Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera, Kodachome 64 film cartridge.
This Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera was my first camera. It was a gift from my parents when I was in high school. I used print film cartridges for about 3 years. It was not until I was in college that I made the switch to slide film cartridges. With a few rare exceptions I continued to use slide film until 2003. I did not take a lot of pictures. My first two rolls of slide film lasted from August 1968 to the summer of 1969 and they include two summer camps, some college life photos and my first photo of my girlfriend (and now wife) Melissa. I used this Instamatic camera for about 8 years.
Topcon SuperD camera with a 58mm f/1.4 Auto Topcor lens.
My parents gave me my first 35mm SLR camera, a Topcon Super D, in May of 1974. (I suspect the reason they gave me a capable camera is because the photos I took of their grandchildren with the Instamatic camera were not always the best quality.) I used the Topcon for 10 years. A fast 50mm lens was my only lens. This is a photo of my dad’s Topcon Super D and lens (which is identical to mine) because mine was stolen.
In August of 1984 some low life scum kicked down the back door of our house and stole my Topcon camera and lens. What made me mad was the vacation photos I lost on the unfinished roll of film that was still in the camera, like our three children in the historic old jail in Poncha Springs Colorado, and our daughter with her very first trout which she caught in a mountain stream in Colorado.
Canon F-1n, Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens
I took the insurance money and bought a Canon F-1N and a fast 50mm lens. After several months I bought a 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens. A few months later I bought a used 28mm wide angle lens. That was my basic, three lens kit. I put a lot of slide film through this camera from 1984 to 2003. I also had an inexpensive Canon AE-1 backup camera that I bought at a pawn shop.
I bought my first digital camera, a Canon 10D, in 2003. For quite a while I shot both film and digital cameras side by side. It took a while for me to trust digital cameras. The Canon 10D was eventually followed by a Canon 20D.
Canon 5D Mark III camera. Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4 lens. Really Right Stuff L-Bracket.
My current run around, do everything, digital camera gear is a Canon 5D3 camera that I bought in 2012. Most of the time I use a 4 lens kit: 17-40mm, 24-105mm, 70-300mm, and a 15mm semi-fisheye. It all fits in the camera bag you can see below. I also have some other lenses for occasional photographic challenges like distant wildlife (100-400mm) and ultra-closeups. Sometimes I also bring along an Olympus digital audio recorder.
This is my run-around, go anywhere camera kit. If I go on a serious photography trip, I add a Canon 7D Mark II camera body and a Canon EF 100-400mm lens, and put it all in a bigger camera backpack.
My “travel light” camera kit.
If I am close to home and want to travel light, I have a feather weight, inexpensive camera kit which I sometimes call my “toy” camera kit.
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