-m10 mk2 added
D600 added

I think that's it's in the last 10 or so years. I still have the rx100 mk2 although it's used probably once a year. I think the e-m10 mk2 might go soon...just don't use it. The 2 Nikons are great ( at the moment ... )
 
Last edited:
Back in the 60s in Australia my Dad tried getting me into photography. Then stopped for a while till I tried films with a Zenith and Praktica, totally loved the smell while in the DK then went to an old Canon then Fuji Bridge and Fuji XF1. Once the XF1 gave lens control error I got a Canon 1100D and 70D plus nine lenses, biggest mistake getting the Sigma 150-600mm so in the end came back to Fuji. So now only own two X-T3s one X100F XF35mm f2, XF 50mm f2, XF56mm f1.2, XF90mm f2 and just a XF50-140mm so think I`m happy now.
 
I was thinking about this recently. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic 126 which was a hand me down from my brother back in the 70’s when I was about 8 or 9. My first serious camera was my dads old Zenith in the late 80s after which I graduated to a number of better cameras. By the mid 90s I was losing interest in photography and I sold everything except the Olympus 35RC. In 2004, I was browsing in Jessops Classic Cameras opposite the British Museum, saw a Nikon F2 for what seemed like a good price, bought that and since then I’ve bought a wide variety of film and digital cameras, mostly secondhand bargains.

The full list is below in roughly chronological order of ownership - I still own everything with an asterisk. Seeing them all listed here, I think I may have a GAS problem :oops: :$

Kodak instamatic 126
Polaroid instant thing
Minolta weatherproof yellow 110 thing
Zenit E
Pentax P50
Pentax MX
Lubitel 166B
Yashica Mat 124
Olympus 35RC
Nikon F2A*
Canon A40
Canon Pro90is
Zorki 3m
Kiev 4a
Kiev 2a
Canon 7
Olympus C2040Z
Nikon F801s
Nikon D70s
Leica M3*
Nikon S10*
Nikon F90x*
Nikon D1h*
Contax G1*
Ricoh GRD1
Rolleiflex Old Standard 622*
Zorki 1*
Zeiss Ikon Tengor 56/2*
Canon IID2*
Contax II*
Yashica 44*
Nikon D2h*
Zeiss Ikoflex IIa*
Nikon D3*
Panasonic GF1*
Panasonic G1*
Panasonic GX80*
Panasonic GM5*
Kiev II*
Olympus OM4*
 
Canon AE-1 (film) - stolen
Canon EOS 650 - still have
<long gap>
EOS 350D
EOS 30D
EOS 40D - still have
EOS 50D - at this point I was earning sufficient to justify keeping the 40D and keeping it as a second camera
EOS 7D - at this point the 40D became my wife's and the 50D became the 2nd body
EOS 1D Mk IV - 50D sold
EOS 7D Mk II. 7D died in a heavy rain despite taking precautions with covers.
EOS 1D X Mk II - 1D4 sold.

Currently use a 7D Mk II and a 1DX Mk II. If I was to get a third body it would be a high megapixel 5DS I think.
I also have a Canon G1X Mk I as a point and shoot camera.
 
Hmmmm!

My first used camera was my dad's old box camera
Then an odd I think Kodak that took 120 film (might been 620?) this one had a builtin flash that took single use flash bulbs!
Exa1a (35mm)
Yeshiva MG1 range finder
Pentax P30
Canon 650
Rollei T twin lens reflex
Kodak DC210
Canon 350D
Canon 40D
Canon S120
Canon 7D
Canon 5D mk 3
Olympus E-M1 mk2

Crumbs it feels strange writing that list covering 60 years!
 
Last edited:
Boots 126 (late 70s)
Kodak Retinette (house auction buy)
Kodak Retina Reflex S
Chinon CP7m (1987)
Pentax Z10
Pentax Z20
Pentax Z1p (still have)
Pentax Z1
Mamiya 645 Pro
Pentax MZ-S
Pentax ist D
Pentax ist DL
K10D
K20D
Nikon D3
Pentax K5
Nikon D7100
Pentax K-3
Nikon D500
Pentax K-1
Nikon D810
Pentax P50
plus the odd compact - last 5 SLRs I bough I still have - plus the 645.
 
When I was 10 my parents bought me a Kodak Instamatic 36 and one day I took a picture of one of my sisters stroking a horse. The light was behind them and they came out almost in silhouette and when I saw the picture I thought WoW and I realised that a camera could not only capture reality but could also be used to make something not quite reality and more creative. That was the start for me.

I still have the ones in bold.

Kodak Instamatic.
A few film compacts.
Nikon SLR which I had for a very long time.
A couple of Canon SLR's.
Olympus Trip.
Canonet QL.
Voigtlander Bessa R.
Fuji S602 pro zoom.
Canon 300D, 10D, 20D and 5D.
Various compacts, Medion, Canon Ixus, Panasonic LX3, LX5, LF1, TZ100.
Panasonic GF1, G1, G7, GX7, GX80, GX9.
Sony A7.
 
Last edited:
Bought my wife a camera for Christmas 1984, a Pentax ME Super, which I started to "borrow".
Since then I've owned...
Yashica mat 124g
Minolta 9000 which I still have with 35-70, 70-210 lenses.
Then into digital I've had a Minolta dimage S404 which I still have.
Canon D350 - sold
Panasonic G3 - sold
Nikon D7000 x 2 - sold
Panasonic G80 which is my current camera.
I have a box in the loft with lots of old brownies, coronets etc.
Also have an Olympus film camera and some lenses which my brother in law gave me a few years ago when they emigrated to Oz.
 
I started with a Brownie 127 before I was even 10 years old. At the age of 21 I had a present of a Voitlander Vito CL ( still got) . Then a long long break due to family commitments. Next was a Kodak EasyShare CX4200 at more or less the start for me in the digital age, even though it was only a 2 MP camera. Had this to see if all this digital camera lark was worth investing in. Got frustrated on that camera limitations so into digital photography proper with a Nikon D70s. progress from here to the Nikon D200 and sold them. Still have a Nikon D300 nikon D800 and a nikon D810. that is as well as a Nikon L26 compact and a panasonic HC-X900m camcorder, that is also not forgetting tucked away never used again a Samsung VP-L530B 8mm video camera which still works
 
Last edited:
This is making me want to pick up an Instamatic again.

Interesting to see the 350D mentioned several times.

Me...

Mums Retina, Grandad's Rollei when he'd let me near it :)
My own first camera was an Instamatic in a gift kit with the flash globe thing. Had it for years.
"Upgraded" to a disc camera - can't remember what it was. It put me off. Don't know where the Kodak went. I've still got a couple of the disc negs. I suspect the iPhone sensor is larger!
Then it was a variety of instant disposables as work took over and leisure time disappeared and my interests were usually down the pub. As Andrew said above <long gap>...

Then (in order) 350D, 50D, X-E1, X-T1, X-T2. Moving to Fuji rekindled my interest properly - mainly because I could control the camera easily.

Film wise, I picked up an EOS 650 when I bought my 50D then a long gap until recently (girls left home, more disposable income!) when I picked up an AE-1 to try proper 35mm again (the 650 was basically point and shoot). Also a Mamiya RB67 for IR landscape, Leica M3 for documentary & projects and my Tomiyama 6x17 for wasting film. Still got the X-T1 which was infra-red converted when I bought the X-T2. The latter is my workhorse camera. College, portraits etc.
 
Sadly, neither the page or my memory is long enough to list my equipment.
 
I've been through a bunch of cameras, from film through the 80's as a kid to the digital compact 90's - 2000's era as a teen, be damned if I could remember every single one. But the ones I can actually remember the names of would really only start from my first bridge camera which I bought in 2008:


Fuji s1000fd
Sony A200
Nikon D80
Nikon D200
Nikon D90
Nikon D800E
Fuji X100s
Fuji X10
Sony Rx100
Fuji X-T1
Fuji Xpro1
Olympus Em5
Panasonic G80
 
Practica B200 (mount fell apart after a week so dad took it back)
Canon TX
Ricoh KR10
Ricoh XR-X
Canon A1
Canon T90
Nikon D70
Canon 20D
Nikon D7000
Nikon D700
Fuji XT1
Nikon D750
Fuji XT2
Canon 5D MK2
Canon 6D
Olympus EM5 MK2 (Still own)
Panasonic G3 Infrared (still own)
Pentax K100D Super (still own)
Pentax K7 (still own)
Pentax K3ii (still own)
 
My first camera was a Canon 400D back in 2007. I used this all the time and then jumped up to a 5Dmk2 in 2010ish. I used it loads for landscapes until I got interested in film. About five years ago I bought a Mamiya TLR and it just grew from there and now I've got a smallish collection of film cameras including things like a Hasselblad 500cm, Bronica ETRS, Mamiya RB67 and a Nagaoka 4x5. Recently started using digital a bit more and upgraded from my eight year old 5D2 to a Fuji X-T2 and love it.

Most people went from film to digital but as usual I am backwards :LOL:
 
canon 550d
canon 40d
canon 6d
canon 7d / twice
canon 1d mk 3
Fuji x100
Fuji x-t1
Nikon d5500
Nikon d7000 / three times
Nikon d7100
Nikon d7200
Nikon d600
Nikon d700 / three times
Nikon d800
Nikon d4

Last man standing Nikon D800
 
Last edited:
I went from:

Canon G7 > Nikon D80 > Fuji S5 Pro > Fuji X-Pro 1 > Leica M4 > Rolleiflex 2.8F > Pentax 67 > Linhof Technika V > Deardorff V8 8x10

There are many other cameras in between but those were the main steps for each format.
 
My first camera was a Brownie 127 point and shoot with a chip in the body and a piece of black tape over it, which wasn't very effective as a light seal! was about 7 or 8 at the time. My father gave me a Kodak 120 folder a couple of years ago. Completely manual, right down to the hand cocked shutter. I didn't have a light meter, or any idea of what settings to use, but the owner of the local camera shop took pity on me. He explained the film ASA ratings, how to use the recommended settings that came with the film, and the basics of shutter speeds and apertures. It wasn't that difficult and I got the hang of it fairly quickly. He also sold me a second hand developing tank, chemicals and taught me how to develop my own films.

My next camera was a Zenith SLR which I never fell in love with, and I replaced it with a Nikon F2 when I was working in Hong Kong in my early 20s. I still have it. My only DSLR is a Canon 30D which does everything I expect it to, and I don't really need anything more 'advanced'. There have been a few compacts over the years too, and I often use my wife's little Panasonic TZ9 which takes remarkably good photographs for what it is. I also had a Canon A640 which I liked, but I lent it to my son years ago and I don't know if he still has it.

I once had an Olympus 35RC with the matching flash but I threw it out during a move from one country to another, thinking I'd never use it again. That was a mistake...and I miss it.

TBH, I enjoy photography but it's a secondary interest and I doubt if I'm going to buy another camera in the foreseeable future, unless a Leica M3 or M4 comes my way at a bargain price... my wife did suggest that I buy one a few years ago if I really wanted it, but she hadn't a clue how much the lenses to do it justice cost! My other fantasy, which you can also shoot with, is a Rigby .275 (7 x 57mm, 7mm Mauser).
 
I'll have a play (this is from memory). Started when I was 12 (44 years ago !) - I think in chronological order.

The ones in bold italic are the ones I still have. the ones with an asterisk from memory were purchased brand new, with everything else second hand.

Halina 35mm compact**
Zenith E
Zenith EM
Practica MTL-3
Olympus Trip 35
Pentax K-1000
Pentax ME-Super
Pentax Super A
Chinon CE4-S**
Nikon FE-2
Nikon F4
Nikon F100
Nikon F80
Nikon F90x
Canon AE1 (my one and only Canon)
Nikon F5
Minolta Dimage 5
Nikon D100**
Panasonic FZ50**
Minolta Dimage A1
Nikon D200**
Minolta Dimage A2**
Nikon D2x
Nikon D2xs
Nikon D300**
Nikon P7000**
Nikon D3
Nikon D300s
Nikon D3s
Olympus OMD EM5
Nikon D4
Nikon D800**
Panasonic GH3
Olympus OMD EM5 MK II**
Nikon D750**
Panasonic GH4
Olympus OMD EM-1**
Panasonic LX100
Nikon D810**
Panasonic GX8
Olympus OMD EM1 MK II**

Nikon D500 (1st one)**
Fuji X-T2
Panasonic G9**
Nikon D500 (2nd one)**
Fuji X-H1**
Fuji X-T3**
Olympus OMD-EM1X**
Nikon Z6**


think I need to seek medical advise (gulp) !!!

TBH, it's only over more recent years, now the mortgage is paid off, and I'm financially generally much better off, that I can afford to but new bodies as a lot of the above were second hand units, and apart from a few years shooting Nikon Film, i never ran multiple bodies until about 4-5 years ago, probably starting with the D300 onwards
 
Last edited:
I took a few photos with a Box Brownie (model D, I think) in the late 1950's but it was never mine.

My first camera was a Halina 35x.
After that a Zenit E, a Practica SLR(can't remember which), a Pentax Spotmatic, Pentax MX(which I used for years and still have), Panasonic FZ28, Pentax K5.

Dave
 
Hmmm, here goes....

Sony a200
Sony XH100v
Sony XH200v
Olympus em-5 mkII
Fuji X100s
Fuji X100t
Olympus Pen-F
Olympus OM-D EM1 mkII
Panasonic GH5
Panasonic G9
Fuji XT1
Fuji XT2
Fuji XT3

Currently using all the Fuji XT camera’s.
 
I'd like to play but I don't think taking up about two pages of the thread would be fair, so I'll summarise my list as 'Lots', of which I still have 'plenty' (mostly old film cameras). I've come to the conclusion that cameras are a bit like mice; if one turns up, before you know it there can be bloody dozens of them! :giggle:
 
Since about 75 - I think I’ve owned:
Zenit E
Canon AE1
Canon AE1 Black
Canon AE1 (replaced 1st body I dropped)
Canon EOS 650
Canon EOS 600
Nikon L35 AWAF compact
Canon video (can’t remember model but sold still cameras for it - mistake!)
Canon Z115 compact
Canon EOS 3
Canon EOS 1D x2
Canon EOS 550D
Canon EOS 7D mkii

Possibly a digital compact I’ve forgotten as well.....
 
Well for me it started as a child with Kodak 120 cartridges, Kodak disc camera etc but then my first “real” camera was

Canon AE1
Ricoh ? First digital camera off QVC
Canon 350D
Canon 40D
Canon 50D ( replacement for faulty 40D and paid extra to upgrade)
Canon 7D
Now Panasonic G80 ( I’m getting older now so need lighter equipment)!

Also had quite a few digital compacts Casio, Canon, Sony etc and been through a good few video cameras. First one a Panasonic used full size vhs cassettes and was huge resting on your shoulder!!

I wonder what we all will have in 10 years time?
 
Canon 1000d
Canon 7D
Fuji XT1
D750
D7000 (alongside D750)
D610 ( alongside D750)
A7III (alongside D750)
Second A7III

D750 was my longest serving camera, XT1 was lovely but the A7iii is so good.
 
I took up photography because I was buying/selling guns so I wanted keep a record of what I owned. So my humble start was with a Prakitca MTL3 but it made me learn so much being fully manually. I learnt all about shutter speeds and depth of field and I'm positive it gave me a good understanding of basic photography.

Prakitca MTL3
Minolta XD5
Canon A1
Canon T90 (x2)
Canon F1N
Canon EOS 5
Canon 1Ds Mk2
Canon 1Ds Mk3
Canon 1Dx
Nikon D800
Nikon D810
Nikon D4
Nikon D3

And to top it off I've just bought a mint Nikon F5.
 
Back
Top