In 1982, I purchased a new Japanese ASHI Pentax K1000 with ASHI Optical Company SMC Pentax-M 50 mm f/2 lens. The light meter in my Pentax K1000 was a big help for this all manual film camera. An Argus 1038 Flash Unit in the hot shoe was used when needed. Surprisingly, my old Pentax K1000 still works! Film cameras remind me to slow down, think more about composition, different perspectives and angles of view with digital cameras.
The first camera I had that I could actually set apeture, shutter speed and ISO was a Kodak EasyShare DX7590 5.0MP Digital Camera. I had no idea what P, A, S or M meant, but I understood AUTO, so that's what I used. I subsequently lost years of photos I took with that camera when my hard drive crashed and my backup drive wasn't backing up. Lesson learned.
My next camera was a Nikon D5200. With the help of sites like Photography Life, I learned what those funny letters meant and how to use them with varying levels of success.
I am semi-retired now and treated myself to a Nikon Z8. This is the camera (and glass) I have been waiting for and am really enjoying it.
I understood AUTO, so that's what I used.
...and what did you use when you weren't taking pictures of cars? 😝
My first interchangeable lens camera (Is that what you mean by "real"?): Pentax K1000. I was in grad school at the time, so I didn't have the budget for anything but 3rd party lenses. Used it heavily through grad school for color slides of botanical and outdoor subjects, not much after that.
Mostly various film and digital point-and-shoot cameras until last summer, when I started shooting MFT.
But the *really* first camera I shot a lot with (high school photography class during the middle Pleistocene) was a Kodak Pony. Set exposure by guess or by hand-held iight meter. No in-camera focussing aids at all; focus by eyeballing the distance and turning the dial on the lens. Having an in-camera light meter and a split prism in the camera for focussing was a revelation when I bought the K1000.
My first cameralike device was a Kodak Instamatic 50 (I was 8 years old then).
My first real camera was the Minolta SRT-100X, followd by a Minolta XG-2. Since then I always had Nikon.
Mine was a funny one. Canon EOS IX APS-C SLR. It was a birthday or Christmas present received with a Quantaray 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 lens. It's actually still slinking around at my parents' house (just the body, I gave the lens away) because I can't think of anyone actually wanting to purchase it. Maybe a little nostalgia. Okay, it was a pretty limited camera and APS-C film was not really the best idea for a beginner. But it got me caught hard for a continued love of photography.
My father gave his spare camera FM10 when I started this hobby in late 90s. I have been a Nikon shooter since.
My first well, semi-real camera was an Argus C3 35mm rangefinder when I was about 16 years old (back around 1966). It taught me the basics of ASA, aperture, shutter speed, DOF etc. I was totally intriqued and started reading mags like Popular Photography and Modern Photography. It is amazing how much information can be gleaned just reading ads in those magazines!
Then I was at the camera department of a large department store chain now defucnt (Zayre) and the sales man there (I still remember his name was Larry) sold me a Mnolta SRT 101. That became my first "real" camera!
Probably the Canon QL19 rangefinder . Definitely a step up from Kodak Instamatic . At least I could seriously control ISO / aperture / shutter , focus , and had access to greater variety of films .
A little late to the party but my first "real"camera was a Vivitar Vivicam 5386 point-and-shoot camera. Before that I was just using my phone's camera. It was originally my parents' camera for trips and family gatherings, but they stopped using it when phone cameras started improving. Years later I was rummaging through old stuff and I found it, so I asked them if I could keep it. Over time, I upgraded to a Nikon 5100 DSLR, and that's what I still use now!
Like many who've started in the last 5 years or so, a Nikon D3500. I've added some lenses over time and it still serves me very well. I've only recently felt that I'm starting to outgrow it, but it has been a great first camera to learn the ropes on! Paired with the tiny 35mm 1.8g it is a super compact walk-around DSLR kit.
Just like polizonte, "In the early 1970's, a used black Pentax without lightmeter." 50 years ago. Started with just a 55mm f1.8 lens, added a bunch of used lenses over time. I used it for a long time, and I still have it out of sentimentality.
Canon Rebel AE1. We got it as a wedding present and used it for years. I liked it and have many great pictures from it (though it is hard to remember were the negatives are).
I don't really miss film. There was one time when I did not load the film properly and "took" many amazing pictures only to realize something was wrong when the film counter reached the mid 40's on a 36 exposures film.
Mine was a Nikon N4004 I inherited from my father in 1995, which I used to get through photography classes in college. But digital was on the horizon, and since DSLRs were still the domain of professionals only (circa 1999), I got an Olympus E10. That camera fully allowed me to use manual mode, experiment and learn at a faster pace than I had been able to with my N4004.