Half Frame Rangefinder

[TomBob]

i've wanted to own a camera like the Pen F for sometime, a gorgeous piece of engineering.

however i was wondering (and this is the place to ask) if anyone knows of a half frame Rangefinder, surely there must be some around

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Tom-Bob,

Nikon S3M. Leica 72. Serious money... I think some of the combined reflex/RF Alpas may have been made in half-frame too, but I'm not sure.

If you can live without the RF -- and scale-focus is normally fine with wide-angles on the small format -- Olympus Pen W (25/2.8) is wonderful.

Anyone remember whether the Yahica Sequelle and Taron Chic were RF? How about the Ricoh Auto Half?

You might also find that if you owned a Pen F, it wasn't quite as gorgeous as you think.

Cheers,

R.

 

[TomBob]

i'm guessing from that comment that you've had trouble with the pen F? i can't afford any cameras at all right now, really should downsize the amount in the draw. but it is intresting to know that there a few RF's around.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Tom-Bob,

Awkward control layout; finder like looking down the wrong end of a telescope (and dark, with the metered version); double-stroke and rather flimsy-feeling wind-on...

Not all of them have all these drawbacks, but put it this way: I always wanted one. Then 30+ years ago I had a lodger who had one. Didn't want one any more.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ruben]

I assume you are asking for a half frame with a range-finding, i.e. distance metering mechanism, and aperture plus speed controls.

At the low end cost I have searched and found nothing. Yet out of the blue, here at RFF a guy offered a small Canonet f1.9 custom adapted for half frame. According to the friend of the seller the story was that such cameras were in use by the Australian or NewZeland police.
I do believe that some highly professional job was done, because it included half frame marks in the viewfinder - alike those in any normal Canonet GIII.

Of course I rushed to buy it and was ready to pay whatever. I have used it recently with fujicolor 100 and it is very much ok.

All in all, this opened my mind to the possiblility of looking for a qualifyied technician to do the same job with any camera. After all the job requires two steps. The easy one is inserting two metal rectangles that will shorten the film frame to be exposed. The hard job is readapting the winding mechanism to wind half frame and cock, instead of a full frame.

Then perforating the metal bright lines small plate,that produces the bright lines in the viewfinder - this is a job I do not believe any technician will be able to do. But the good news here is that you (your supposed technician) can achieve a lot by tape masking. At the end then you will have a view like in a Contax or Kiev, without bright lines.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[historicist]

Ducati also made a half frame rangefinder:

http://www.cameraquest.com/ducati.htm

I've seen them for sale from time to time for around £500 which makes them considerably cheaper than a S3M. Still not quite a bargain though...

 

[Al Kaplan]

I think that Robot made some of their rangefinder equipped Royal model in half frame, as well as their scale focusing Star. They also made square (24x24mm) format variations. They have a mechanical motor drive and are far from quiet.

Scale focussing an Olympus Pen by guess isn't a problem and they're very well made with great lenses.

 

[Marcel B.]

I have a Minolta 1/2 frame rangefinder, cool little camera.

 

[photovdz]

robots are very nice, but are not quiet (specially the royal) and definitively heavy... very heavy)
there is also the external telemeter for the robot star... but it's a bit of a fragile alternative...

 

[twopointeight]

Roger, speaking of the Pen W, I have two and one of them needs an overhaul. Do you know any repair person who can work on these? The Pen W is pretty rare, but the Pen S is not so. Both are great, all manual, pocket cameras.

 

[motrhead]

Konica IIIM. Switchable between half and full frame.

 

[navilluspm]

Roger, speaking of the Pen W, I have two and one of them needs an overhaul. Do you know any repair person who can work on these? The Pen W is pretty rare, but the Pen S is not so. Both are great, all manual, pocket cameras.

www.zuiko.com - John Hermanson. He is also a RFF member.

 

[kbg32]

Fujica I believe, made a half frame fixed lens rangefinder. Can't remember the model name. They appear on ebay from time to time.

 

[raid]

I have a Zeiss Tenax II RF camera that gives 2/3 frames [square]. While not a "half-frame" camera, it is close to being one. The camera has a Zeiss Sonnar 4cm 2.0 lens that is awesome for such an old camera. The Tenax was trying to compete with the Robot camera, and it was built as a top notch camera.

 

[Spider67]

Robots were used for recording altitude data in German planes in WWII....that was the place where they coulb be considered quiet...
Oh yes some of them need proprietary film cartridges

 

[dannyt]

Why not a Canon Dial

Why not a Canon Dial

I have a couple of Dial's, they don't sport coupled RF, but scale focusing works like a charm, great camera.

 

[Brad Bireley]

If you have a little extra $
http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-M4-P-half...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

 

[johannielscom]

Will you believe it?!

Will you believe it?!

Just last week I found an expired listing on Westlicht Auctions of a Konica Hexar RF 72.

Not kidding, the link is here

It's in lot number 419

Apperently, these were factory modified. And very limited edition, only fifty made.

I have saved a set of pictures to my hard drive, it might take a while before another specimen is sighted...

 

[urban_alchemist]

Dear Tom-Bob,

Awkward control layout; finder like looking down the wrong end of a telescope (and dark, with the metered version); double-stroke and rather flimsy-feeling wind-on...

As always, it's all about getting a good one. I've got two penFTs, and whereas one is a bit on the iffy side (cranking mechanism, dodgy ADHD meter, dark viewfinder), the other is an absolute peach - totally smooth bits and a bright enough finder to focus in nearly all useable light.

I love the Pen Fs... great little cameras and so flexible...

 

[VictorM.]

Mmmm...this is almost an old thread, except I missed it the first time around. I'd also recommend a Pen S, but with an accessory rangefinder: