Dream camera

[Ap507b]

I paid £450 for a black FA with a 50mm F1.8 AIS. The F3 body was around £100 more IIRC. Was a lowly paid civil servant at the time & the FA was the best part of a month's salary.

 

[Paul Howell]

Minolta 9.

 

[R.Gould]

I had 2 dream cameras, one was a Rolleiflex, i would dream about owning and using one ever since I was given one of the first lubital's to arrive over here, I got one a few years ago and I am not dissapointed in any way, my other dream camera was A Agfa ambi sillette, complete with the full set of lenses, including the 130 with the viewfinder for it, I have wanted one for a long time, ever since I became interested in old cameras a long time ago, I have had an Ambi with the 90 and 35 mm lenses for a couple of years, but not a sign of what seems to be a mythical 130 lens, a month ago I went to a car boot sale. there, sitting on a table was an Ambi, with a 90 mm lens, and next to it the mythical lens, a 130. complete with its leather outfit case, and tucked away inside was the 130 viewfinder, the lens was mint, looked hardly used, I counted my money, hoping I had enough, asked the seller how much, £10 GBP the lot, after all said he, it would only ever be an ornament, they don't make film any more, so I handed over my ten pounds, took the camera and lenses, the camera was working perfectly, so naturly I took a roll of fomapan out of my pocket and loaded the camera to see how it perfromed, the sellers face was a picture, and I am now the proud owner of 2 perfect ambi sillette's and the complete set of lenses, the 130 mint, so now what camera can I drool over,?

 

[John51]

3 Zeiss Ikon folders. Little Tess is a 645 scale focus. Big Tess is a 1934 Super Ikonta 6x9 and Young Tess is a post WW2 6x6 Mess Ikonta.

3 from Olympus. OM1n (2 bodies) and related lenses, a 35SP and an XA.

Kodak Medalist II. Am wanting to add a Reflex II tlr and a Retina 2a to complete the Kodak trilogy.

 

[Chan Tran]

I paid £450 for a black FA with a 50mm F1.8 AIS. The F3 body was around £100 more IIRC. Was a lowly paid civil servant at the time & the FA was the best part of a month's salary.

You're right! I rechecked B&H price from PopPhoto magazine Dec. 1975 and the F3HP was $399 and the FA was $309 for the body. I bought the F3HP in 82 for $460 which was a lot less than what I paid for the F2AS in 77. I paid $550 for the F2AS.
I have some dream cameras and one is the Hasselblad 2000FC/M but even today I still don't seem to be able to get one. So no I usually got the camera I wanted but I never get a camera I dreamed about later for less.

 

[benjiboy]

I have all the dream cameras I ever wanted and am happy now not to constantly be searching for more, and just enjoy using what I have and not to think about it any more.

 

[fstop]

In no particular order

Minolta XK
XD-11
Leica R5
Nikon FA
F3

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Probably the F3P. Saw one at Glazer's Camera back in 1991 and started drooling. 13 years later, bought one from them that looked like it had been on many journeys through war zones. Since that one, I've owned six (not all at the same time, obviously). Now have one that's pretty clean. The other "dream" camera was the F2AS. The one I own today was a camera I bought almost 5 years ago (yes, shocking - I actually have something that I've owned for a while).

I might keep my eyes peeled for another 500c/m kit, but I have what I want Nikon 35mm film body-wise.

-J

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... I do have another dream camera：arriflex s16.

Oh - for ciné, I've always wanted a Bolex H16 Rex-5. I know Super 16 has gotten a lot of attention and actual use in the industry, so I wonder if double perf 16mm has any future.

 

[HiHoSilver]

'Definitely have my favs. If the Mami 7 had the build quality of a blad or Leica, that would be it. 'Also covet an F6. There's no camera I wouldn't trade in a heartbeat for the skills it takes to wield one well. Printing will come - have all the gear. But there's absolutely nothing I want more than composition skill. With those skills in hand, every camera I touch will be much better.

 

[k.hendrik]

I bought my dream camera's in their own time; Lubitel II 1968 / Ricoh singlex TLS 1971 / Nikon FM 1980. Never sold anyone and all still working like a charm.

 

[HiHoSilver]

'Still posting shots w/ the FE2 I bought new in '83ish. 'Something to be said for the 'old friend' tool. You know it so well you don't have to think - just compose & execute.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

'Definitely have my favs. If the Mami 7 had the build quality of a blad or Leica, that would be it. ...

It's not listed on their web site yet, but a certain N. Portland store has a Mamiya 7II (I think it's a II). It's very nice. You should check it out.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Ah, Blue Moon? ;-P Just be careful of the construction in the area...

-J

 

[flavio81]

Canon New F1 with AE finder, when they they were current I sold them for a living at a leading professional dealers but couldn't afford one of them because I had a wife and a young family to support, I now have four of them.

That's not really my "dream camera" but the 35mm SLR i like the most. The SLR i like the most is the Mamiya RB67, and that comes close to my dream camera.

My dream camera would be a Rolleiflex SL66, or a Nikon SP with several lenses. Or a Mamiya RZ67 with a Tilt-shift lens.

 

[Malinku]

I got all my dream cameras now.
Minolta 9
Mamiya c33
Crown graphic

Just need more time to use them.

 

[CMoore]

My recent (as in I wanted it recently) was a Canon F-1 New, which I got a good deal on a month ago. Sent it right away to Ken Oikawa...he said it was fine, just needed the normal stuff.

But the dream camera of my youth circa 1978 was a Nikon F2. At the time, I had a Canon AE-1 and did not understand what all the big deal was about the Nikon. I saw all the pros had them, and None had an AE-1.
At Laguna Seca, I talked to a pro shooter in the pits, and he filled me in about cameras and Nikon. I did not even know there was any difference between one F2 and another...he had an F1 that was metered and an F2-SB.
This guy, single-handedly, fueled my Nikon desire that would go unfulfilled for 35 years.
I do not own an SB, but I do have a F2 Phtomic...F2-S...and just now the F2-A.

 

[Peltigera]

When I was first working, longer ago than I really care to remember, I wanted a Pentax Spotmatic. They cost about two month's pre-tax pay so I bought a Zenit instead (which I have never regretted). I now own three Spotmatic models.

 

[benjiboy]

The problem of achieving your dream is where do you go from there ? what's your excuse for not shooting great pictures except your lack of ability ?.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The 35mm camera I drooled after when it was in current production but could never afford as a poor recent college grad and camera store employee was the Contax RTS III. I now have one with the 50mm f1.4 Planar. Similarly was the Contax G2, which I also have now. To me they were the pinnacles of SLR and rangefinder cameras respectively. They offered features that none of their competitors offered that actually made a difference in the final image (OTF flash metering for non-dedicated strobes, vacuum film plane, 1/8000th of a second top shutter speed, TTL metering with aperture priority and auto-focus on the G1/G2). Not to mention the Zeiss glass.

 

[michr]

About ten years ago I was on the fence about whether to buy a digital system and whether I would be more likely to afford a film system instead. Eventually I went digital and enjoyed it for a long time. In the past few years, I've been doing more film shooting, so I've been able to pick up the two cameras I originally considered buying, and at a much discounted price: a Speed Graphic and the Mamiya C330. Both of these originally caught my eye as examples of what the pros use since I'd already eliminated 35mm as an option. I have a vague recollection they were each more than $400 when I first looked at them. I suppose you could pay those prices today, but I've been able to scrounge up both systems for about that price with a bundle of Mamiya lenses as well. Finally my photographs look more like the densely detailed images I wanted to be able to create ten years ago.

 

[4season]

As a teen, I lusted after the Minolta Autopak 470 pocket camera, and a bit later, the Minolta XD11. I never did get the former, but I did sort of get the latter in the form of a Leica R4S Model P. It didn't have the "pro" feel of a Nikon, but compact, had a decent finder and was silky smooth in operation. Only had one Leica R lens, a 35/2.8 Elmarit, but what a sweet lens: Modestly priced by Leica standards and it focuses close too.

Some time later, I had the itch to get a Rolleiflex 6008, but to date have never handled one.

Hassy Xpan, Minolta TC1: Wouldn't it be fun to give those a try too! Am also intrigued by the Jaeger LeCoultre Compass but imagine that it'd be more of a neat showpiece than something I could actually use (am I really going to want to shoot single frames of 35mm film view-camera style?)

Example of Compass camera:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281975786823

No big deal about the stuff I missed, because I succeeded more often than not!

 

[BradleyK]

I bought my first two "dream cameras" when I first started in photography: a pair of black Nikon F2ASs (1979); A year and-a-bit later, I added a Nikon F3. In the "digital age," I picked up an F5 and an F6, buying both used at a price far below what each cost when introduced. At present, I have only two on my "man, it would cool to own that list": A Hasselblad X-Pan and a Leica M3. Not sure if I'll even give in to pick up the latter (I already own an M4), but the Hasselblad remains a target of interest. Tentatively in pursuit of the former, I'd like to have the camera with 45mm and 90mm lenses in time for my next excursion to Louisiana and Mississippi (late-April, early-May of next year - Date is dependent on C.C. Lockwood's Atchafalaya Basin workshop).

 

[John51]

The problem of achieving your dream is where do you go from there ? what's your excuse for not shooting great pictures except your lack of ability ?.

Back in the day, the GAS was biting hard and I'd convinced myself that I couldn't take a decent pic without a £200 lens. The next edition of Amateur Photographer had a really nice beach pic by Victor Blackman, a quarter neg crop from a Kodak Instamatic. Thanks Vic.

 

[Links_147]

Currently lusting over a Horseman VH with a few lenses and the adapter to 5x4 for special occasions.