I started shooting tweety birds at my feedes. The birds were dots on film. Went to a Freedom Zoom 140 Better, but no prize. I looked at the Nikon N60 and Canon Rebel. Got the Nikon becuse the Rebel felt cheap and plasticky. Seriously. It was a matter of feel. I knew nothing about cameras, but the N60 was quickly outgrown and replaced with a far more capable N80.
In the grand scheme I'm very new to Nikon. I started with Canon around 2001, dabbled with a Nikon D7200 & 80-400G briefly about 4 years ago but wasn't happy with the sharpness on the long end so I stuck with Canon. Along came the D500 and 200-500 and I haven't looked back. Now I'm dabbling with the Sony 200-600, but I have a hard time leaving behind the the Nikon PF lenses. Once Nikon releases a mirrorless sports/wildlife body with AF that rivals Sony, I don't know what else I could want.
I started off with Canon back in jr high in the early 1990s . Had a Rebel because I liked Andre Agassi, and there were commercials and such all over the place lol.
Then when I went back to film in 2012, the F5 was MUCH cheaper than the 1V, and then shot Nikon until I ditched the DSLR scene with the A7r, and haven't looked back. One of the reasons I went with Sony was due to the fact I could use almost any lens ever made. The CY 35-70 I couldn't use on a Nikon.
At the end of the day, the camera makes no difference to me anyways, but I do enjoy using an A7r3 + Leica 35-70R ALOT.
My wife, an experienced film SLR shooter, was issued a D300s by her employer, the county Medical Examiner. It was not the first DSLR she had been issued, but it was the one she she first really loved, and prompted her to go digital for personal shooting, as well.
I started digital shooting with a Sony bridge camera, and rather quickly wanted to upgrade to an DSLR. The fortuitous availability of a bag of pre-owned bag of Canon gear, which included a then-top-tier Speedlite, and a sweet Tokina macro lens, started me along the Canon path, and I soon upgraded to a new 7D. My gateway to Nikon was a Novoflex EOS/NIK adapter, and some pre-owned Nikon AI-S lenses, that my wife and I could share. This was early 2011, if I recall correctly.
Well, I became nostalgic about using 35mm film, and added pre-owned FM3A and F6 film SLRs, about 2013. In 2014, I added a pre-owned D700, and in 2015, I added a pre-owned D3s, which firmly established Nikon as my second SLR system.
In 2018, after I retired, a cheque for my unused, accumulated “comp” time was enough to cover the cost of a new D5, as my emphasis shifted from evidentiary/forensic/crime scene photography, to birds and wildlife. Canon remains my macro system, and I can do “general” photography with either system.
Let's see.
I was infected by my dad with the photographyvirus.
He shot Hassy and had his own darkroom.
I still remember how magical it was to me as a little boy to see the photo slowly appear on paper.
Quality time with my dad and lovely memories.
At the age of 12 I got a full manual Yashica Matt for my birthday together with a Seconic simple lightingmeter (still have it) and a pack of 100ASA B&W film.
I learned how to use it and how to develop in the darkroom.
My next birthday I got all kinds of things for the Matt like colourfilters a remote a tripod and the like.
Looking back I can only say dad did a thorough job educating me.
I used this system till I was 20yr, working in the weekends and saving for my dreamcamera a Nikon F2AS with winder.
At the same age I had to join the military. (obligatory those days) but I volunteered for a longterm service to become an officer.
After less than a year I was transferred to a special division for intel and communications and was trained to become a combatphotog.
I can still feel the weight of my backpack . 2 bodies with md, a 600mm, a 300mm, film and a FAL with support and ammo.
Well Nikon was the brand of choice in the military so I used Nikon throughout my entire professional life.
In all those years I never had a camera fail from other than heavy abuse or a film jamup so it was a nobrainer to me to buy Nikon for my civilian life.
I started photography when I was about 5 years old and it has always fascinated me. There's a magic to capturing images, the art expressions, the feelings only an image can express.
My first Nikon I saved up for was the Nikkormat FTN in1973 and continued developing and printing B&W. My only lens was the 50/2 for many years until I graduated Uni and working in Indonesia. I have loved Nikon as it feels a photographer's camera. Then when digital arrived Canon was well advanced and stayed with many iterations until 2010 when Leica introduced the M9, M240 and loved art of the process of capturing images. Then a foray with Sony, Fiji and now Nikon. Why Nikon because it feels like photographer's camera. Sure look at the specs, MTF charts, but you have to be passionate about the feel and process. If not you may as well use your smartphone
I started with a Praktica B200 w/ 28/2.8, 50/1.8 and 135/2.8 Pentacon lenses. Then I swapped that camera for the BC-1 model. In mid 80's I felt in love with nature photography so I realized I had the need for more robust & specialized gear.
My first Nikon was the F-301 (N2000 in northern America). I selected the Nikon brand thanks to the availability of many second hand (i.e. cheaper ) Nikkor lenses. My 1st AF camera was the Nikon F-801 (N8008), then I moved to F100. I bought a used FM too with MD-12. Eventually I bought a D100, which I've used along with F-801 & F100 (I have used Velvia, Provia and digital at the same time, for a couple of years; Velvia slides were digitalized with Coolscan 5000ED, which I still own).
My cameras evolved according to the sequence:
D100 -> D200 -> D300 -> D700 -> D7200 - > Z6.
I have used several Coolpix compact cameras (4500, 5400, 8400 & P7800) too. I still own the 8400, which I never use though. Nevertheless, I got "excellent" A3 prints from Coolpix 8400 8 Mpix files! I've used also the Canon EOS M3, with several EF-M and EF lenses: I was surprised by the high quality-to-price ratio of Canon gear. I sold it to fund the Z6 and to not have two ML systems. However, having used Canon gear, I understand why Canonians love Canon.
Like many here I began with film...
"New-B" -> Pentax 1978-1984 Spotmatic --> Pentax MX
"Life Sucks" -> College poverty (and bad decisions ) forced me sell gear and I was not shooting until I started doing research in the Pribilof Islands in 1986. Working so closely with pelagic seabirds (murrres, puffins, auklets, and kittiwakes) reminded me how much I loved nature photography. Between seasons I reinvested in photography.
"Optics First and a pretentious moment" -> Contax/Yashica & Hasselblad 1986-1995
"Technology Seduces" -> Autofocus drew me into Nikon 1996-2004. I had a D100, D1x, and D2H but was frustrated by low resolution bodies compared to Canon's offerings
"Grass was Greener" -> 2005-2014 Canon. During this period Canon was way more responsive to their shooters. They offered more affordable USM pro glass and were pushing sensor resolution up. I was a happy Canon shooter until I wanted a lens to go beyond 300mm without converters.
"The seduction... dream lens" -> I was not looking to leave Canon, but the local shop had a used 200-400mm f4 VRI for sale at an "affordable" price ($2800). The Canon equivalent was almost $10,000 and would never be an option for me. Wanting that lens, I sold it all and went back to Nikon. Since that time, I've "doubled down," and don't see myself leaving the system. In fact, I am more pleased with my photographic equipment now than ever and have stopped blaming missed pictures on the gear... I have finally gotten to a place where I know I am the limiting factor in every photographic situation.
I came from Canon....1d mark III and have used most of the L lenses and sold them too. I needed to down size and saving some money..I had a 500L F4 IS mark 1 too. I also needed a more up to date body but cheaper to shoot. That was 7 or 8 years ago. Before that, I shot Canon exclusively.. My first Nikon body was the D7000. Bought it used. Is very budget appealing to me that I could use AF D lenses on it. I have been detoxed because I realized I don't need lens with red ring to produce great photos..OOL.... Thanks Nikon.... I skipped D7100 because of the buffer issues. I had a D300 for a brief time until water damage killed it back in 2014. Nothing was really available to us crop, budget shooters...until the D7200. Great camera. Shot 2 seasons with it and have enough budget to move up to D500. Then, to D750 and shooting mostly Sigma Art lenses. Other than some older Nikon AF D lenses, I really don't have much experience with Nikon glass from Nikon....because I don't use them much.
I dipped my toes in the Nikon waters in mid-2016 because of the D500 and 200-500. The only reason I still shoot Nikon is because of the 500PF and D500/850 OVFs and pixel density. Sometimes I get tired looking through EVFs and like to go back to a nice OVF and IMO the Nikon DSLRs are the best out right now.
It started with a borrowed Kodak Retina probably around 1964 or so, an early model. In college, a used Kowa SLR that never really worked, then a Praktica Super TL; and in no particular order: a Yashica TL Electro X, Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic, Canonet GIII QL17, Yashica-mat 124 and eventually an FM2; most with a variety of lenses... Still have the first two lenses I added (Tamron Adapt-a-Matic, pat. pend.), and still have some of the bodies. Later added a Bessa I, Bessa R and Bronica etrs. Digital started around '84 with a dedicated frame grabber taking stills from 1" tape. Then eventually, Olympus, Leica, Sony, and a Z7... All supplemented by a good supply of rag paper, graphite and ink. It's all good... ; - )
I started with Pentax, due to the salesman at the local camera store, 1979. In 1982 a friend offered me his Nikon F3 and a couple lenses to use while he was away for a few weeks (illness related). He used Nikon because wildlife photographer Leonard LaRue used Nikon.
I loved it, did not want to give it back. Bought my own and been using Nikon since.
I'm pretty sure my first SLR was a Pentax Spotmatic. Once I got into journalism, during and after college, I "graduated" to a Nikon F, and really never looked back, acquiring at one point, about 11 lenses and 3 bodies in 35mm gear. In 1976, I became a commercial/industriai photographer and also acquired Pentax 67 gear. In '97, when AF came around, fellow professionals indicated that Nikon's AF really wasn't terrific, and I reluctantly switched to Canon. film and digital. My first digital body was a Canon/Kodak DCS6000 in '98. I shot all Canon until 2018, when I became increasingly frustrated by the AF tracking, and decided to "dip my toes back into the Nikon pond" with a D500 and a 200-500. Fast forward to June of this year when I sold off my remaining Canon gear, and went completely to Nikon, adding a D5, D750 and a few more lenses.
I started with film back in about 2002 with an N80. Working at a camera store at the time I got to play with different brands. Nikon attracted me due to the ergonomics and price. Shot mostly with the N80 and a 50mm 1.4D (That I still have) as well as a few Sigma lenses peppered in. From there I bought a used D70, which I also still have, and upgraded my film camera to an F100. Eventually the F100 and the sigma lenses were sold and the D70 along with a Nikkor 17-35ED 2.8 & the 50mm were my only kit for years.
While I don't have a huge investment in Nikon kit, I stuck with them with my recent upgrade to a D750. Honestly there was not any thought about looking at another brand because I still like the feel and pricing of Nikon cameras. I've considered Fuji for a smaller footprint for walking around, and I may still do that at some point. However, I always like to try to enjoy and hone my skills on the equipment I have.
Who says ya can't teach a 'monkey new tricks?!
Turned sixty 11 years ago, retired and wanted a challenge...ya know mix things up.
Went all in from Canon to Nikon, Windows to iMac. The rest is history.
In the 60s I started with Pentax Spotmatic, then shifted to Konica Autoreflex. I figured: why match needle when the camera could do that itself? When the Konica could no longer be repaired to be reliable, at the end of the 80s I bought a Nikon N8008. Traded that for an N8008s. Then when digital became available, I bought a Coolpix 4500 - the swivel body was great for taking photos of my new pup at his eye level and I didn't have to worry about D&P. When the D70 was announced I bought it right away, than later followed with D200, D300, a used D700, then D500. I continue to use the D300, D500 and D700, but recently I'm putting my foot more firmly in the FX camp with a D750 and a used D850. Why Nikon? I love the consistency in the controls and menus and the reliable quality so the camera doesn't get in my way.
I started with photography as a young teen; my first film SLR was a Nikon FE and then FE2. I really loved the simplicity and light weight of those camera bodies (and still own the FE2). I also spent some time with the F3HP, some Pentax medium format, etc.
The Nikon D200 was my first DSLR, but then I shifted towards using Canon DSLR cameras for many years since they were leading with more image-stabilized lenses, especially on the used market.
In 2016 I dipped my toes back in the Nikon waters, bought a D500 and 200-500, then have proceeded to add more lenses - especially the 500PF - as well as the D850. I still have a few Canon lenses, but have really enjoyed Nikon the past couple of years again for wildlife and nature photography. The full-featured capacity of the D500 and D850 are wonderful and I still prefer looking through an excellent OVF, though I have dabbled with the Z7 too and will wait to see how the mirrorless offerings evolve over time before really committing in that area.
Started with my dads Canon Program AE-1, which I still have, and shoot occasionally. Then I was gifted a Pentax 35mm film camera, which I also still have.
I think my first digital camera was a Kodak point and shoot with a 3MP sensor.
When I finally decided to look into a DSLR it was a toss up between Nikon and Canon. I did all the research and it came down to which felt better in my hand. I ended up with a D40. I was quickly hooked and moved up to the D80.
I shot my first wedding with the D300 (somewhere around 2009) and it just snowballed from there. D700/D3S/D750/D850/Z6........
I still shoot a pair of D750's and looking forward to what Nikon decides to replace them with.
I have to say, I am intrigued with other camera brands (Sony/Canon) but for now I'll stick to my Nikon's and my family of lenses..
. Had a Rebel because I liked Andre Agassi, and there were commercials and such all over the place lol. 
. 2 bodies with md, a 600mm, a 300mm, film and a FAL with support and ammo.
) forced me sell gear and I was not shooting until I started doing research in the Pribilof Islands in 1986. Working so closely with pelagic seabirds (murrres, puffins, auklets, and kittiwakes) reminded me how much I loved nature photography. Between seasons I reinvested in photography.