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Garylh
Veteran
- Location
- Contra Costa County, California
My first real camera was in high school, late 60s, a Minolta SR1 I bought used. Have used everything in film cameras from 35 to large format. By profession, I am an embedded software developer, photography is a way to get my mind off of the headaches of my profession. I wasn't shooting much until I picked up the Panasonic GF 1. Which in turn eventually. Got me interested in trying my old legacy lenses on it.. Nikon dslrs, etc. When the x100 first came out, by that time I was going yeh... Someone outside of Leica finally got it.. Back to basics. 
Gary
Gary
Hey All,
I am one of the over the hill gang as well. My beginnings in photography date to the summer of 1965. Before then all I had ever done was click a pic or two on my mother's Brownie Hawkeye (Image link Brownie Hawkeye Pic). Summer of 65 I joined 4-H - probably nobody here ever heard of it - and my first two projects were photography and forestry. I got a new camera - a Brownie Starmite III (Image link Brownie Starmite III Pic). I have the records $13.00. I bought a roll of film, photo-album, little corners ($0.19) and took 24 pictures and had the film developed - sum total $24 and change for that project. Don't know what happened to that camera or album actually but years later (circa 1975 - yes I am old enough to use circa) I bought a Hanimex EF110 with detachable flash (Image link Hanimex EF110 Pic). Anybody ever heard of Hanimex? Took lots of pics with that camera and am certain I still have it if I look through enough old boxes. But by then I knew people who were buying SLRs and so I had to get one and did in the late 1970s. I got a Minolta XD5 with the 1.4 50mm (Image link Minolta XD5 Pic). I used that camera for a long time and of course I still have it and it works fine though the case is basically shot. Those are the only cameras I have ever bought with my own money. All cameras since have been work cameras which I could use on a "I break it I buy it" basis and I did rescue a Kodak DC290 2.1 mp digital camera from a garbage can that I also have.
Anyway I don't know if anybody has noticed but there has been an economic downturn since 2008 -
so the "extra" money I could find in a budget has largely dried up. So I either keep using the Panny G1 I bought on work money or play on my own dime. So I been looking for a couple years at various options from DSLR to micro 4/3rds. I liked the EM-5 but just like I disliked the OM-1 when I bought the XD5 the controls were too tightly bunched - wow over 30 years later and Olympus still has the same problem for me. When I finally picked up the x-e1 I knew I was home and given Fuji's history, quality, sensor and hence image quality, willingness to listen to customers and develop cameras and lenses that happen to suit me I am buying in within 2 weeks maybe in a couple days - just waiting on a bigger than normal payday. The x-e1 is not perfect but I feel and think I am buying into a system I can live with. Even quasi eye-balling one of those medium formats - maybe someday. So Fuji it is for me.
-Ed-
I am one of the over the hill gang as well. My beginnings in photography date to the summer of 1965. Before then all I had ever done was click a pic or two on my mother's Brownie Hawkeye (Image link Brownie Hawkeye Pic). Summer of 65 I joined 4-H - probably nobody here ever heard of it - and my first two projects were photography and forestry. I got a new camera - a Brownie Starmite III (Image link Brownie Starmite III Pic). I have the records $13.00. I bought a roll of film, photo-album, little corners ($0.19) and took 24 pictures and had the film developed - sum total $24 and change for that project. Don't know what happened to that camera or album actually but years later (circa 1975 - yes I am old enough to use circa
) I bought a Hanimex EF110 with detachable flash (Image link Hanimex EF110 Pic). Anybody ever heard of Hanimex? Took lots of pics with that camera and am certain I still have it if I look through enough old boxes. But by then I knew people who were buying SLRs and so I had to get one and did in the late 1970s. I got a Minolta XD5 with the 1.4 50mm (Image link Minolta XD5 Pic). I used that camera for a long time and of course I still have it and it works fine though the case is basically shot. Those are the only cameras I have ever bought with my own money. All cameras since have been work cameras which I could use on a "I break it I buy it" basis and I did rescue a Kodak DC290 2.1 mp digital camera from a garbage can that I also have.Anyway I don't know if anybody has noticed but there has been an economic downturn since 2008 -
so the "extra" money I could find in a budget has largely dried up. So I either keep using the Panny G1 I bought on work money or play on my own dime. So I been looking for a couple years at various options from DSLR to micro 4/3rds. I liked the EM-5 but just like I disliked the OM-1 when I bought the XD5 the controls were too tightly bunched - wow over 30 years later and Olympus still has the same problem for me. When I finally picked up the x-e1 I knew I was home and given Fuji's history, quality, sensor and hence image quality, willingness to listen to customers and develop cameras and lenses that happen to suit me I am buying in within 2 weeks maybe in a couple days - just waiting on a bigger than normal payday. The x-e1 is not perfect but I feel and think I am buying into a system I can live with. Even quasi eye-balling one of those medium formats - maybe someday. So Fuji it is for me.-Ed-
melonbread
Regular
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- Jannette
I'm probably one of the younger ones - 24. I'm in a field (architecture) where every man and his dog carries around a camera, and a few very close friends were film enthusiasts. I used a Yashica Mat 124G before film developing in Melbourne just got way too expensive - there was a lot of joy in taking a photo and having a few surprises once it's developed. I was drawn to the manual controls of the fuji, and the retro looks. I also had a DSLR kit, but I became embarrassed by the bulkiness of it (people expect a certain thing when you whip out one of those monsters), and it made it very hard to take candid shots without everyone assuming the forced smile pose. No one even looks at me now with the X100
I'm a staunch hobbyist, but the Fuji X100 has taught me so much more about photography. I was lucky to get the camera for a steal. Learning to use it and working around its little quirks has been a blessing. In the future I hope to invest further in the X-series of cameras, I've never had one which has quite tickled my fancy - nor wanted me to take photos, quite as much.
I'm a staunch hobbyist, but the Fuji X100 has taught me so much more about photography. I was lucky to get the camera for a steal. Learning to use it and working around its little quirks has been a blessing. In the future I hope to invest further in the X-series of cameras, I've never had one which has quite tickled my fancy - nor wanted me to take photos, quite as much.
Penfan2010
All-Pro
- Location
- NJ, USA
- Name
- Ed
isn't the Yashicamat great? Do you still have yours? I probably shoot with it once a year. Also second your thoughts on the way the Xs make me want to shoot more.
Armanius
Bring Jack back!
- Location
- Houston, Texas
- Name
- Jack
My first real camera was a Canon Elph APS, which I rarely used. Then around 2002, I got my first digital camera, a Canon Digital Elph with 2 mp. Never got into photography until Dec. 2008 when I decided that I needed a hobby to go hand in hand with the next chapter of my life. Picked up a Panasonic TZ5 at Costco first, and a month later I was buying Oly DSLR's and lenses left and right thanks in part to the Circuit City closing. The GAS hasn't stopped since.
When the X100 was first announced, the GAS definitely got worse. The styling, focal length, and high ISO performance was what attracted me the most to the X100. I recall asking Rich to look for the then hard to find X100 in Hawaii for me (even though I'm in Texas). I've since owned all the X cameras except for the super zoom. Oh, I haven't owned a XF1 either. Yet.
When the X100 was first announced, the GAS definitely got worse. The styling, focal length, and high ISO performance was what attracted me the most to the X100. I recall asking Rich to look for the then hard to find X100 in Hawaii for me (even though I'm in Texas). I've since owned all the X cameras except for the super zoom. Oh, I haven't owned a XF1 either. Yet.
melonbread
Regular
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- Jannette
Still do have my Yashica Mat! I love it too much to sell it. The only problem nowadays is whenever it comes out I get a "What's that?" comment or a "that is one COOL camera". Everyone wants to touch it!
BBW
Legend
- Location
- betwixt and between
- Name
- BB
I'm just barely holding on to being in my 50s, :wink_old: and have always loved photographs. Heck when I was about 10 I used up a whole roll on my Instamatic taking pictures of squirrels and my dog.:biggrin_old:
Serious photography began in about 1975 with an OM-1, graduated with a fine arts degree in Photography... Fast forward, made my first foray into digital back in January 2010, I think and that's when I met Amin and Bill (bilzmale) and soon after Christilou and a whole bunch of other people thanks to Mu43...then onto Serious Compacts...and now here.
Bought my Fuji X100 as an early adopter and then its little sibling the X10. I was so happy when Fuji came out with a camera that offered the style of controls I had missed for so long. To me their controls are the easiest and the image quality is superb - not to mention their being absolutely beautiful to look at. What more could I ask for?
I think my demographics fit in with many others here.
Serious photography began in about 1975 with an OM-1, graduated with a fine arts degree in Photography... Fast forward, made my first foray into digital back in January 2010, I think and that's when I met Amin and Bill (bilzmale) and soon after Christilou and a whole bunch of other people thanks to Mu43...then onto Serious Compacts...and now here.
Bought my Fuji X100 as an early adopter and then its little sibling the X10. I was so happy when Fuji came out with a camera that offered the style of controls I had missed for so long. To me their controls are the easiest and the image quality is superb - not to mention their being absolutely beautiful to look at. What more could I ask for?
I think my demographics fit in with many others here.
Penfan2010
All-Pro
- Location
- NJ, USA
- Name
- Ed
Ahhh, BB, didn't know you were an OM-1 user as well! A number of us Xers seem to have started with that sweet Miataini machine.
BBW
Legend
- Location
- betwixt and between
- Name
- BB
It does seem that way doesn't it?
Penfan2010
All-Pro
- Location
- NJ, USA
- Name
- Ed
Hog heaven!!!
GeoffM
Regular
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Me, I'm turning 50 very soon , and have been into photography since about age 16 so have around 35 years experience, so yes started off with film and before AF. My road map of cameras after a instamatic and a few compacts is: Zenit SLR, OM10, OM30 (had a nifty focus assist system), OM2SP. Then moved into digital with a Sony FV303 followed by a FV707 and then as DSLR's became more affordable bought into the Nikon system with a D70s followed by D90, D300, D700. Still have the latter two bodies and now have a Fuji X E1. I also had a Panny LX3 for a short while recently and still have a Nikon P7100, which needs to find a new home and shall probably sell the D300 soon too to free up funds for further investment into the Fuji system
, and have been into photography since about age 16 so have around 35 years experience, so yes started off with film and before AF. My road map of cameras after a instamatic and a few compacts is: Zenit SLR, OM10, OM30 (had a nifty focus assist system), OM2SP. Then moved into digital with a Sony FV303 followed by a FV707 and then as DSLR's became more affordable bought into the Nikon system with a D70s followed by D90, D300, D700. Still have the latter two bodies and now have a Fuji X E1. I also had a Panny LX3 for a short while recently and still have a Nikon P7100, which needs to find a new home and shall probably sell the D300 soon too to free up funds for further investment into the Fuji system 
