My grandfather had a Leica IIIc at all our family gatherings. He bought it in 1949 for his trip to Japan as part of the occupation forces. Check out the gallery "Japan 1949-1950" for the story and photos. He was the one taking pictures with a real camera. I took my earnings from a summer job when I was 13 and went down to the Base Exchange to buy a real camera like my grandfather had. We were living in Japan then. From 1957 to 1961 my dad was stationed at Tachikawa Air Force Base. I bought a Petri rangefinder. I became the one taking pictures at family gatherings. I have boxes and boxes of Kodachrome slides taken with that camera. This was the start of my photographic journey.