Can anybody recommend a sensible starter into 35mm rangefinders?

Shootsyou

Shootsyou

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Ivor
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I've never had a rangefinder & fancy a bit of street photography. After looking on web it seems they're the way to go because they're often small enough to fit in your pocket, not heavy, and you don't stand out.
I've got an Olympus OM-1 which I am really enjoying at the moment. Also got a Rolleiflex but obviously don't want to bash that around too much jostling through busy city centers.
So, without selling my car to fund a Leica, can anybody advise on a decent low to mid budget rangefinder, say no more than£300-£400?? I quite like those Canon QL17 capers but not sure if a mid 70's 'made for the Brits annual trip to Spain' camera would be robust enough??
But I do like the look of em.

Any advice much appreciated, coz I'm still wet behind the ears!
 
Shootsyou said:
I've never had a rangefinder & fancy a bit of street photography. After looking on web it seems they're the way to go because they're often small enough to fit in your pocket, not heavy, and you don't stand out.
I've got an Olympus OM-1 which I am really enjoying at the moment. Also got a Rolleiflex but obviously don't want to bash that around too much jostling through busy city centers.
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I can't help you with 135 format rangefinders, but I would note that you've already got what is arguably one of the greatest cameras for street photography: the Rolleiflex. The waist level viewing means that you don't stick out much, it's deadly quiet (people won't even know that you're taking pictures), and even if someone does notice the camera, it's in a positive, 'gee, look at that cool camera' kind of way.

Also, what are you expecting to happen while you're out in these city centres? I've carried my medium format cameras through a number of Asian, American, and European cities, and I can't say I've really had any problems with cameras getting bashed at any point, whether on city streets, in subways, or at big events.

Shootsyou said:
I quite like those Canon QL17 capers but not sure if a mid 70's 'made for the Brits annual trip to Spain' camera would be robust enough??
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Given that the prices for most 35mm cameras outside of Leicas have really bottomed out, is there really a worry about robustness? As long as you don't spend over the odds, if one camera breaks, just buy another one.
 
I dropped film several years ago and now for my street photography I use a Fujifilm X20 compact camera. Quality pictures, quick to use and very quiet.
 
Agree with what Dave and RJ say but if you're looking for a small and pocketable rangefinder then you can start at the very cheap end and go for something like the Ricoh 500G or the Konica C35, both perform very well despite being semi-automatic they produce very nicely exposed shots.

Have a look here http://52cameras.co.uk/?p=1188
 
I agree entirely with @skysh4rk - you already have what you need.

But if you absolutely must have a rangefinder than an Olympus XA is extremely compact, with good image quality - expect to pay around £50 for one in good condition. It seems that a lot of rangefinder owners actually just use scale focus for street photography because it's too fiddly to focus quickly with the rangefinder. In which case you could just pay £15 for an Olympus XA2 which is scale focus.
 
Minolta Hi-matic, cheap, sharp, small and excellent.

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I've had a couple of RF and decided they're not really for me, I didn't get on with the Fed 3 (too heavy) or the Richoh 500 (too light) but its worth trying to see how you get on. The Fed range is the commie anchor lovingly inspired shamelessly copied from early leicas and is made of soviet tank armour, significantly heavier than even the OM1 and about the same size. The Richoh cameras are a nice pocket able semi automatic but I found them a bit plasticy and never really got on with it.
 
To reprise a theme, if you have £300/£400 to spend it might be worth having a look at the Voigtlander Bessa R series of cameras. They are a very well made interchangeable lens series with some stunning glass and should be gettable for that kind of cash.

https://www.cameraquest.com/voigrf.htm

Lots of info in the link above.



A very nice, compact camera and for a lot less than the Leica equivalent you get 90% of the Leica quality.
 
That Voigtlander R3a has just been added to my 'want it' list... It's a stunning looking camera!! perfect tool I'd say, when coupled with one of their 40mm or 35mm lenses.

Have decided I'll try street stuff with something cheap and if I enjoy it, Voigtlander's definitely something I'm going to scout around for, thanks for introducing us Andysnap.

On a side-note.... just watched a clip of Bruce Gilden shooting street photography in New York. I can't decide whether his technique is confident & bold, or if it spills over into realms of slightly bullying & making people feel threatened? One thing he definitely aint, is candid!!
 
Voigtlanders are good but large enough to not be considered a pocket camera IMO. I'll second the recommendation for an XA2 (for around £40 from a dealer) or if you fancy spending more, the Trip SP/RC cameras are well rated. I have a Yashica Electro 35 GX and that's considerably smaller than the other Electro 35 cameras (except the CC), will fit in a jacket pocket and has a cracking 40mm f/1.7 lens. Quite rare, I imported mine from Japan, but they do come up on ebay occasionally - expect to pay around £120 for a good one.

One problem with many older rangefinders is battery availability, though most that I've looked at have a manual mode albeit restricted to one shutter speed. The Yashicas are good in that you can shoot in aperture-priority whereas a lot of other rangefinders are either manual (with match-dot metering) or shutter-priority only.

Foregoing a meter gives you the option of a Leica or something better looking, such as a Canon P or Nikon S, though you'll need to do your research if you want to make sure of getting a good one. Lenses for those can be silly money, however, as they come in a Leica M39 thread mount and hold their value.
 
Unless your car was made by German craftsmen in white overalls over twenty years ago, it will probably be a money pit, give you little pleasure, depreciate rapidly and be as boring as hell. Sell it and buy the damn Leica!

;)
 
FujiLove said:
Unless your car was made by German craftsmen in white overalls over twenty years ago, it will probably be a money pit, give you little pleasure, depreciate rapidly and be as boring as hell. Sell it and buy the damn Leica!

;)
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But it is German, and was made forty three years ago. 1971 BMW 2002 Ti, :ty: It's as nice as a Leica, I couldn't sell it for a camera, Yet, my infection may get worse though I suppose.

Does that mean I'm not a proper camera head??? Oh man, don't make me choose between the car & the camera!!
 
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This might be a good starting point if you're after a Leica RF camera on a budget! OK it's a Russian copy but still takes good pictures, although it has no light meter!


View attachment 25846
 
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For your budget I'd go for a Voigtlander Bessa R with a Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 lens. Cracking set up for the price.
 
For a fixed lens rangefinder, the Canonet QL17 (or QL19) is hard to beat. It's a nicely weighted sturdy camera with a very good f/1.7 (or f/1.9) lens. The rangefinder patch on the one I had was reasonably bright; much brighter than the Oly XA I used once. Focusing is via a lever protruding from the bottom of the lens barrel (in both cases, actually), which I couldn't get on with, but which I think any two-able-handed person would find fine. I think the Canonet was Kirk Tuck's first camera, and the one he says he will never sell. You can get them around £100 (sold mine on here for £80 I think).
 
I meant to say, on this poll for best fixed lens (film?) rangefinder on rangefinderforum (RFF), the QL17 comes out equal top!
 
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