I think we all probably needed some stimulus - mine was, about a week before I was to board a ship to go to the Island of St. Helena for two years, someone in my family said "Have you got your camera?". I then realised I didn't actually own one! So I went to our local village camera shop and bought a second-hand Voigtlander Vito CD for GBP21 - a little more than a week's pay at that time. That camera (fixed Color-Skopar lens, selenium meter, rangefinder) served me well for some years. Eventually I sold it to a friend going to America to live, so I hope it did as good a job for him. While on the island, I had the great pleasure of getting to know one of the islanders who doubled as the official Government photographer, and he showed me how to develop and print B&W for myself, and the bug bit! Getting back on topic, a nurse at the hospital was going home via Singapore, and she kindly undertook to buy me a camera there and mail it to me when she got to England. So I did all the research I could - mainly talking to people who had decent cameras, and reading up old copies of Amateur Photographer, and settled on a Pentax SV as being well thought of and affordable. Six months later, lo and behold, there it was in my hands - jewel-like, and one third of the price in the UK at that time. I added a 2x TC via mail order, a meter bought on the way home in Cape Town, a 35mm lens in London, and various other bits and pieces. I used that kit until it was stolen in 1975, and it never let me down. Worst of all, at the time it was stolen, the camera still had an unfinished film in it from the night before of a concert with Ella Fitzgerald and the Duke Ellington band in London, when I was right there on stage with her!
That hurt... John Coyle Brisbane, Australia On Monday, September 09, 2002 7:31 AM, Kevin Waterson [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote: > The recent Origins thread regarding some of our first > cameras got me thinking about my old k1000 and others > I used when first starting. It also got me thinking > how I entered photography and I thought I might share > it with others in the hope others may have some fun > sharing their first photographic experiences. > <SNIP> > How did you get started? > > Kind regards > Kevin
