The first cameras you ever used

[cliveh]

What were the first cameras you ever used and did these have any influence you camera choices at a later date? This will of course depend on your age, but for me it was the Brownie 127, The Brownie Starmite and the Agfa Super Silette. I would say that the Agfa may have influenced my preference for rangefinder cameras, with the ability to see what is out of shot around a bright-line viewfinder.

[Mike O'Pray]

A pre-war Kodak 6x9 folder at age 11 and no, it had no influence on my choice at a later date.

However I had lost interest in photography by about 14 and sold it which I regret now as it had been my father's but of course nothing has sentimental value in your early teens. It had one of those tiny waistlevel finders that was useless and my cousin fitted a kind of sports finder with a frame which was easier to use but not particularly accurate.

Mike

[Dave miller]

Summer 1952, the family box Brownie on its bi-annual outing. I remember it well as I got a clout around the ear for making a double exposure thereby wasting a frame and 10% of the annual photographic budget.

It had no influence on my camera choice later in life as it displayed a complete lack of street cred’ or whatever we called the type of embarrassment in the 60’s.

[B&W Neil]

IIRC I saved up for a new Ilford Sportsman in the 60s out of the meagre wages from my first job. A few photographs made with this camera still exist which illustrate my mis-spent youth! But shortly afterwards I acquired a used, but well-cared for, German made Braun Paxette. This camera did influence me and it was the camera, when fitted with a rangefinder, that started my life-long passion for rangefinder cameras.

Neil.

[Richard Gould]

Originally Posted by cliveh

What were the first cameras you ever used and did these have any influence you camera choices at a later date? This will of course depend on your age, but for me it was the Brownie 127, The Brownie Starmite and the Agfa Super Silette. I would say that the Agfa may have influenced my preference for rangefinder cameras, with the ability to see what is out of shot around a bright-line viewfinder.

Snap, the very first camera I used was also a 127 brownie starmite,followed by a retina rangefinder, then couple of zenits and a zorkie,Richard

[Trevor Crone]

I too had a Kodak Brownie 127 when I was about 10 years old, and I remember it quite fondly photographing in b/w while on holiday in Wales. On one occasion I was photographing reed beds on the Isle of Anglesey. In those days everything was trade processed. Another occasion was my first trip to France when I used colour print film. I took just a couple of rolls of film and one was lost be the processor - I was heart-broken as I remember taking photographs of the channel crossing and was really looking forward to seeing the results. This episode more or less brought an abrupt end to my early photography. I didn't return to photography until I was about 24.

[vanannan]

Brownie 127 for me, 8th birthday present from my parents, the first shots I took were of the local lifeboat going down the slipway, I took a sequence of about half a dozen frames, unfortunately neglected to wind the film on between shots, lack of experience

[Carl V]

Well, I recall using an Olympus half-frame camera belonging to my uncle, and my mother had a Kodak 126 with weather symbols on the lens which altered the aperture. To be honest, it was in my teenage years when I developed a more serious interest in photography and although I was given a 110 camera when I was younger, I quickly realised its extreme limitations.

I bought my first 'serious' camera (35mm SLR) back in 1983 when I was 17 - a Pentax MX. I was still at college at the time but I had a Saturday job for a while which allowed me to save up some money towards it, although I have to say my father did chip in as well.

For the first few years I was shooting in colour, and it was only really from around 1986 that I started using black & white film and that is pretty much all I use now to this very day.

[Adrian Twiss]

My first camera was an old Russian Cosmic with an f4 lens and some limited shutter speeds. It got me into photography and as I was not particularly good at guessing focus distances it inspired me to save up for my first SLR, a Zenith E.

[Paulographic]

Brownie 127, Xmas present age 9. I'd been badgering relatives for a camera.
At 18 gave it my little brother and bought a Zenith.

Paul