Sensitive Question ... Age

[gadgetnut]

MichelleBuerre wrote:

I had always had it in my head that when buying a digicam, any digicam, you were better off with a camera that was made by a company known for photography: Pentax, Nikon, Minolta.

I can understand that. When digital camerasstarted becoming popular about 8 - 10 years ago, I was shocked to see Sony as a major player. I was thinking more in terms of photography. Then I started to realize that a digital camera is every bit as much of an electronic gadget as it is a camera. Maybe even more so. It has created an interesting trend in two different markets. Technology makers (like Sony) have had to learn more about photography, and camera makers have had to learn more about electronics & technology. I think both markets have done an excellent job, but I'm glad my camera is from a company that has it's foundations in Photography.

[bluwing]

Hi All,

It is nice to see Pentax throwing something in the big two face for a change. As far as photo/camera companies go you forgot Olympus. They were there before Canon. Too bad they decided to go with an odd format.

I am 58 and started on my dads German camera that he brought home after WWII. Then to a Kodak Hawkeye. Numerous 110s and 126s (All Kodak). Then bought my first SLR (Canon T50) in 1984. About fours years ago got my first P&S a Vivitar 3635, Which I still have and use. then another Vivitar which I used for a couple of months. But I was drawn back to Kodak with the 6490.

In 2004 bought my first DSLR, But was never really happy with it. It was not my first choice. Last year I sold my Canon and lenses and bought the DSLR that I wanted to get in the first place, The istD.

There you have it

Rudy

[MichelleBuerre]

bluwing wrote:

Hi All,

I am 58 and started on my dads German camera that he brought home after WWII. Then to a Kodak Hawkeye. Numerous 110s and 126s (All Kodak). Then bought my first SLR (Canon T50) in 1984. About fours years ago got my first P&S a Vivitar 3635, Which I still have and use. then another Vivitar which I used for a couple of months. But I was drawn back to Kodak with the 6490.

Rudy - I also started on my dads German camera. Do you remember the name and model of yours? I found a dude online that collects old German cameras (Praktikas) and found mine on his site - I thought that was pretty nifty.

[whbroker]

I am 66 and bought my first Pentax SLR's an ME and MX back in 1976. Really got into photography and joined a very active camera club, took a darkroom course and developed my own color Chibachrome prints. Came back to Pentax two years ago with a DS and now own the K10D and love it.

[bilybianca]

PDL wrote:

My money from my first paying job at age 16, bought a Petri range finder 35mm (still have it - broken but still have it).

Do you know anything about this brand? I've got a Petri body and a 35-70 zoom. It's got the Pentax K-mount and I have been unable to find any information at all about it. It's nothing fancy, definitely a low end SLR, but I'm curious anyway.

Kjell

[PDL]

I do not have the exact model of my Petri at hand but I did find this site -

http://www.pbase.com/cameras/petri

My version has a CDS light meter that automatically selects the f stop and shutter speed. It is a range finderwith a very sharp 45mm lens. It will not advance film and cock the shutter. It was a sweet camera - introduced me to strobe flash, Kodachrome slides and Plus-X -- Tri-X film. When moved to manual for exposure the only shutter speed was 1/30th of a second. When my cousin purchased his Pentax SLR a few years later - I was more than green with envy.

My cousin let me play with his Pentax for about 20 minutes - it is the brand that started me out on my quest for SLR's. Now I am saving up my pennies for the K10D - i will give my *ist Ds to my son (once in a while). Another Pentaxian is carefully molded.

PDL

OMG!!!!

since this thread started i'v managed to get to 54..

[bluwing]

Hi,

I don't remember the name. But it was more of a rangefinder style and all silver. It was all metal, of course.... If I could get into my parents house (part of the estate) I would have it now and all of his equipment.

It included a full darkroom setup and a tripod that I have never seen since. The tripod was all aluminum and not too light. With the legs fully extended it was about 72" tall. And that was not counting the centerpost when it was extended.

Alot of stuff that my brother has been selling and not telling me about.

Rudy

[Chewy]

I'm 29. Took first photo with Dad's Nikon SLR (don't recall which model) when I was 7. Got interested in photography in junior high by taking photography class and being the editor of the year book. I tell you, those were the good ol' days, using our K1000 and b/w film to snap photos of fellow classmates and then developing them in the school's dark room.

Really lost interest in manual photography after that. Was more fascinated with the fully automatic P&S cameras, then the APS cameras and then to digital. Finally got back to SLR photography by purchasing an *ist DL2 last year. Now I'm having so much fun as I did back in junior high.

[Lyrics51]

I agree with you, Chewy. It is fun. Even the cheapest of these digital SLRs can do far more than their film counterparts. I have the DL which has a mirror lock-up, DOF preview, and all the rest of the stuff we could only dream about with film. Imagine being able to take tungsten, fluorescent and daylight pictures all on one roll of film?! Or shooting ISO 200 and 1600 on the same role?! And then to top it all off we can preview the pictures in camera and have a picture processed and printed in 10 minutes. It really is fun!