MY CAMERA HISTORY
I have a passion for photography and cameras design. If you're curious to know more about my history with Film and Digital cameras - here is a list and some stand-out models explained in a little more detail.
The Beginning
I grew up borrowing my father's Pentax MX and 3 prime lenses (28, 50 & 135), in the mid 80's. This was a beautifully small a solidly built SLR. The meter stopped working a decade or two ago, but not being attached to the mechanical systems it didn't stop the camera from working. Like many others of my generation, I used a Pentax K1000 during college, which was essentially a larger version of the MX.
My Cameras
The first camera I owned, and thus the 1st one on the list, is the Pentax P30n. This was bought for me as my interest in photography started to grow. Many other cameras that I have owned since I have unfortunately sold, but I keep this one around for sentimental reasons. Although I no longer have the 28-80 zoom lens it came with the camera itself still works. Through my university years I bought a few other Pentax cameras. My interest at this point was still in the devices themselves, rather than the photography. You can probably tell that this something I never really lost. However, what did fade from this point on was any brand loyalty that I had for Pentax.
Digital
My first digital camera was the Fuji 6900z. Since I was working in the video games industry as a 3D artist one of the main reasons I bought a digital camera was to capture and create textures. This unwittingly rekindled my interest in photography. The convenience of digital was undeniable, but I really didn't enjoy the controls of compact digitals. Soon after this I upgraded to a digital SLR.
This led me to the Fuji S2 Pro. Although I was initially fairly happy with the S2 it marked the end of Fuji for me due to their horrible pixel interpolation. Since the S2 used the Nikon F mount it acted as a convenient gateway to Nikon's DLSRs. I went from the terrible 12 megapixels of the Fuji to a pristine 4 megapixels in the Nikon D2H. Nikon's image processing was so good by comparison that I remained with them for several generations.
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Pentax P30n
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Pentax SF7
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Pentax MZ5
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Fuji 6900z
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Fuji S2
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Nikon D2H
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Nikon D70s
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Nikon D200
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Ricoh GR1
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Canon G9 (IR)
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Hasselblad 500cm
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Nikon F100
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Canon 40D (IR)
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Canon 5D
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Nikon D3
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Zero 2000
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Panasonic LX3
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Mamiya C330f
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Fuji X100
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Pentax MX
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Nikon D600
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Sony A7II
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Sony A7 (IR)
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Canon A1
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Leica IIIa
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Canon IV SB
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Pentax Spotmatic
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Nikon F
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Canon F1
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Sony A7R (FS)
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Nikon D3
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Sony RX1
Full Frame
Like many other photographers of the time I was not keen on the crop factor of early DSLRs. So, when I got an offer to swap my Hasselblad for a Canon 5D I jumped at the chance. I loved being able to use lenses to their full potential. Gaining another stop of shallow depth of field got me addicted to fast primes. Adapting lenses on the Canon EF mount was also really fun, I started to use Pentax lenses again. However I was not keen on the ergonomics and handling of Canon DSLRs, so when the Nikon D3 was released I sold everything I had to switch back to Nikon and I was not disappointed! I kept this camera for 6 years. A record that I have only just broken...
Infrared
As I started to get interested more in infrared photography I decided to convert a camera so I could shoot more easily, not requiring a tripod. I started with a pre-converted Canon G9 and then later bought an Canon 450D and sent it off to Germany for conversion to 720nm. Shooting both colour and IR meant carrying around two cameras, so I started to look for a solution to this...
Mirrorrless
As much as I loved the Nikon D3 (I still do as I have bought it again) I wanted something lighter for travelling. When the Sony A7 came out I not only saw the opportunity to get something smaller while keeping the high image quality, but it gave me a chance to convert a camera to full spectrum. This camera technology was a gamechanger for infrared. Not only could you see the wavelength you were shooring in through the viewfinder, but autofocus lenses worked corectly (no offset or calibration) and adapting old SLR lenses gave much better lens options for IR while being cheap and easy to use.
Collectibles
I recently started collecting older cameras that I found interesting for various reasons. The oldest was a Leica IIIa (1936). This was my first rangefinder and that led me to the Canon P, which I found very pretty in black. I found an original black, but it had some faults so I sold it and later decided to have one custom painting, along with a lens.
Nikon camera history has facsnated me for a while. I started off my modest collection with an FM3A because I found the hybrid mechanical / electronic shutter mechanism very interesting.
