John 106's photostream  

I'm a semi-retired primary school teacher. Retiring gives me time for photography, while occasional supply work pays for it!

Got my first camera when I was 12, in 1960. A Ferrania Eura. It could be focused, had 2 stops (f8 and f11) and it could have a flash gun. A real camera! Took as many photos as I could afford on my pocket money, including a roll of colour film in 1963 - an expensive novelty then!
Second camera was a Balda Baldinette 35mm (second hand from Dixons in 1965 - £6). f2.8, 3shutter speeds, but best of all, lever film wind-on - cool! Processed my own black and white, while using some colour slides over the next few years before graduating to a Zorki 4K. It looked like a Leica, for 10th of the price, but still took cracking photos. Gradually, photography became less of a hobby, more of a way of recording family events.
Tried a Casio digicam in the late 90's, but I wasn't impressed. Its high res mode of 640x480 couldn't compete with film, especially as the camera was over £600!
Got a Fuji Finepix 2400 about 5 years ago. 2mp was a big improvement, and I began to feel inspired to take up photography seriously again.
Have now graduated to a Panasonic FZ50, which looks as though it will meet all my needs for the present.
Now I must stop talking about it, and start doing it!