My CAMERAS

Of the 1960s I don't know much and remember even less about. I have only a single memory, a scene from those years. My uncle and his friends were having a party on the upper floor and one of his friends was a photographer. They asked me to take a group photo. I remember looking through the viewfinder of the camera and trying to place all party goers into a single tiny square frame. And that's what I'm still doing

Well, I pressed the shutter button and took my very first photo. What I remember and what impressed me the most was the sound of the shutter. While others memories from those years fade away, this memory is what led me to the first camera shutter I heard. It was a Kodak Brownie Flash camera.

My first camera I got on August 23, 1965. That one was a KODAK Instamatic and I used it for about 13 years. The biggest challenge was its flash. For each pose I had to use one flash. That's why there weren't many flash photos taken from that period.

I had a Minolta 450 towards the end of the 1970s, it was such a luxury to have a zoom and a flash. I used it for about 2 years.

I had an SLR camera in the 1980s, a ZENITH TTL. With it I found out what it meant to take pictures. Especially the sound of the shutter!!! It was the sound from my childhood, the sound of the very first photo I had taken. Then I started to experiment. I used the Zenith TTL for 12 years.

Then I had a Pentax SD which I used for a few years. All I can say is that neither the Pentax nor I could get used to one another. I decided to switch to a digital camera in 2005, and met with Sigma.

My first digital camera was a SIGMA 10. We loved each other. In fact, it became an extension of my right arm. The Digital SLR was a revolution for me, as it was all over the world.

I happen to have a Bronica as well. It feels like a mystical giant from ancient times. The sound of the shutter, the viewfinder, lenses and all are so impressive. Just pressing the shutter button was like a therapy. Even when I don't take any photos, I press the shutter button to continue the therapy.

As for SIGMA...

After the first few years with SIGMA 10, Sigma 14 followed and then a Sigma SD1 along with a roomful of equipment collected in the last 10 years.

Well, so far Sigma continues to be the extension of my right arm.