I shot Instamatic 126 for years until I tried my Mom's folding Balda 35mm. Oooh. Night and day. The hook was set.

Next up was a then top-o'-the-line Minolta XK, backed up by a Minolta SR-T 202. That XK was a beast that went belly-up when the electronics died while I was hitchhiking through Spain. I mailed it home and replaced it with an Olympus Trip 35 I bought duty-free (whatever that means) in Ceuta.

When I started working as a photojournalist I bought a Nikon FM2, backed up by a Nikkormat FT. Despite having been scared off from battery-dependent cameras, I very reluctantly sold my Yamaha XS650 to help pay for a new Nikon F3. Never had a moment's problem with that one.

Over the years I've sold a Minolta CLE that came with a Leitz Summicron 35mm f2 lens, a Rolleiflex 2.8E with Planar lens and an Arca Swiss 4X5. I've kept my German-made Rollei 35T, Minox GT and Olympus XA, despite the batteries for those last two no longer being available.

I never went digital, and my basic smart phone takes good enough pix for me now. I haven't used my darkroom in at least 12 years, but can't bring myself to sell (give away, more likely) all my stuff - even though I can't afford to pay for film, paper and chemistry anymore. At least it takes up less space than my bicycles.

Late '50s Rolleiflex with 80mm Planar f2 lens