Originally posted by Ira The first branded camera I can remember is the Kodak 126 Instamatic.
Exactly what took me through my first cassettes of film, if I remember correctly.
Later I got a Russian Zorki 3 (Leica III clone), which was very nice, but at that time, I couldn't appreciate the rangefinder and so got a GDR made Praktina FX (inherited from my Great Grandfather), the "Nikon F-Killer" wannabee.
My first self-financed camera was a Yashica FR-1, which I complemented with the FR (great cameras - the poor man's Contax RTS). I sold the whole Yashica kit, when the Pentax LX was released and got the LX with the M 50/1.4. That was my entry into Pentax world somewhere in 1981.
Ben