With medium format cameras the price of the admission ticket used to be pretty steep. Thankfully to the explosion of the digital craziness now you may buy cameras that costed thousand of euro for a few bucks. Keep in mind that the quality will be correlated to the original price, not the one you will pay now!
I will not include in the “up to 50€” section cheap cameras like the Holga, the Diana or the Agfa Clack; if you like the specific look they deliver they are really good, but for a first-timer in the medium format world probably not the best choice.
All the same, in the “up to 150 / 200€” section I decided to not include the Pentacon Six and the various russian cameras, because at this price point I think you may buy cameras much more reliables nowadays.
Keep in mind that more often than not you will need an external exposure meter (not with the Fuji GS645, the Pentax 645 or if you’ll buy an exposure finder). You may also use the meter of another camera, obviously, but this would mean taking more weight with you; your choice.
UP TO 50€
- Rolleicord IIb / IIc with Zeiss Triotar 75/3,5
UP TO 150 / 200€
- every Rolleicord with a Schneider Xenar 75/3,5
- Fuji GS645*
- Fuji GW690*
- Mamiya M645 with 80/2,8
- Mamiya RB67 with 90/3,5
- Zenza Bronica ETR / ETRs / ETRsi with 75/2,8
* rangefinder cameras
UP TO 400 / 500€
- Fuji GX680 with a couple lenses and an AA battery adapter
- Hasselblad 500c/m with Zeiss Planar 80/2,8
- Hasselblad 500EL with Zeiss Planar 80/2,8
- Mamiya RZ67 with 110/2,8
- Pentax 645 with 75/2,8
- Pentax 67 with 105/2,5 and TTL finder
- Rolleiflex with Zeiss Planar 3,5 and meter
Rolleicord, Rolleiflex and the two Fuji rangefinder are all fixed, non-interchangeable lens cameras.
For the others you can pick a wide angle and a tele for under 300€ total, often for much less.
See you next time, with the large format options.
