What was the strangest or most offbeat camera you've ever owned?

[danj]

My first camera was a Brownie Starmite my parents gave me. The first camera I bought for myself was the Yashica Mat 124G (because I couldn't afford a Rollei).

I was a photographer for my high school newspaper and used a 124G with a Honeywell 'tater-masher' flash. It was an outstanding combo. We also had a Pentax Spotmatic with stop-down metering and a 50mm and 135mm lenses. Again, a good combo. I would not call either one unusual or offbeat. The 124G was the 'poor man's Rollei' because it handled like a Rolleiflex and had excellent optics.

 

[Alobar]

My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix 990, around 2000. It had a great macro capability and being able to rotate the lens 180 degrees made a lot of closeup stuff work well. Took 4 AA batteries which it went through quite fast and had 3.2 mega pixel capability on a standard size SD card.

• 3x Zoom-Nikkor with 8-24mm coverage (equivalent to 38-115mm in the 35mm [135] format) to create clear, sharp images, plus 4x digital zoom
• 3.2 effective megapixels for high-definition 2,048 x 1,536-pixel images
• Nikon's advanced image-processing algorithm has been further improved for superior picture quality
• 7-blade iris diaphragm for precise control over aperture settings
• Exclusive 256-segment Matrix Metering and Matrix Auto White Balance for outstanding exposure and white balance control in every image
• 5-Area Multi AF
• Shutter speed range from 1/1,000 to 8 seconds
• Unique swivel design allows for a wider range of shooting angles
• 110,000-dot low temp polysilicon TFT LCD Monitor for easy viewing
• Compatible with a wide range of converter lenses and accessories
• Compatible with Fisheye Converter FC-E8, Wideangle Converter WC-E63 and Telephoto Converters TC-E2 / TC-E3ED
• Compatible with Wideangle Converter WC-E68 (requires Lens Adapter UR-E7)
• A successor of this camera is Nikon COOLPIX 995 (2001).
  

 

[danj]

I still own this Canon Photura
photos from the internet

 

[Old Ears too]

I'd have to say it is my first digital which was a CoolPix 995 Nikon. I remember it was tough talking my wife into spending the then $800 or so to get it. I used it long enough that she was the one who suggested it might be time to upgrade to something a little more current. Believe it or not, it was hard for me to upgrade as I'd become so accustomed to that little camera. I still have it, but don't have any good batteries for it now and it had trouble reading the card for some reason last time it was working.

 

[OvenMaster]

Kodak Pony 828 that I got at a yard sale in the early 1970's for $1.

The only film I could get for it even back then was 8-exposure color print film that Kodak discontinued in 1985. Too bad it wasn't the Pony 135 that used 35mm film... I'd still be using it today.

 

[cratz2]