I suppose the middle of February is as good of a time to write this as any. I’ve seen a few posts with photographers talking about their camera journey. Mentioning how a certain camera of theirs started them on a path to taking photography seriously. I’ve never really mentioned mine anywhere so here’s my go.

In The Beginning

Growing up my mom and my grandmas always seemed to have a camera. It was as if cameras were the small luxuries they allowed themselves to have. No-one in my immediate family circle was an actual photographer, and I don’t remember really seeing a classic SLR in my younger childhood.

The camera types I do remember as a kid under 10 was a Kodak disc camera, and several 110 cameras with the flash bulb cube on top. I remember seeing the cartridges on the table getting ready to go into a developing envelope and trips back from the store with fresh prints, several envelops full. My mom was the most consistent picture taker and being the oldest child I have LOTS of prints of myself.

Older Kid to Adult-ish

Over the years mom would get nicer 35mm cameras, usually for her birthday. She never did get an SLR but she had higher quality point and shoots with focus. I was allowed to take her nicest camera on a trip to Florida when I was 18 it was so fun. I think it even was the one I was allowed to take on all my trips seeing Chicago, Mexico and Colorado.

Youth group trips were where I was the unofficial photographer. I was given slide film for the first time on a trip to Chicago. My mom would buy black and white film for us to use. She would let us kids to use the camera as long as were weren’t being dumb about wasting film. We would also have cheap give-away 110 cameras, that barely had a body, you could make from cereal box freebies. Film was always flowing in our house.

I only really remember seeing a family use a stereotypical silver and black SLR at a friends house. It was mostly point and shoots and never any “modern” SLRs until I got married. I only really had a chance to use an SLR in a high-school photography class. I loved it. I had no idea how to meter, and with me denying that I needed glasses, focusing was hit or miss. But it was so much fun. We were allowed to use all the extra rolls we wanted and develop them in the class. I knew I was falling in love with photography then.

Digital Firsts

My first experience with a digital camera came in 1999. My boyfriend at the time got his hands on a digital camera somewhere. I played around with a bit but I was still able to use my mom’s camera if I needed to so I wasn’t all that impressed. I did use it to post to wedding planning forums here and there though.

My boyfriend and I were longtime friends and even before he proposed I gave him the info for the engagement ring I wanted and found at a local jeweler. I knew his mom gave him a ring from his grandmother to use the stone for a ring for me. One day I was hanging out in his room and looked through the photos on the camera. I found a photo of the ring I picked out and his grandmother’s stone in it. I spoiled myself on my own engagement ring thanks to digital cameras.

Owning digital

After getting married we purchased a Fuji Fine-pix camera and used it on a vacation to Arizona. We had a lovely fight about printing all the digital photos. I wanted them all and he said to pick our favorites and have the local Ritz Photo place print them. We had a few Sony and Canon point and shoot digital cameras while the kids were little.

Our first DSLR was a Nikon D70s that I never really picked up until I took a college photography class and learned how to shoot in manual mode. We also had a D90 that I claimed as mine and he had a D7000 to use taking photos of RC airplanes. For my birthday he bought me a refurbished D7200 with an amazingly low shutter count. I loved that camera to death. It’s the camera I became proficient at and built a teeny tiny business with.

Analog Again

Around 2017 I was getting the itch to try film photography as an adult. I picked up a Canon AE-1P and a Holga toy camera. Tried my hand and home developing black and white film and eventually color as well. I also scavenged up some enlargers and photographic paper and turned the laundry room into a darkroom. I fired up the Graflex Crown Graphic from my father in-law and purchased a few other SLRs from friends and the internet. Keeping the analog GAS away is a bit hard though.

Mirrorless Begins

At the end of 2020 I bought myself a Fujifilm X-S10. I wanted in on the mirrorless train and at the time my choice was between the Nikon Z5 and the X-S10. In the end the IBIS of the X-S10 won out and I’ve had so much fun with the little, light and mighty X-S10. I love adapting lenses to it and how fun Fuji makes shooting. Until…

Nikon introduced the ZF at the end of 2023. I knew I had to have it. IBIS check, full-frame check, FTZ adapting old Nikon lenses check, top of the line focusing check, retro styling check. This is the camera I would have bought if Nikon had released it when I was first looking into mirrorless. So far I’m having fun. The files are great to work with and the low light capabilities are perfect for me. I’m having a blast adapting my old Nikkor lenses and looking forward to pickup up a nice mid range zoom.

So, that’s my camera journey. Photography has always been in the house.

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