Cameras we respect?

My first SLR was a Zenith too, the EM, surprisingly good for the money. But I didn't really get into photography properly until about eight years ago after taking night classes, which brings me to agree with Dons comments, my tutor insisted we studied other photographers work and thats when the real photography bug hit me, I started to think about what I was doing instead of pointing a camera and pressing the shutter.

Studying other photographers (and I dont just mean looking at their pictures) has made the biggest impact on improving my photography.

The forum already has a competition thread, maybe we should add a monthly "discuss a photographer" thread too

I recon one of the longest lived cameras is the good old Pentax K1000,
Still the most used in university degree courses, and students are still looking for good ones.

Like/repected: Nikon FM series, Minolta XD7, Pentax LX, Contax ST, RTS2 & Aria, Canon F-1n, Pentax K20D, Canon G9/G10, Toyo-view 5x4, Mamiya RB67, Olympus OM2n & E-3, Fuji DSLR's.

Definite milestones: Leica 1, Leica M series, Nikon F, Olympus OM-1, Canon EOS af system, Canon DSLR series.