What’s On Your Photography Wish-List?

photo credit: Tyla'75

Most of us probably have at least a short wish-list of photography-related items. My list usually fills up with things that I don't have the money for, and over time I stop caring about those particular items. But there are a few things that I've been wanting for a while — and I don't see myself losing interest in them.

  • MINOLTA HI-MATIC 7SII
    I've been wanting this camera for quite a while — this thing is freakin' awesome for an old rangefinder. Some would even argue that this is the best rangefinder ever produced by Minolta. Why do I want it? Street photography. Why am I holding back? Price: they usually go for over $150 (2-3x that for the black version).
  • CANOSCAN 8800F
    This wish-list item is more of a necessity than a craving. I've got the Canoscan 8400F (which is more than a few years old), and I'm getting very finicky about my film scans. I'd like to have a bit of extra resolution and possibly better color control during the scan process. Besides… my current scanner could commit suicide any day now.
  • DSLR SPLIT IMAGE FOCUSING SCREEN
    This is an item that's been in the back of my mind ever since I started shooting film. I like the split image focusing screen with the microprism ring that my film SLR has, and I often find myself wanting the same feature on my dSLR. Why? Low light situations, macro, street, etc. Sometimes autofocus just doesn't cut it, and manually focusing without a good screen is useless.
  • BESELER DICHRO 67S HEAD
    This one is on my backburner for now, but I'd like to get into color developing and printing by the end of the year. I've had a good experience with the b/w printing, but I also have a growing collection of color negs that I'd love to print in full analog glory. Scanning is okay, but nothing beats a true print. This head I have my eye on will bolt right up to my existing enlarger stand, so it's really just a component swap-out rather than a whole new setup.
  • SONY 35MM F/1.4 LENS
    Yeah… this lens is way out there for me right now, but I certainly wouldn't mind having it. I often find that my 50mm lens on the dSLR is too tight for many street photography situations. I like the field of view I get with the 50mm lens on a full-frame film camera (I even prefer my slightly wider 38mm sometimes), and the 35mm on a crop sensor would basically be equivalent to the 50mm full-frame. This thing is spendy though!

Those are probably my top 5 items outside of the low-budget realm. I'll probably be lucky to pick up one or two of these within the next year, but it's fun to dream!

WHAT'S ON YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY WISH-LIST?

Leave a comment and let us know what you crave. I'm always curious about the things that other photographers want when it comes to equipment. And be sure to check out the results of the last poll: What’s Your Experience With Film Photography? Believe it or not, there are actually a good chunk of photographers shooting film today (around 40%). But another 40% gave it up and never looked back.