As a kid I had a Kodak Brownie. I saved up my pocket money to buy and develop a roll of B & W film or two during the school holidays. I have no idea where those photos are now.
in the late '70s I picked up a second hand 35mm rangefinder camera that was probably more than 20 years old. I tried different things and got some good shots with that. The camera, photos and negatives are stashed in a box half a world away from where I am now. Although I enjoyed photography, it was not a hobby that fitted into the lifestyle of an itinerant seasonal farm worker.
When I went to work on an agricultural project in NE Thailand I bought my first "modern" 35mm camera, a Olympus mµ. It was a bit too small and automatic for my liking. I used it to take photos of work, and the odd event such as a wedding. I was not too bothered when it got stolen (along with my passport, which was more of a bother!)
I replaced the Olympus with a Ricoh rangefinder, which I enjoyed using. I wore it out. When I went looking for a new camera I came across second-hand Ricoh rangefinder, which I bought without hesitation.
One of the best photos I took with the Ricoh was of the local hunt meeting at the pub where I was living in England. I had it enlarged, and it was hung above the fireplace there. Twenty years on I see from a photo posted on the internet, my picture is still there. Sadly, the landlord is no longer. He died (peacefully) last month..... RIP John.
I took the Ricoh with me to Japan in 2001, and when it wore out I replaced it with a second hand Nikon 35mm SLR. Digital photography was starting to come of age, but still lacked the quality that film had. I found the SLR was a bit bulky for the kind of photograph I enjoyed, so I didn't use it much. In the end, in 2003 I gave it to the brother of my girlfriend at the time, as he was studying journalism, and needed a decent camera.
I resolved to go digital next, when the technology had improved a bit, and I had a computer. I got my first computer, a Mac Mini, in 2005, but it was still several years before I bought my first digital camera. That was an Olympus TG310, at a stock clearance sale in June last year. I found both the ruggedness, and the price attractive!
It was good to be taking photos again. The TG310 soon became the source of most of the photos used in the local press to go with reports of matches in the Phuket cricket league.
Like the mµ before it, the TG310 was a bit too small and too automatic for my liking. However, the biggest shortcomings for me were the shutter-lag, and not having an optical viewfinder..... So last month I bought a Fujifilm X10, which is sort of a digital equivalent of the Ricoh rangefinder. It suits my style well, and produces better quality photos than the TG310......
But after owning the X10 for 3 weeks it developed a problem with the linkage between the optical viewfinder and the zoom. The shop has sent it off for repairs (hopefully under warranty) which will take 6 or 7 weeks, so for now I am stuck with the TG310.
One from each camera here: