First camera- a love story

[Peeb]

Got my first 'real' camera almost 40 years ago: canon canonet QL17 GIII. I was 16. It was an amazing image capturing machine! It really ignited my love for photography and I moved on to the SLR format later and thought I'd never look back.

But you get older, your kids grow up, and you DO look back.

Tonight, I loved going thru the old slides taken with the canon and remembering with bittersweet smiles the folks long gone, capured in those little cardboard boxes; and also comparing my siblings (then) to my kids, my nieces and my nephews (now). What a trip it's been.

Here's a self portrait from the days when my biggest worries were how long to grow that "King Valiant" mane, and what was on at the drive-in movie that night.

Good times.... (and those florescent green walls were actually MUCH more jarring than captured here).

 

[Gary A.]

Hey a selfie! The cameras ability to capture and freeze time is magical.

 

[Derrel]

What an outstanding post, especially for us middle-ager types...Ah, the Canonet QL17 GIII...I recall using one for my high school newspapper asignments in the late 1970's. We had one of those and an AE-1. I never really was fond of the Quick-Load part of the QL17....but it did work! I later bought a couple of those Canonets when I found them at good prices used. Gave one to an old girlfriend, gave another to my brother after I'd had it for a spell.

Your selfie though...oh my! That bureau mirror! What looks like your mother, and maybe your sister sitting on the floor. That belt, those jeasns, that hair! Takes me back to the high school days (Class of '81 for me).

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Peeb]

What an outstanding post, especially for us middle-ager types...Ah, the Canonet QL17 GIII...I recall using one for my high school newspapper asignments in the late 1970's. We had one of those and an AE-1. I never really was fond of the Quick-Load part of the QL17....but it did work! I later bought a couple of those Canonets when I found them at good prices used. Gave one to an old girlfriend, gave another to my brother after I'd had it for a spell.

Your selfie though...oh my! That bureau mirror! What looks like your mother, and maybe your sister sitting on the floor. That belt, those jeasns, that hair! Takes me back to the high school days (Class of '81 for me).

Thanks for posting this!

Ha ha- you nailed it! Class of 80 for me.

Correct again on the others: Mom and sis.

Oh, and those clothes. Wow- yeah, that belt is heavy duty!

 

[table1349]

Nice story, but I doubt that the Hallmark Channel will make a movie from it.

 

[webestang64]

Love the photo!!! And it's fun to look back and remember what all has changed over the years. Like you my first camera (a K1000 which I still use today) set me on this crazy photography path. And not just the belt but the belt buckle sure brings back a flood of memories. Somewhere I still have my big brass buckle with a heard of running horses on it........class of 83 for me.

 

[Peeb]

Love the photo!!! And it's fun to look back and remember what all has changed over the years. Like you my first camera (a K1000 which I still use today) set me on this crazy photography path. And not just the belt but the belt buckle sure brings back a flood of memories. Somewhere I still have my big brass buckle with a heard of running horses on it........class of 83 for me.

The K1000 is pretty much the AK-47 of the photography universe. Simple and effective. I never had one, but I wanted one!

 

[jcdeboever]

Make your bed!

 

[Peeb]

Make your bed!

Ha ha! 40 years later that still not a strong skill for me. I mean, it's just gonna get messed up again tonite, right?

 

[table1349]

Make your bed!

Ha ha! 40 years later that still not a strong skill for me. I mean, it's just gonna get messed up again tonite, right?

Well there is messed up then there is "messed up". Which one are you talking about?

 

[Peeb]

I'm not proud of it, but I eventually ditched that pretty little canon for a sordid short-lived fling with this wild child:

Camera selfie on self-timer.

I walked into Service Merchandise to buy the aforementioned Pentax K1000 and somehow this all-black bad boy caught my eye.

I'd totally forgotten about the 'giant wristwatch' wall clock, and the plastic anatomic hand model on the dresser. Circa 1979.

 

[table1349]

You my friend are a photographic whore. How many cameras have you loved then left broken hearted on the shelf? How many lenses are there in this world carrying your DNA?

 

[Peeb]

You my friend are a photographic whore. How many cameras have you loved then left broken hearted on the shelf? How many lenses are there in this world carrying your DNA?

Oh gosh, I'm SO unfaitihful.

I was a canon guy.
Then a yashika/contax guy.
Then a nikon guy.
Then a canon guy again.
(Brief torrid fling with fuji will not be mentioned)
Then a nikon guy again.
Then a canon guy again.
Now, a nikon guy again.

Somebody needs to pull nikon aside and mention: "Hey, was it REALLY a good idea to take this guy back?

 

[table1349]

You my friend are a photographic whore. How many cameras have you loved then left broken hearted on the shelf? How many lenses are there in this world carrying your DNA?

Oh gosh, I'm SO unfaitihful.

I was a canon guy.
Then a yashika/contax guy.
Then a nikon guy.
Then a canon guy again.
(Brief torrid fling with fuji will not be mentioned)
Then a nikon guy again.
Then a canon guy again.
Now, a nikon guy again.

Somebody needs to pull nikon aside and mention: "Hey, was it REALLY a good idea to take this guy back?

I stand corrected with my previous post, Hallmark may want to make a movie. Either them or the lifetime channel.