Lenses seem like a solved issue, at least for full frame and larger formats where glass is much easier to produce and engineer. I wouldn’t say that 1% of the talk is about lenses, probably 30-40%.
I can’t wait to have to install an APK, downloaded from DJI’s website, just to use the camera… Never buying any DJI product again until they roll back this behavior. Fool me once 
(Osmo Action 4)
I don’t actually remember what I paid for my first “real” camera, a Canon AE-1. But, lets say it was $300 in 1979. Adjusting only for inflation, that would be $1328, today. I think I could get a pretty nice 2025 camera for that.
New prices are high and cameras have been good enough since the last generation dslrs.
Features since have been very much minor improvements for the vast majority of genres of photography. The old single point focus systems were really quite bulletproof for anything but 85mm f1.4 and work quite well even for such a set up.
IQ was enough and we’ve barely seen improvements . Optics have a lot more special glass now and perform better. Arguable photos aren’t nicer at printed sizes despite this.
So buying used gear makes a lot of sense and you can get pretty amazing stuff.
I think “around the $1000 mark” is accurate, and I don’t think quibbling about $100 here or there makes much difference, especially when Trump’s tariffs look set to increase prices for everybody.
The fact is that entry-level is now about $1000, and I think that’s a shame. Yes, these cameras are very capable and probably too capable for what a lot of people need. Annoyingly, manufacturers feel they have to put lots of mid to high-end features in their bodies to get acceptance from reviewers.
And then when they do cut features, one of the first to go is the EVF!
I would happily have a smaller sensor, fewer MP, no video, less aluminum, and average AF to get a more affordable camera. But I do want an EVF!
Maybe my perception is skewed, but the whole “adjusted for inflation” argument doesn’t sit well with me because my income hasn’t been adjusted for inflation much over the last 15 years.