My five generations of Canon bodies.

[privatebydesign]

So here is my first camera, the AE-1 bought new in 1978 for £220 and the camera I did my first paid jobs with, and my current camera, a 1Ds MkIII I got secondhand in 2009 for $4,250 that I am still working with.

I had many bodies in between but never seemed to sell the 'backup' that normally had B&W film in rather than colour, I never had the T series film bodies as I used F-1n's at that time. The one body I sold and would have been nice for the image was a 1D, but other than that I have mostly used these models, the AE-1, A-1, F-1n, 1VHS, 1D (missing) and 1Ds MkIII.

Thought it was a fun image that might be interesting to some. Lets see what you have

 

[neuroanatomist]

Went from a T1i to a 7D, then added a 5DII. Used both the 7D and 5DII until getting a 1D X which replaced both, but there was some overlap.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I still have a FTQL along with a lot more. I have photos of many. I've sold all of my really old 4X5 view cameras.

 

[Tyroop]

You missed out with the T series. I bought a used T90 after two A1's and it was an amazing camera, even though it was still manual focus. The only problem was that it felt so good to use that a 36 exposure roll of film never tended to last very long. I'm not sure that there was a bulk film back option for the T90, as there was for the F-1.

 

[canon1dxman]

My first was an A1, bought new and followed quickly by a second one. Both were nicked out of a car boot when on holiday in Portugal so the insurance got me a T70 and T90 before moving on to an EOS 1. Both T90 and EOS 1 bring back happy memories but got through many rolls of film very quickly.
Interestingly, I did a wedding for a friend with the EOS 1 and the newly announced 10D. The happy couple got identical albums, one with film prints and the other from digital. After that, it was digital all the way.

 

[RGF]

I started with an EOS 3 and then added a EOS 1V.

Sold all film bodies to move to digital added newer bodies as they came out.

Tended not to keep older bodies. Figured they would collect dust and so sold them when I got a new models.

 

[gregorywood]

My first camera was given to me by my dad as a gift in 1990. It was a Minolta Freedom Zoom and I don't know how many rolls of film went through that camera in the 10 years I had it. I was no photographer, but it sparked the interest in me that later developed.

I had that camera until I bought my first digital in 2001 - a Olympus C-2040 Zoom (2.1 mp with a f/2.8 lens!). I used that until I really got interested in photography as an art/interest/hobby/etc and in 2010 purchased my first "real" and "modern" non-p&s camera - a Canon Rebel T2i with a 18-135mm lens. I added the former "nifty-fifty" lens a few months later.

In 2011, I "upgraded" to the 7D and shortly thereafter, lens envy and GAS ensued. I added the 6D alongside the 7D in 2012, along with my first "L" lens - the 70-200mm f/4L IS.

As I look ahead, I am deciding when it makes sense to "upgrade" bodies. I'm pretty happy with my current kit and I really don't want for anything. My GAS seems to be held at bay for almost a year now! The last lens I bought was the combination of the 16-35 f/4 and the 70-200 f/2.8 II last June. Perhaps a 5D mk4 after it's out for a year and the price gets reasonable and all the quirks are hashed out here in the forum.

 

[triggermike]

My first SLR was Minolta's XE-7 (a competitor to the AE-1 that John Newcomb used to hawk on TV) which I still have. When autofocus came about, a friend had the Canon Elan which he let me use and I loved it. When I decided to buy one for myself, the Elan II was available. I used to carry the Minolta loaded with B+W film and the Elan II loaded with color.

But when the first affordable digital SLR, the Canon 10D came to be, I immediately grabbed one and still have it. Went on to get the 40D then the 5D III, the latter I carry today.

 

[privatebydesign]

You missed out with the T series. I bought a used T90 after two A1's and it was an amazing camera, even though it was still manual focus. The only problem was that it felt so good to use that a 36 exposure roll of film never tended to last very long. I'm not sure that there was a bulk film back option for the T90, as there was for the F-1.

Here is my F-1n with my FN-100 bulk film back!

 

[RGF]

You missed out with the T series. I bought a used T90 after two A1's and it was an amazing camera, even though it was still manual focus. The only problem was that it felt so good to use that a 36 exposure roll of film never tended to last very long. I'm not sure that there was a bulk film back option for the T90, as there was for the F-1.

Here is my F-1n with my FN-100 bulk film back!

Quite a beast!

 

[privatebydesign]

For a professional, there is far too much paint still on your cameras!

As a professional I use lighting to illustrate the good and mitigate the not so good..............

 

[Ozarker]

This thread makes me wish I'd never sold a body. I've gone through a Canon XSi, T5i, 70D, and now have a 5D III I don't think I'll ever get rid of.

 

[Dylan777]

Selfishly speaking, I would love to have Canon ff mirror less to be built in those two front bodies in the picture without grip of course.

 

[privatebydesign]

Selfishly speaking, I would love to have Canon ff mirror less to be built in those two front bodies in the picture without grip of course.

The A-1 (picture bottom left) is close in size to the new Fuji X-T2.

 

[Pookie]

This thread makes me wish I'd never sold a body. I've gone through a Canon XSi, T5i, 70D, and now have a 5D III I don't think I'll ever get rid of.

Unfortunately CFB digitals will not last the test of time like mechanical film cameras... you won't be passing down old digitals that still work to your children like you can with film cameras.

I say this holding my working RZ67 Pro II from 95' while looking at my oldest 7D that just returned from CPS with a dead motherboard that has a repair cost more than the cameras current value.

 

[Dylan777]

Selfishly speaking, I would love to have Canon ff mirror less to be built in those two front bodies in the picture without grip of course.

The A-1 (picture bottom left) is close in size to the new Fuji X-T2.

Add swivel screen, pop up EVF, 50mp, 16 or 20mm, 35,, 50, and 85mm prime that will cure the itch for some naughty Canon users ;D

 

[nonac]

AE-1 Program
T-70
T-90
EOS 3
40D
5D Mk III *
7D Mk II *
1Dx *

* currently own

 

[ishdakuteb]

List in order:

Canon Canonet G III QL17 (Note: Back when I was VN, about middle school; sold.)
Canon T3 (Got this dirt cheap from Staples store; sold)
Canon 7D
Canon 30D (Yes, it is in right order. Bought this one used for testing purposes)
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon AE-1 (Got this dirt cheap, almost forget to mention)

Note: All Canon PnSs were not counted...

 

[LDS]

The A-1 (picture bottom left) is close in size to the new Fuji X-T2.

Everytime I get mine out of storage to run a B/W film I wonder how small and light it is compared to actual cameras (and then it wasn't among the smaller ones like the Olympus OM line).

Then I mount on it the FD 135/2...

 

[pwp]

There's barely an atom of collector in my entire being. Maybe it's a fault! As soon as something is obsolete it's traded, sold or given away. I love the simplicity of not having loads of "stuff". But I appreciate that some people do it. How cool to look at OP's Canon collection. Nice share.

In my professional life I've had the privilege to photograph many of the most senior and successful artists in their homes and studios for editorial projects. A common thread through many of them was that their homes were tastefully and creatively minimal. What was there was high quality, interesting and often eclectic with almost nothing superfluous, yet retaining a very warm, very human ambiance. It was a conscious, overt position. Minimal done badly can be a bit cold. Their homes had a quality that had huge appeal to me and thus an inspiration for how to live my own life substantially free of clutter. Though I do have a Kodak Box Brownie in the studio that was my Mum's.

That five generations of Canons wouldn't have looked out of place in the homes of some of those artists. Should have kept that 1Ds!

-pw