A trip down memory lane

[Don Hoey]

Joes comment on the Nikkormat, and Adey's OM1 made me think of this.

Since getting into photography, I have over the years gone through the upgrade path. Be it the ability to be able to afford what was a ' dream machine ' ( boys & toys ), kit purchased to suit a particular style as the hobby developed, or keeping up with the latest technology.

It would be interesting to see other members lists just to remember some fine names, and chart the introduction of developments over the years.

My list starting in 1966 with the advent of through the lens metering. Until then most meters were hand held or clip on.

Miranda G ...... Interchangeable view finders. With non coupled TTL metering head. Loads cheaper than the Nikon F. Bought when I was in the RAF in Aden.
Pentax Spotmatic ..... M42 thread lens mount. Top kit for its day. The end of pre set lenses. ( on early lenses the aperture control was a twin ring set up. Decide the setting and set the master ring. The second ring was used to open the lens up for focusing and then twisted back to the stop on the master ring before taking the exposure. How things have developed. )

Nikkormat FTN ..... traded the Spotmatic for this. Body only cost was £165 and I was on £12 a week. Petrol was 5s 3p a gallon. Thats nearly 4 galls to the pound.
Nikkormat FT3 ..... Introduction of AI coupling. No more twist each way to couple the lens to metering system when changing lenses.
Nikon FM ..... had 2 of these- kit bag now getting heavier. Leap up in metering technology. LED meter display, very fast response. The end of slow response CDS cells.
Nikon FE ..... Battery powered with aperture priority auto mode. Quickly sold. Let down by batteries in the cold.
Nikon F2S ..... Finally at the dream range. Back to twist and turn to couple the meter. This head could meter down to -2EV. Led display great for low light use.
Nikon F2A ..... AI so auto lens / meter coupling. Traded this for my wifes Bronica ETRS kit ( straight swop ). I needed to get her involved and therefore ' on side ' for future spends.
Nikon F2AS ..... The ultimate incarnation of the F2 range. Amongst the finest mechanical cameras ever made.
Nikon F3 ..... Back up for the F2AS. Quieter shutter. Battery dependance solved by using motor drive supply. The start of electronics, my first camera that relys on special lead for remote shutter operation. But it still takes interchangeable heads and screens.

Bronica SQA ..... A venture into medium format. Good kit. Could not afford Hassleblad. I used the CDS vertical finder as a solution to the rubbish that gets on the focusing screen when the flip up type is used. Still had a reversed image on screen. This camera really slowed me down in the landscape. I still miss the large viewfinder image.
De Vere 5 x 4 ..... A distraction brought about by the search for swings and tilts control in still life. I got it for very little and modified it to accept the Bronica body. That was just before Fuji released the GS680 6x9 cm which I really fancied but could not justify, as due to its size this is studio kit.
Agfa Record ..... Folding 6 x 9cm. Used for outdoor pop concerts. Its standard lens is 105mm so a 35mm crop of the neg made it like a super telephoto. Security just laughed whenever they saw it.
Olympus XA .... Very compact aperture priority. Limited range finder focus due to it small size.
Various 6 x 6cm folders that I have aquired and used as large neg. compacts.

Nikon D100 ...... A new age.

What next ?

Don

[Saphire]

These are a list of cameras I have had in my past when I did photography full time before I went into the Mail order 24hour B and White development, no machinery purely hand printed.

Large Format Press Camera
Voiglander. Can't remember the type but sold it recently for a lot of money it was a rare one.
Yashika twin lens reflex with 35mm insert still have that. A brilliant camera

A few Kodak Brownies. Leicas. Still have an old film one.

Medium format. Mamiya 645 with various lens to do weddings, parties, baby portraits. A devil to carry all the equipment to venues, backdrops lighting ect.

First 35mm Pentax ME Super
35mm Pentax LX I wanted through the lens metering. Lots of various lens.
Had a long break 20yrs only used point and shoot.

Then onto Digital.
Konica 310Z still carry that in handbag for enmergencies.
Canon 300d passed over to hubby. Bought him 100-400 IS lens for Christmas.
Canon 350D. Lens 18-55,75-300, 170-500, converters 1.4 and 2x, Macro bellows,tubes, and 50mm lens.
Oh Forgot to mention I have met Lord Litchfield and Terence Donovan his photo's were inspirational(Speed of light,Speed of light)

I think thats it
Bye the way Don My dad was posted in Aden.

Christine

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Saphire

Yashika twin lens reflex with 35mm insert still have that. A brilliant camera

Terence Donovan his photo's were inspirational(Speed of light,Speed of light)

Christine

I think your Yashica is the 635. A buddy in Aden had one. Very neat idea. One camera and a choice of 120 or 35mm film.
Voiglander, I know some of these are worth a bit. A friend got a Nikon FG outfit in a trade in deal some years ago.

TD's phrase ' speed of light ' will live with me for ever.

My, my, have you had a busy life in the world of photography.

Don

[Don Hoey]

In yesterdays rummage in the old kit bag I found 2 old light meters. Just taken quick pics - nothing fancy also of my Gossen. I am guessing that the Johnsons manual calculator is from the 50's. Lots will recognise the Weston as it was sold in various Marks over a long period. The Gossen is far more up to date and I still use it. The attachment clips on the front and gives 15 and 7.5 degree area readings.

When you put all three together and then consider todays fancy built in systems it shows how far technology has advanced.

Don

[Adey Baker]

My first photos must have been taken some time during the '50s with my Mother's Box Brownie or my Dad's Ensign Greyhound.

My first 'exhibited' shots were two photos taken in Paris, with my sister's Brownie 127 during a school trip in April 1962. They were selected along with some from other pupils to illustrate the trip report on the school noticeboard.

I'd always been fascinated by photography though I was completely ignorant of the mechanics/processes involved - it was all magic to me!

When I started work in 1963 my first 'big' purchase was my very own camera at last! A Kodak Instamatic 200 with drop-in 126 cartridge and 'dial the weather' exposure. I thought it was the dog's whatsits and it went everywhere with me.

There was something missing from my photography but I didn't know quite what that was until my mate showed me his SLR (a Zenith C!) with both 50mm and 135mm lenses. It was one of those life-changing (and wallet-emptying!) experiences.

I bought a Practica L with seperate meter,35mm, 50mm and 135mm lenses and set off, whenever I could, to photograph the surrounding area from every angle. Having been a shift-worker for over thirty years, I've always had some daylight hours available during the week,so this gave me lots of opportunities.

I added a second 'LLC' body and, more significantly, a 400mm Soligor pre-set F6.3 lens to see if I could get any worthwhile shots of the local birds and other wildlife. My Zenith-owning mate had also introduced me to the basics of developing and printing my own films so I would shoot whatever I could in the day and then process at night and, hopefully, identify any mystery birds from the resultant blurred images!

The Practicas were quite noisy so the introduction of the Olympus OM1 was a godsend with its quieter cloth shutter and dampened mirror. I could never afford their 400mm lens so had to make do with a 300mm, which was a bit too short, until Sigma re-introduced a 400mm Apo in about 1989. I added other bodies from time to time though I've not had much luck with OM auto bodies both OM2n and OM4 failing to well-known faults.

With the OM system obviously coming towards the end of its life in the late '90s I bought a Canon EOS50E to get into a system that wasn't going to disappear just when my camera bodies might need replacing! I also added another Sigma 400mm lens to fit the new body

From there I've moved on to a 20D digital body which is a whole new ball-game and by-passes all those crappy 'machine' enprints to show you how good a photographer you really are! I can't believe how much better my bird photos look now - I'm not doing anything differently at the taking stage (other than taking more shots!).

Along the way I've also bought and sold on an Olympus 35RC compact and a Leica M4 50th anniversary model with 35mm F2 (that had to go just before I got married to help pay for a car as my old one was falling to bits!)

I've also got a Sony S85 digital compact camera which is quite nice though a bit slow by today's standards

[greypoint]

My first SLR was a Praktica - used mainly with a 135mm lens. Traded in fairly soon [we had a local camera shop back then] for a little black Nikon FG with 50mm lens - can't remember what other lens I added. Then, if memory serves me right, came the Nikon F301 - because it had an integral motor wind [a rather slow one]. Then came affordable and useable AF - must have been the Canon EOS600 - I can't remember why but I sold it to a friend who still has it. Had various other cameras - Minolta, Canon and Pentax - but lost interest for a number of years, and during that time used an old manual focus Canon bought for 30.00. Tried a little Kodak digital about 4 years ago and re-kindled the interest. Sold the old Canon for 35.00.
Digital cameras? I've used Minolta Dimage 5,7i, Z1 and S304, Olympus 750, 770, 5050 and 8080, Fuji S602 and S7000, Kodak 6490, Panasonic FZ1, FZ2 and FZ20 and Canon A75 - think that's all the compacts.
Finally got a DSLR at the time there was a long waiting list for the D70 - so settled for a 300D. Added a D30 then swapped them both for a 10D. Just never felt quite right so in March this year made the change to Nikon - D70 and now D50.
A long journey..........!

[Saphire]

I took up photography as a job when I left school in 1964 printing photo's at a place called Napcolour in Manchester. I also worked in a 2 photographic shops on the sales side but didn't like that, I prefered the developing and printing side so decided to start my own business in Black and white printing. I did this at home which meant very long hours, sometimes until the late hours to get orders out. I realised after a good few years it had spolt what was once a hobby, so sold everything and gave up, that was until I bought my first digital now I can just snap away and enjoy again.

These photo's are of a few of the old items I have left. The small light meter is only tiny 2" x 1"

[Don Hoey]

The Exa500 is from 1966 / 67. Due to the high cost of SLR's, Exacta from East Germany and Zenith from USSR, were a more affordable entry into SLR photography.

I bought this for £10 at a boot sale some years ago. It was as much a case of the odd body shape, and the fact it was complete with a set of extension tubes, that marked it as a souvenir of the period worth the money.

Having spent some time on the Macro Forum using up to date kit. I am posting this as a memory of how not so easy life was in the late 60's early 70's for photographers involved in close up work.

The camera lens contains a spring loaded auto diaphram. The bracket joining the lens to the body is to stop the lens down and trip the shutter. It cannot work with a cable release.

I have never actually used the camera as in comparison to other camera's of the period it is very awkward to hold. The shutter release is on the left hand side on the lens. A partial depression of which stops the lens down prior to exposure. The shutter speed dial surrounds the rewind crank.

Don

[Jon Sharp]

I started out with a Zenith, as a teenager in the late 70's, I seem to recall the light meter was above the lens rather than TTL.

My younger brother was given a Miranda but never developed an interest in photography so I adopted it. Meanwhile my dad and elder brother both had Olympus OM1's. I found the viewfinder very dark, with the split screen blackening in low light and so on being offered a new camera as a birthday present one year I opted for the Canon AE1 program, which I still have though, despite being serviced, it never recovered from a trip to the sahara many years ago with it's fine powdery sand.

When I left I school a bought a secondhand Bronica S2A which I loved but despite my best efforts I couldn't get into studio work or the inclination to take up wedding photography and it therefore ended up sitting in a cupboard.

For many years I didn't pick up a camera other than for the odd family snap.

Recently however, I've re-kindled my interest and after borrowing a digital camera for a weekend I once again became hooked, needless to say as soon as I could I invested in a Fuji s7000. I found this to be a fantastic camera, very capable and sharp.

Recently however I upgraded to a 350d, with a Sigma 28-300mm and Sigma 80-400mm OS lenses!

[Don Hoey]

Hi Jon,

If you still have any post a snap on here. Does not have to be anything fancy.

Bronica S2A - that was on my wish list once, took so long to get there I ended up with the SQA.

Canon AE1 program - must be loads of members who cut their teeth on this one.

Don