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$1000 dream camera and 1 lens

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  • Mar 21, 2026
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personally, i don't really need anymore gear

Then why not spend the 1000 $ on film, paper and chemicals? However, disregarding what I said before, a Rolleiflex 2.8F or 2.8E2/E3. I would not recommend a system camera like a Hasselblad or SL66. You won't stop at buying just the camera. Believe me, the longing for additional lenses, backs, finders ect. will soon awake...
 
Contax G2 + 21mm F2.8 would be a dream come true for me. :tongue:
 
Tele or Wide Rolleiflex.
 
judging from most of the answers here
the 1000$ dream camera for most is a medium format camera ?

i've never been a swooner for medium format cameras ..
i've had a yashicamat124, rolliecord, holga and a few folders and boxes
and still use roll backs once in a while on a LF camera ..

12 or 8 exposures on a roll is too few for me, 220 film isn't made anymore
and if the AR is smaller than 6x6, not much of a point over 35mm ...

any other dream camera and 1 lens out there besides medium format cameras ?

sorry for not having much medium format love, but i figure it is my monopoly money that is being spent ..
 
I am attracted to the classics. Mainly Pro cameras from my youth that I couldn't afford then, that I can get a hold of now. In 35 mm, those would be: Nikon F, F2, F3, F4; Canon F1n, EF, Contax RTS, 139, Olympus OM1/2n, Leicaflex SL, Leica CL, M2/3/4/5/6, screw mount Leicas, Hexar RF, Hexar AF, Rollei 35/T/S.

From this list, I've never had an M4.
I no longer have an M3, M5, M6, OM2, Hexar AF.

I never warmed up to Minolta bodies though I've had several including an XK.
 
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Right on Frank :smile:. I have Leica M3, M6, Nikon F, F3, and just couple of days ago I got my first screw mount Leica (pretty cheap they are nowadays). They are all so beautiful that it is unbelievable how affordable those awesome cameras are now. Thank you God for digital technology that made it so cheap :smile:.
 
personally, i don't really need anymore gear but i thought it would be nice to make believe
since i tend to have a wandering eye anyways.

if i had $1000 what camera and 1 lens should i get ?
i already have tripods and semi-centennial stands big and small
and a way to process film so i don't need to worry about that.
and i don't mind large format or mini format.

i take a variety of types of photographs from portraits and environmental portraits to
architecture and record/landscape/site photographs. if the camera needs specialized film holders and whatnot
i will make believe i already have them as well. i don't mind redundancy what should i spend my money on, and why?

thanks

Mamiya6 wiyh the 75mm std lens.It is portableand has super optics!:smile:
 
For me it would be another RB67 Pro SD with the 50mm lens. For what I do that lens isn't too wide and it's close focus ability is amazing, plus I'd still have plenty of money left over for film and chemistry. Of course I could buy another $600 Hasselblad 500C but I still prefer the look I get from Mamiya lenses, it's more pleasing to me than the Hasselblad look YMMV.
 
IF you're leaving medium format on the table, then a Rolleiflex 2.8 E or F. If you're saying no to medium format, and the ceiling is a hard $1000, then either a Canon EOS 1V with a 50mm f1.4 or a Contax RTS III with 50mm f1.4 . All of the dream large format gear when combined with a lens and some film holders will set you back well north of $1K.
 
the stuff for my 1 grand doesn't need to be brand new :smile:
scott, i've never paid $1000 for any largeformat stuff i have
and use, and i have been buying it since it was expensive in the 1980s
i think the most expensive thing i purchased LF was a 8x10 camera
that is 1 of 5 that exists, uber rare, over built and a work of art.
and it didn't cost $1000 ( and came with a boatload of stuff )
 
the stuff for my 1 grand doesn't need to be brand new :smile:
scott, i've never paid $1000 for any largeformat stuff i have
and use, and i have been buying it since it was expensive in the 1980s
i think the most expensive thing i purchased LF was a 8x10 camera
that is 1 of 5 that exists, uber rare, over built and a work of art.
and it didn't cost $1000 ( and came with a boatload of stuff )

John- you said DREAM cameras. To me, that rules out garden-variety cameras like Speed Graphics and Tachiharas. I have my dream LF cameras now... particularly my Canhams. But I dare you to find one (or an Ebony, or a Lotus) USED with a lens and a few film holders for under $1k. Not saying it could never happen, but it's akin to the odds of winning second prize in the PowerBall lottery.
 
John- you said DREAM cameras. To me, that rules out garden-variety cameras like Speed Graphics and Tachiharas. I have my dream LF cameras now... particularly my Canhams. But I dare you to find one (or an Ebony, or a Lotus) USED with a lens and a few film holders for under $1k. Not saying it could never happen, but it's akin to the odds of winning second prize in the PowerBall lottery.

:smile:
 
judging from most of the answers here the 1000$ dream camera for most is a medium format camera ?

I would have recommended a Linhof Master Technika 2000 with a nice set of Rodenstock Apo-Sironar S lenses but that was out of the price range...
 
I don't dream about cameras much except my last bout with GAS that I successfully avoided succumbing too which was some fuji 6x9. As MF has been disallowed and I have no use for 35mm, I have to slightly change the question to.. what 35 mm camera would I get if I had a 1000 budget and was required to spend it. I would get either the Bessa R2 Or the Rollei 35RF. The same camera different color. That would be well under a thousand but I would need to buy a lens.
Dennis
 
I had responded to the OP's statement about having a desire for a DREAM camera for himself. I do not have a DREAM camera because I have already bought all the cameras that I wanted. I no long have GAS. Life is good.
 
I have recently sold $400 worth of surplus darkroom gear. Can I go up to $1400? :wink:
 
I recently got my dream camera, a Plaubel Makina 67W, but it was more than 1K.
 

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I had responded to the OP's statement about having a desire for a DREAM camera for himself. I do not have a DREAM camera because I have already bought all the cameras that I wanted. I no long have GAS. Life is good.

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself"
Oscar Wilde
 
I had responded to the OP's statement about having a desire for a DREAM camera for himself. I do not have a DREAM camera because I have already bought all the cameras that I wanted. I no long have GAS. Life is good.

Almost the same for me. Now when I got screw mount Leica as well - only one thing is still on the list is Summitar 50mm f2.
For cameras GAS is over - but that does not mean that I will not buy something from time to time, play it and sell it later for same or higher price. Is it GAS when I buy it just for test/play and sell it in a couple of weeks :smile:?
 
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