kind of funny story

[3bayjunkie]

This is kind of embarrasing, but a few years ago when i got my first SLR (Nikon N80) given to me from a friend, I hadn't ever read or been taught anything about cameras so I didn't know what the A, S, and P stood for. I guess it was kind of dumb of me not to look it up, but since I wasn't sure what they were I always shot on manual and used the internal light meter for my exposure, and always keeping the aperture wide open only changing shutter speed.

Anyone else start out like this?

[RLucas]

I wish! The first "real" camera I had was a Canon T50. It only had program mode. The only thing you could do was tinker with the ISO manually by pushing/pulling the film speed. I still loved that camera though! I got it when it first came out in the early 80's, and kept it up until about 4 years ago when it was destroyed in a house fire.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by RLucas

I wish! The first "real" camera I had was a Canon T50. It only had program mode. The only thing you could do was tinker with the ISO manually by pushing/pulling the film speed. I still loved that camera though! I got it when it first came out in the early 80's, and kept it up until about 4 years ago when it was destroyed in a house fire.

sorry to hear about your camrea. I messed with the iso some, but not extensively. im sure i got a roll of well underexposed film in my time though

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie

sorry to hear about your camrea. I messed with the iso some, but not extensively. im sure i got a roll of well underexposed film in my time though

LOL! I used to send my rolls to Clark or somewhere like that to have it processed. I had a notebook full of the prints they stuck those little stickers on to tell you what went wrong. Even with a P mode only camera, I screwed up! A lot!

Edit: Not much better now either!

[3bayjunkie]

I have to admit that I wish i started reading books on photography sooner, I could have come up with better exposures. but for the most part my film came out bright and full of color. So I can't complain. I love film, now its time to try some digital

[SwissJon]

I got my first SLR 18 months ago. I put it in A mode because I thought that meant "automatic"..

Then I fiddled with all the dials and things because the photos weren't looking the way I wanted.

Then I read the manual.

Then I joined here and learned all about triangles,DoF's and so on, and started down this very long road called photography addiction that's kinda taken over my life.

[3bayjunkie]

Ive wanted a DSLR for quite a while, sold my N80 because I thought digital would be better, since its the "new thing" but I am looking forward to being able to experiment with different types of exposures without having to wait until my film is developed to see what it looks like. But, i still want to shoot film. Having both film and digital will be fun!

[Phoenix_Jackson]

How about 2 months being bombarded over and over again about the "triangle lecture" as a response to my thread-- Prioritizing factors: flexible LCD?
I was debating between 50D vs 60D and made a chronological list of my priorities in choosing a body.

So yeah, I got that covered even before deciding which DSLR to buy.

[Jonbar18]

The first digital camera I had (we still have it somewhere) was an old Powershot. It had manual mode, which I tried to use. This was when I didn't even know what the "M" of all the numbers were. Guess how that worked out About 1.5-2 years ago, I started getting into photography, and started learning about exposure, at which point I stumbled onto DPS. At this point, I had a newer Powershot, but it only had scene modes and program. After a while, I bought a N60 to practice on, and last by last month had saved up enough money to by a D3100. So I had some idea what I was doing by the time I got a DSLR, but still a LOOOOOONG way to go.

[kirbinster]

I started with a fixed lens 35mm camera called a Samoca (or somthing like that) that my dad got in the Far East when he was in Korea. There was no such thing as autofocus or anything but full manual back then. I remember he told me to just shoot at 1/100th at f/8 or f/11 outside. I would then take my B&W film in the darkroom and develop it and then adjust it in "post processing" on the enlarger.

Just piqued my own interest and searched the web and found this picture of the old camera: