At primary school, I started with an Agfa Isola (photo Dirk Böhling), a simple camera for roll film sizes 6x6, which at that time was about 40 DM. It had two fixed shutter speeds (1/30, 1/100) and you could adjust the distance in 3 steps. The results were talking, especially in terms of sharpness, within limits. But I was pleased to have all memories of family events, school trips etc. As you can see on the picture on the right, the lens had to be pulled out to photograph.

Later, as a high school student, I acquired a Pentina E, the only Reflex (bought in 1965 source) affordable for me. When Pentina E the window that was intended for a light meter was only dummy. A light meter was missing viz. To determine the correct values ​​for shutter speed and aperture, you needed an external light meter, which made photographing comparatively difficult. At the distance setting you could adjust the distance by turning and check the focus by Fresnel lens or the Sectional image rangefinder present in the center of the lens. Unfortunately when I became a student, there were no longer interchangeable lenses for it available, so I traded them in for a used Edixa with the then-standard M42 connector. In this prism viewfinder was removable, ie, you could also look down into the pit, but then you saw the picture reversed. It also had a integrated tracking exposure meters.

As a teacher I then made me an Olympus OM 2, the first camera that could drive a TTL flash. Small, handy and equipped with an automatic timer that sought to none. The highlight was the control of the flash by measuring directly on the film. Specially that time I also made me 60CT2 Metz flashgun. When Olympus ceased production of SLR, I switched to Canon and currently own a 650D with which I am very satisfied.