Your Dream Camera

[nzeeman]

Sexist, it could be a female you know. Look here
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0001.html

Regards Søren

i would like to apologize to all women here.

 

[Woolliscroft]

An OM4-Ti and/or Pentax 67II with a shutter priority mode.

David.

 

[Andy K]

Hmm... dream camera(s) Nikon FM3a with lenses... maybe a Hassie... but for now I'm perfectly happy with my OM-1n MD and Isolette I.

 

[waynecrider]

I bought most of my dream cameras, except for one of two, and their all for sale. The next one I want to buy and probably sell is the Arca F.

What I really want is a handheld meter with multiple averaging spot points, central frame averaging and matrix metering. If they can put it in a camera, they can put it in a handheld meter.

 

[Magnus W]

Some of my dreamcameras ...

35 mm: Pentax LX, Leica M6, Zeiss Ikon
MF: Hasselblad 503cx, Hasselblad 905swc, Alpa 12swa
LF: Sinar P2, Ebony 810

-- MW

 

[rbarker]

Well, if we're really dreaming, how about the 16x20 SinDolfi. It has the precision of the Sinar, along with the elegance of the Gandolfi, and weighs in at a mere 4 pounds.

 

[johnny9fingers]

I would go with the Konica Hexar AF. Small, fast and quiet...some day I'll have one...

 

[Flotsam]

Has anyone come up with a camera that dispenses beer and roast beef sandwiches?
If they have, that is the one that gets my vote.

 

[mark]

In my younger days (before marriage and kids) I dreamed of a camera that would cause a woman to shed her clothes at the mere site of it. Now that I am older, and realize that very few women are impressed by big slow clunky cameras and guys, I am perfectly happy with what I got.

 

[Soeren]

Has anyone come up with a camera that dispenses beer and roast beef sandwiches?
If they have, that is the one that gets my vote.

Hmm, You gave me an idea there. Maybe I should make a pinholecamera of my Weber kettle

 

[Ole]

In my younger days (before marriage and kids) I dreamed of a camera that would cause a woman to shed her clothes at the mere site of it. Now that I am older, and realize that very few women are impressed by big slow clunky cameras and guys, I am perfectly happy with what I got.

My Bronica ETRS had that effect - but only once. Or maybe it was me? Or maybe the young lady would have shed her clothes anyway? Maybe she was just looking for an (any) excuse?

 

[zenrhino]

Easy.

A 6x6 or 6x4.5 with a tack-sharp lens, great metering, perfect frame spacing, a shutter that actually works all the time, a self-timer that doesn't break the shutter, no light leaks, sits on my tripod right and doesn't weigh a ton. It'd be even more perfect if it was a rangefinder or TLR.

Which rules out my Kiev 60, Seagull, and of course my Holga.

 

[Uncle Bill]

For me a dream Rangefinder camera would be a Lieca MP Black with a 50/2 Summicron lens, a 35 and the new 75 lens, that will make for the 35mm rangefinder set to end them all. Now if that is not available there is always the new Zeiss Ikon Rangefinder which while out of my reach for now it is up there as systems to look into when I start to make some real coin in my new career.
For 35mm SLR that is different, I already have my dream SLR, my dad's early Nikon F with the Eyepoint viewfinder 50/1.4 Nikkor, a 28/2.8 Vivitar wide angle, a 105/2.5 Nikkor, a 35/2 Nikkor, a Vivitar or Soligar telephoto and zoom lens that I can't quite remember which is which, I have not pulled them long ones out in a while. While I love my Pentax screwmount SLR's, the early Nikon F has a special place in my heart, I remember him using it while I was a kid. It's the tank!

Bill

 

[Michiel]

35mm Contax N1 (Got it)
Yashica G Electro (Got it)
Zeiss Ikon Contarex (I wish I got it)
MF Contax 645
Rolleiflex 6008
Rolleiflex 2.8GX Helmut Newton Edition
Art Deco Brownie (for fun and looks)

 

[imageWIS]

Leica R9 with a Normal 50mm f/1.4 Summilux R Manual Focus Lens (with ROM Contacts) and 2 telephoto lenses:

1) Zoom Wide Angle-Tele 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 Aspherical Vario-Elmarit-R Manual Focus Lens

2) Zoom Telephoto 70-180mm f/2.8 Vario Apo Elmarit R Manual Focus Lens (with ROM Contacts)

Along with the Leica Digital-Modul-R, Digital Camera Back (I feel leftover 35mm cartages being thrown towards my general direction), just in case I feel like taking digital pics with a great camera.

My dream medium format is an ALPA 12WA (or an SWA, I’m not choosy).

Jon.

 

[Surly]

My Minolta Autocord is my favorite camera. I own about 20 cameras from 35mm up to 4x5. If I had to give them all up and keep one - it'd be the Minolta TLR's (i have two).
I like them better than my Rollie. I don't really know why, though. Maybe because I can buy a nice Autocord for $100.00 and the Rollie's are 5 times that.
So, my dream camera would be my Autocord but completely restored to like new.

 

[celluloidpropaganda]

I want an Xpan - I was close to selling my M7/35 for a Bessa kit+Xpan, but I just can't pull the trigger.

Most of the photos I've seen taken with it haven't exploited the camera properly (IMO) - too many landscapes and tripod shots that might as well be done with a 6x17 camera.

For me it seems to be the ultimate daylight street-shooting machine (Winogrand in 'scope!) and the potential for cinematic narrative shots (2.70:1 ain't that far off of 2.35:1) are endless.
The only thing that would make the system better would be a fast 50 (that only covers the 35mm frame, of course), so you can use the camera when f/4 isn't feasible and you don't want to haul another camera along.

 

[Robert Budding]

Easy.

A 6x6 or 6x4.5 with a tack-sharp lens, great metering, perfect frame spacing, a shutter that actually works all the time, a self-timer that doesn't break the shutter, no light leaks, sits on my tripod right and doesn't weigh a ton. It'd be even more perfect if it was a rangefinder or TLR.

Which rules out my Kiev 60, Seagull, and of course my Holga.

Have you looked at the Bronica RF645? Great build, compact, rangefinder, and superb lenses.

Robert

 

[127]

If we can DREAM - how about Rollei bringing out a new baby rollei with TTL and flash metering like the G series?

2012 is the centenary of 127 film, so that would give them a few years to design a special edition camera, and a enough time for me to save up for it!

Well you did say I could dream...

Ian

 

[David H. Bebbington]

For someone looking to give themselves a "money no object" treat, how about this :rolleyes: ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/LITTMAN-45-SING...564319795QQcategoryZ15247QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Ole]

For someone looking to give themselves a "money no object" treat, how about this :rolleyes: ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/LITTMAN-45-SING...564319795QQcategoryZ15247QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I wonder if his grammar and punctuation are intended to be as "retrofuturistic" as the camera?

 

[matchat]

That is truly something else, whether or not its a good something else I couldn't say, perhaps Victoria Beckham could buy it to leave the cap on & show off with!!!

 

[modafoto]

A hybrid camera so I can take a digital preshot to check the light etc. and then take the real shot on film. With 35 mm it normally isn't possible to do polaroids....

Morten

 

[gnashings]

Well... when the word "dream" comes into play, many rational factors go out the window - at least with me, I find.
I looked into this thread because I recently got my "dream" camera. Its rather mundane by comparison to the gear already discussed here. Its down right homely by comparison. But please, let me quantify what I mean by dream. When I was a young kid (I am 30 now, so it would be in the 1980's), I desperately wanted a camera like the ones I saw photo-journalists using. I know this was pure chance (it could have been a Nikon, but it wasn't - remember, I was just a kid and knew next to nothing of camera gear beyond the fact that my dad's Zenit was darn right magical to me), but, alas, I saw a Canon camera in the hands of a photog on TV. It had a massive motor-drive (didn't know what it was at the time) on it and it was labelled:"F1". At this point, like I said, I knew nothing of cameras or even of the various F1's that existed - my mind was made up: the Canon F1 was the best camera in the world, it looked as sophisticated as a spaceship to me, and I really, really thought I could never afford one. I collected magazine ads, clippings - you name it, with this mythical picture-taking device in them. I was beyond logical argument.
Fast forward to 2005. Over the years, I learned more and more about cameras. I learned about such magical things as Leica's, Hasselblads and the like - I even learned that as pro-SLR's of the 80's go, the New F1 may not have been the best, probably wasn't in fact. Actually, I have passed buying an F1 on many an occsion, simply out of rational, fiscal reasons (pay less for a camera that can do just about the same things, etc). And I have to admit, now I have dream cameras far more exotic, etc... But, their "dream" status is lesser - it is born out of the logical thought of an adult, rational pros and cons. And while such thought process will undoubtedly yeild a superior choice, they can never come close to eclipsing the monumental dream status generated by the star-struck eyes of a youngster. And so, a couple of friends of mine decided to give me a surprise birthday present some time in advance (in light of the theft of my last SLR) - the choice was obvious, they pitched in and surprised me with a Canon New F1 (I have wonderful friends - that has to be said!)!!!. And when I held it for the first time, a 30 year old man, thinning hair, married, etc., I can tell you that there was no superior camera to that in my hand. The kid inside was on top of the world, and there is no amount of rationale the grown man on the outside could come up with that could rival it.
I know, its not much of a "dream camera" - but like every kid who pined after the black Firebird from Smokey and the Bandit, learning that it was a slow, ill-handling, poorly put together relic has little effect on the fact that there was a time when in that kid's eyes there was no faster, cooler thing on four wheels.
Fortunately, my F1 fairs a lot better than that Firebird - in fact, it does everything I could want a 35mm camera to do and lets me use some wonderful glass - so I guess I lucked out - thank God I didn't pine after an Instamtic
I know it seems that I may have missed the point of this thread - but there is a reason why I went through this lengthy diatribe: while I could sit here and rhyme off spec after spec, what and how I want my "dream" camera to do, I have to tell you that I just did. My dream camera has one requirement -it has to make me feel the way I felt when I finally got my F1.

Cheers,

Peter.

 

[gandolfi]

think I just bought it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7563272572&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1