Since I was 12, photography has always interested me. Starting with 4x4 cm box cameras and a 24x24mm Agfa Isomat Rapid.
After aquiring a Mamiya Sekor 500TD with a 50mm f/2 in 1973, I together with a few other started shooting in the marsh landscape in the south west of Denmark.
The Mamiya, like the Soviet Zenit, had a Pentax 42 mm screw thread mount. At that time there were a lot of third party lenses around that did fit the Pentax mount.
Only PRO systems had a bayonet mount at that time.
I remember we used a 250mm f/5.6 Soligor with 2 stacked 2x TCs giving 1000mm f/22 stopped down to f/45 to get "decent" image quality on a camera with a minimum shutter time of 1/500 second, using Kodak TRI-X pushed to 1600 ISO (ASA at that time), handheld!!!
After having been away from photography for more than two decades, I bought a Nikon F70 in December 1998, just before leaving for a vacation on Madeira in January 1999. With it I got two lenses, a Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Macro and a Sigma 100-300mm f/4.5-6.7 UC. The 100-300mm is the worst lense I have used, it was soft at all focal lengths and all apertures!
After a year or so I bought an AF 50mm f/1.4D, and although the 28-80mm wasn't that bad, the two zooms never came out of the bag again.
The horrible 100-300mm made me stick to primes for the next few years, first an AF 180mm f/2.8D, then a Sigma EX 105mm f/2.8 Macro (no I wasn't scared away from Sigma), and finally an AF 24mm f/2.8D.
In 2004 when the D70 came out I went digital, and havent used a roll of film since. With it came the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5. This lense was a pleasant surprise, it is pretty sharp at all focal lengths if you learn how it behaves.
I believe the D70 must have revolutionized amateur photography, although it at that time was the most expensive photo equipment I had ever bought, it turned out to be only the beginning. The quality the D70 delivered was amazing at that time, shooting at 1000 ISO was not a problem, I have 30x45 cm prints where you really have to look to find the noise. Also the fast feedback from a DSLR made one learn much faster than in the film days.
Having always wanted to shoot wildlife, in particular birds, I finally, after long considerations, bought the AF-S VR 200-400mm f/4G in January 2005.
This turned to be a lot more expensive than the lense by itself. A new tripod, a new tripod head, a gimbal head, a new bag, a never ending story.