Reader responses: the gear that changed your (photographic) life As we share stories of the gear that made the biggest difference to our photography, we've asked DPR readers to respond with their stories as well.
To our delight (and believe us, we need delight right now), hundreds of you have responded. While we've enjoyed reading them all, below are some excerpts from our favorites.
Find out what gear changed the lives of your fellow readers, and be sure to respond with your own if you haven't already! We'll continue sharing our favorites until, uh, something different happens in the world.
35mm F2 AIS Nikkor
Image via Wikimedia Commons by Paul1513
lightandaprayer: A 35mm f2 AIS Nikkor was one of the first lenses I bought new for use with a battered black Nikkormat FT2 I found at an LA pawnshop. I still own the lens; I sold the much-loved FT2 to a friend's son and later replaced it with a mint FT2 that I still use today.
Ultimately the 35mm was replaced with a 35-70 2. 8 Nikkor and it quickly became one of my most used work lenses. But a 35mm always had a place in my bag. I'm glad that I have hung onto much of my fave film-era prime glass. I simply enjoy using them more than any AF lens on both digital and film Nikons.
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Kodak Brownie 127
Image via Wikimedia Commons by Enrique
entoman: The gear that changed my life was a Kodak Brownie 127. . . . given to me as a Christmas present at age 8.
I think I knew instantly that I wanted to be a photographer. When I collected my black and white prints from the local chemist, a kind young lady assistant said "Ooh, these are good pictures, are you going to be a professional photographer when you grow up?"
She inspired me, so I took more pictures. And I've never stopped.
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Nikon D4
Razor Sharp Studios: For me the Nikon D4 that I purchased in 2013 took my sports photography to a whole new level. Until then I was barely getting 5 or 6 fps with a gripped D300. In the super quick world of horse racing, I would barely get a second worth of time at the finish line to capture the winning horse. . .
Being able to go up to 10 fps greatly helped me get more keepers in terms of published images. Still one of my favourite work bodies in the field.
Photo taken in Dubai in 2018 at the Meydan racetrack.
See more of his work on Instagram at @zoomnclick.
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Minolta SRT101
Photo via Wikimedia Commons user Hiyotada
gopherino: My Dad turned me on to photography. . . He was his high school yearbook photographer/editor, and 28 years later, so was I. By the time I went from Brownie to Instamatic to polaroid, it was time to learn to covet my Dad's Minolta SRT101. . .
Photography, travel, tennis and business were interwoven threads that bound me with a most amazing father. He would have been 92 this year, and I think of him every time i pick up my Sony FF cameras and lenses.
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Nikkormat FT3
WV Communications: My dad let me use his Nikkormat FT3 in high school as the yearbook photographer. What a great camera, although the meter was a little wonky. If I asked nicely, I could use his black Nikon F2 with motordrive for football games. I felt pretty awesome clicking off frames of Tri-X.
By the time I was in college shooting for the school paper, I scraped enough money together to buy a brand new FM10, which while a great camera, was in a much lesser league than the classics. By that time, we were developing film and then scanning into a Mac Quadra for layout. I feel fortunate to have experienced the twilight of the film era. Now I'm getting back into film for the joy of it.
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Samsung EX1 / TL500
thielges: For me it was the Samsung EX1 (TL500). Having previously used a Konica Minolta A2, I saw the EX1 as being a lighter carry around camera, not a replacement for the A2. Then one day I was processing photos from both cameras and noticed how those from the EX1 really popped in comparison. Crisp, bright, and with noticeable broad dynamic range.
From then on I used the EX1 exclusively and bought another Samsung travel zoom to cover the tele end. . . .
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Panasonic LX3
Samuel Dilworth: The LX3 was a revelation to me. . . It made the digital dream a reality, although I had other digital cameras before (notably a Nikon D60 and lenses).
I had moved to Paris, and the combination of that city’s beauty and this small, functional, Raw-capable camera gave me many photos I liked at the time. I should reprocess them with today’s Raw-developing software.
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. dpreview.com2020-4-17 16:00