Started with a Canon AE-1 like 9-10 years ago... It was the camera my parents bought to document my birth in 1988 and the lens broke in the delivery room when it got pushed off a table. I found it in a closet in my house and found a new lens for it at Wolf Camera and started shooting. 3-4 years later I got a Canon Eos Rebel G and then 3 years after that I got an Elan 7. Maybe 8 months later I got my first digital... My wonderful 10D.

Got my first SLR in 1966 and my first DSLR was the 1D in 2001.

My first SLR was the FT-QL and I still have an AT-1.

I grew up using a Speed Graphic and an old Leica 35mm and had a dark room in the basement. It was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

I shot film. Once. Both rolls are still sitting on my desk, waiting to be developed. I'm almost 20

Forgot to say I still shoot film from time to time. I find the process different - OK it's sometimes a pain - but then this camera was such a joy to use when I had it.



I am almost 40 and this M4 is older than me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was outlasting me

My first was a Rebel 2000, then went to a Elan IIE, and then an Elan 7E---I'm 23. I'd say though that anyone under 20 probably didn't get exposed to film unless it was mandatory for a class. Lots of younger photogs think that there is no good reason to own a 35mm. Wrong I say! Slide film is still downright amazing!

This is kind of off topic, but does anyone know of any setups, be it camera and a handheld light meter that don't require any type of batteries to operate/meter? I'd be really interested in getting one

As a kid I started doing photography the right way, not the SLR way.

In 1962 I bought a Pentax SLR. Great lens.

In 1969 I bought my first Nikon then followed it with a Nikormat.

I bought my first Canon EOS 10s in 80 something.

Canon 10 D in 2006.

I started when I was 5, does that still count?

Started with a wood-bodied Daguerrotype.
hahah, really started with AE-1, still a great little camera. Have the EOS Elan 7NE too. But digital is good enough now, considering its relative cheapness.
That M4 is beautiful.

Devin Hillam wrote:
This is kind of off topic, but does anyone know of any setups, be it camera and a handheld light meter that don't require any type of batteries to operate/meter? I'd be really interested in getting one

Any mechanical camera with no built-in meter or a broken meter will do Some cheap lightmeters like the Gossen Pilot 2 do not need batteries.

What a fun thread! It made me realize I've been into this photography thing for a long time. I know it is supposed to be SLRs only but the idea got me thinking all the way back to my childhood. I Had a darkroom before I was 10 that I used to made prints from my pinhole camera. I think when you catch this bug it's with you for a lifetime. Some people have just now caught it in the digital age and it's that much easier for them.

I went out on the web and collected pics of my most memorable cameras over my lifetime. That's fun to remember.

In the late 90s my wife and I started an aerial photo company with a r/c helicopter, and we ran it for 10yrs. The heli had a Canon K2 and 28mm lens.

I got a Minolta SRT-201 and the 50/1.7 for Christmas in 1974, and I still use it today.

I started with an inexpensive Rebel. I think it was the XS if that sounds familiar.

My first photography memory is not a pleasant one. One Christmas when I was about 7 or 8. Someone wrapped up one of my presents in a camera box. The only problem is the gift wasn't a camera. I hadn't asked for one, but the feeling of joy I had when thought I had gotten one was a preview of a future love. The disappointment was hard to hide though.

Started photography in the early 80’s when I was 16. My parents thought it might just be a ‘phase’ and wouldn’t let me buy the Canon A1 I was drooling after, so had to use my dads old Zeiss Ikon Contina presumably thinking that would be a test of my genuine enthusiasm.

Turns out I loved using it – guessing the distance for focusing, hand held light meter, everything manual – great fun, lots of experimenting and learning.

Ended up being able to get my new ‘flashy’ camera, though alas not the A1 but a Chinon CE4. Later went on to an Olympus OM 10, OM 40, EOS 30 and now digital. Kind of miss those days when photography seemed simpler – if the picture was wrong it was your fault, not the cameras. Now the human part is being taken out of photography. Oh well, that’s progress!

My first actual photography was with my Rebel XT two years ago. I think that is the case of everyone in my age range. I'm only 22.

The photography students have dabbled in film if they had a high school class, but most colleges I've heard about are digital now too with maybe a couple darkroom classes.

My first SLR (I had a medium format camera before) was Russian Zenit, the second - Pentax K1000 (I just bought it again a couple of months ago). First Canon - EOS 10S in 1990.

My first SLR was an early Pentax in the mid 1960's. Yes, I am that old. My first Canon SLR was an original F-1 around 1970. My last Canon SLR was the EOS 3. I still own both of those Canon's, plus many film SLR's that Canon produced in between. I made many images with film SLR's, and now have made many with Digital SLR's. There is something magical about a good through the lens viewfinder, and the confidence it gives when you "know" you got the shot, without chimping.

martines34:
I bought my first Canon EOS 10s in 80 something.

I do not think so
EOS 10S was introduced in March 1990.

I started with a used Miranda F in junior high during the Summer of Love (1969). No meter, no AF but at least it had an auto diaphragm! With the Tri-X I developed at home you could compensate while printing so exposure wasn't nearly as crucial as digital. I still shoot with a FM3A and EOS 3 for kicks but I'm 95% DSLR...

Started with my grandfather's twin lens reflex using 120 film. Eventually I bought an Olympus OM10 (1979?). The next camera I bought was a Canon EOS 3 (best film camera I ever owned). I still have my Grandfather's twin lens reflex...

Went and ripped a pawn shop off to get an ELAN II after shooting digital first!

Like the quality I get out of film. Never really had a chance to shoot B+W Properly because no one in town can process the film (in less than 3 weeks). I've thought about buying a few rolls though.

Alistair Watson wrote:
Started out in my mid teens with an old Russian Zenit!


Me too. The Zenith B was my first SLR (although I had previously owned two or three non-SLR's). My teenage budget was too stretched to afford the Zenith E so I made do without a meter until I was able to pick up a S/H Weston Master V for five quid.

Upgraded to a new FTBn a while later and have stuck with Canon ever since, moving from the FtBn to the A1 and finally the F1 before "dipping my toe" into AF with the EOS100. I still have the F1 & EOS100.

Only use digital now.

I bought an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic at the Tan Son Nhut Air Base BX in 1966. I was a photo interpreter, and had some friends who worked in the lab who taught me the basics. I developed my own black & white film, then made my own prints. There's something very satisfying about the mechanical feel of a good film camera; but I sure don't miss breathing the fumes from the chemicals! And I have no interest in black & white any more.

I've been using SLRs since 1976, like this one. It's not that long compared to some of you, but more than most. I bought an even dozen Nikon SLRs and three Canon SLRs before going digital.

EBH