I started in the early 60's with a Kodak Brownie 127. B&W film and processing was quite expensive as my poor mother found out. My first SLR was a Praktika in the early 70's followed by a Canon AE1 in 1979. I did the chemical thing under the house, home B&W processing was relatively simple and affordable in those days. Most of the shots taken with the AE1 were colour transparencies, I still have a couple of boxes of slides and a working projector. I eventually hope to scan all my old negs and transparencies.