Best/easiest to focus rangefinder

[tedwhite]

my neighbor and fellow RFF member, Desertshooter, has a Bronica like yours, and you are absolutely right, it focuses easier and faster than anything I've yet got my hands on.

 

[thomasw_]

The M3 is King here.

I agree with Raid.

 

[Vics]

Why does my M3 focus easier with the DR that with the collapsible? This doesn't make ANY sense to me. With the DR, it just snaps into focus. Hard to tell when the collapsible is mounted. Any ideas?

 

[mascarenhas]

Anyone that likes the M3 should try the R3A sometime to see that it's a worthy contender. The size of the patch is just a little narrower than the M3's, but about the same height. But of course the M3 RF is much more precise.

It's a pity Leica stopped at 0.92x instead of going all the way to 1:1, or the M3 would be even more amazing (without sacrificing anything, the R3A has just as much space around the 50 framelines as the M3). I trained myself to shoot with both eyes open with the M3 also, as its such a mechanical joy to use, in another league compared to the Bessa, but I still miss the R3A finder when I'm shooting with the M3. Shooting with both eyes open in the R3A is effortless, with the M3 it's a little strainful to the eyes.

I agree with Raid.

 

[raid]

I got fifteen years later after the M3 an M6 with 0.85 finder. When looking through that finder from the "right angle", the flare is controlled and focusing is easy.

 

[pvdhaar]

It's hard to decide between the Leica M4 and the Bessa-T.

For sheer focussing accuracy, I guess the Bessa-T has the edge. Despite the smaller physical RF base, the sheer magnification makes it easiest to exactly pinpoint the point of focus. When it's about convenience, the M4 wins because of the clarity of the double image.

Lower on my list is the FED1 and below that again the Hexar-RF, which I found very hard to focus. The Hexar-RF was the camera where the RF spot was most sensitive to the exact positioning of the eye behind the finder.

 

[mfunnell]

and below that again the Hexar-RF, which I found very hard to focus. The Hexar-RF was the camera where the RF spot was most sensitive to the exact positioning of the eye behind the finder.

I guess different people react to different things, well, differently! (Hardly an amazing insight, I know.) I took to RF focus on the Hexar RF instantly, despite having never so much as looked through the viewfinder of an RF camera beforehand, and was getting good focus from the first frame. I've never had a problem, even shooting my 75/1.4 wide open. While things are probably easier with my M3, for 50mm or longer lenses, I find the .6x magnification of the Hexar RF easy enough to work with - and I like the ability to view wider framelines and having lots of room around the framelines for all but 28mm. (I wouldn't want to use it for a 135, though.)

...Mike

 

[pvdhaar]

I guess different people react to different things, well, differently! (Hardly an amazing insight, I know.) I took to RF focus on the Hexar RF instantly, despite having never so much as looked through the viewfinder of an RF camera beforehand, and was getting good focus from the first frame. I've never had a problem, even shooting my 75/1.4 wide open. While things are probably easier with my M3, for 50mm or longer lenses, I find the .6x magnification of the Hexar RF easy enough to work with - and I like the ability to view wider framelines and having lots of room around the framelines for all but 28mm. (I wouldn't want to use it for a 135, though.)

...Mike

Oh, I could get perfect focus on the Hexar-RF too. It was spot on, no problem there at all. But I'm left eye dominant, and I had to move my eye around the viewfinder a lot to find the correct position for the RF spot each and every time I raised the camera to my eye. That's something I don't have to do with the M4, which is much more forgiving of eye position.

 

[mfunnell]

But I'm left eye dominant, and I had to move my eye around the viewfinder a lot to find the correct position for the RF spot each and every time I raised the camera to my eye. That's something I don't have to do with the M4, which is much more forgiving of eye position.

I guess I'm fortunate that eye position has never been something I need worry about. Has anyone ever made a left eyed/handed RF camera?

...Mike

 

[wlewisiii]

Hmm. Don't know about that, but ironically I could not get the eye controlled focus to work on my Canon A2E until I calibrated on my left eye rather than the more typical right eye. And, no surprise, both eyes work equally well at this point in time.

(grinning, ducking and running like a proverbial SOB) 😉

William