I started off in about 1975 with a “Halina” 126 format camera, with fixed focus, fixed lens, fixed shutter, a sunny/cloudy aperture control. It was free with several books of Green Shield Stamps. I took some pictures at Mildenhall air show in 1979, my parents were sufficiently surprised by the results that my Christmas present in 1980 was a Fuji 35mm point and shoot compact, it was (very limited) program mode only, but would produce remarkably good pictures all things considered. It had DX coding which I thought was the height of sophistication! I kept this camera until I lost it (left in a bar/on a wall/café table/somewhere) on holiday in 1992. It was replaced with a very nice Samsung compact bought 2nd hand. Can’t remember the model but it had a wonderful 35mm prime lens. It was the only film camera I’ve ever owned with a date back.
Meanwhile, in 1986, I bought my first SLR, a Miranda MS-3, a clone of the Pentax ME Super. This was bought from Dixons for £150, a huge sum for me at the time as an apprentice. It had a 28-70 lens, fully manual mode or also aperture priority mode. I learnt an awful lot about photography using this camera. I also started my lens “habit” with this camera, buying a second hand 80-250 “no name” lens that I thought would be really good for airshows. Well, it was better than the Fuji compact or the 28-70, but I learned that cheap lenses are just that, cheap lenses. I sold this outfit in 1989 to finance my first AF SLR, a Pentax SF-7, a move I regretted later as the more compact manual focus SLR was a much nicer item to hold and carry. In common with all the 1st generation AF SLRs, it was often quicker to use manual focus. Nevertheless, I took a huge number of pictures with this camera, with its 28-80 kit lens and also supplemented this with a Sigma 75-300. The SF-7, both lenses, and the Samsung were all stolen when our hotel room was broken into during a stay in Quebec city in 1994. My entire collection of camera equipment, and my partner’s Pentax P30N (lovely little camera) were gone. The thing that really hurt was the loss of about 12 reels of exposed film.
The insurance company paid out and I bought a Pentax Z50-P, 35-70 kit lens and a Pentax 100-300. The AF on this later model camera was massively better than the SF-7, but both lenses are as soft as toffee at max aperture. The Samsung compact was replaced by a Yashica T4 with a 35mm Zeiss T* prime lens. Quite the sharpest lens I’ve ever owned, even though it’s fixed to the camera. Get films back, flick open the wallet, you can tell instantly which camera, Yashica or SLR, they’ve come from. I still own these cameras and lenses but they have now been superseded by my Pentax *ist DS digital SLR bought in August 2005. I always swore I’d never go digital, but then my partner bought a Sony DSC-S85 (for a huge sum of money at the time, compared to today’s prices). It still takes as good a picture as today’s equivalent offerings, though it is painfully slow to use. I saw the digital benefits and started using this camera more than my partner. I bought my own Sony DSC-W12 at the beginning of 2005.
Other cameras I own:
1986 Pentax K1000, bought 2nd hand, yearning after my MS-3 I guess. Fully manual, built like a brick, can be used as a hammer in an emergency. The f/2 50mm prime is fully compatible with the *ist DS and pin sharp. This now sits on the bookcase primarily as an ornament but gets used now and again if I ever want to use 35mm film. I borrow the lens now and again if I need a sharp, fast 50mm on the DS.
1938 Rolleiflex Automat type II. Medium format 6x6. Fully manual, “centre weighted” metering, i.e. the table advising of possible suggested settings under a range of lighting conditions is a large label stuck in the middle of the camera back. This is primarily ornamental but does get used when I need to de-stress. It really makes you slow down, take your time and think about your photography. I doff my hat to those press photographers in the 1930s and 1940s who used this kind of kit for press/action/sports photography, it really can’t have been easy.
Duncan.
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