My First Camera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minolta_110_Zoom_SLR

This was actually my first camera (that I remember). I think I may have had (or used) a 110 Ektachrome at some point, but this was my first real camera.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 12. It was Christmas and the camera was a gift from my Gramps. I was going to France the following spring and needed a good camera. And this was (in retrospect) a great one. Manual Focus ring (that I never got the hang of when I was 12). Manually adjustable light compensation (again that I never got the hang of when I was 12).

There was the opportunity for some amazing pictures. But most of my pictures from France (if I even knew where they were) are blurry. And that sucks.

But I figured it out today…that’s how far back my interest in photography went. Earlier actually. I can remember my dad developing photos at home. He had a good rig (Pentax, I think..maybe Yashica?). Gramps I’m pretty sure was a Minolta man. My brother later would prove to be a Nikon guy. And I was pretty much wide open…I settled on Fuji later in life when I went into my Point and Click Phase.

I very recently went the way of my brother and became a Nikon guy. And I’ve been very happy with that decision.

So, why all this nostalgia about my first camera? More of a discovery really. I figured out WHY I love video so much. It’s pretty much because I love Photography. And it’s a way to get a bunch of pictures in on place.

But I’m finding that I’m getting more of a center back in the single snapshot of a moment in time. Frozen.

I’m not sure where this was going. Other than to say that I miss this little Minolta. I wonder where it went. I wonder if I found it, if I could still get 110 cartridge film for it? Sounds like a winter project.

There’s been a whole bunch of stuff going on elsewhere in Todd-land, but I thought I’d just get this little random blip out there while it was still floating in my head.

Peace out.

-AT

(oh, if you’re new, the fruits of my Photoddgraphy can be found over here http://photoddgraphy.blogspot.com).