Amateur looking to break into RF Photography

I started with a cheap Canonet QL17. It was great fun, but I wanted to change lenses so I sold it for $150 and upgraded to a Bessa R2.


bessa rangefinder camera by chrisongtj, on Flickr

An important note: the R2 takes M mount lenses and is older than the R2A/R2M. It is also much cheaper (up to half the price), so definitely worth it. It has a similar metering system to the M6, and is fully mechanical too. I got mine for the equivalent of US$250. These are also much newer than the Leica CL, so less likely to have mechanical problems (as all cameras eventually get). I got it with a Jupiter 8, 50mm/f2 lens which cost me another $50. Altogether is was USD$300 which is a great deal, I slowly added more lenses once I knew that I liked the system.

One thing I would say is that the viewfinder on my lowly Bessa is MILES and MILES ahead of the Canonet. The first time I looked into it, I could barely put it down. I can't imaging what a Zeis Ikon VF would look like. The baselength is longer making focusing much easier, likewise on Leicas they will be even easier to focus.
 
I find all my cameras locally. Thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales.
With a little patience and a bit of synchronicity, you can too.
Ask around. Lot's of older folks have one languishing in a shoe box somewhere.
 
35mmdelux said:
Your 19 and should be able to get a part time job washing cars or whatnot. In fact you should have a job already, right? Get a high quality P/S camera like the Hexar AF ($400). A garage sale should net you enough to buy a Hexar AF AND it comes w/ a Summicron quality lens. Sell the bike, skis, guitar, whatever junk your parents pile in the garage. With their permission of course.

If I were advising you I'd say go for the Hexar Af. When you turn 21 get an M6. I wouldn't buy cheapo stuff as your first "RF."
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Bike is rusted beyond repair. I wish I owned a pair of skis or a guitar haha.

I did indeed have a job 5 months ago, but got laid off due to business slowing. Trying to get into school while looking for a job still. Job market is rough right now. Handed out more resumes today in fact :)

As for the Bessa's, I'm keeping my eye open on the classifieds here for something of the sort. If anyone is looking to sell, PM me ;D

Thanks again guys and gals

Edit: My Dad is against the whole idea of me going more into film. He believes film is long dead, and says I shouldn't bother spending the cash on it when I could find something new. He says I should go for an x100. Unfortunately, its far from what I'm looking for. Apparently the Manual focus on it is pretty pants. No stores in town seem to have one available for me to play with. Thoughts? (I understand its a hybrid viewfinder and not a true RF, just wondering what people think about it :) )
 
McFlurry said:
Edit: My Dad is against the whole idea of me going more into film. He believes film is long dead, and says I shouldn't bother spending the cash on it when I could find something new. He says I should go for an x100. Unfortunately, its far from what I'm looking for. Apparently the Manual focus on it is pretty pants. No stores in town seem to have one available for me to play with. Thoughts? (I understand its a hybrid viewfinder and not a true RF, just wondering what people think about it :) )
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A lot of fans of it here. Can produce great images. Not a rangefinder, obviously, but still a great camera.

Does you budget change if you try for an X100? It's nowhere near what you described as your target budget.
 
I played with an X100 for several days, courtesy of a generous friend. I liked the viewfinder (mainly using the optical VF), and liked the images, but I found the controls too small and fiddly for my medium-sized hands.

You can buy and process a lot of film for the price of an X100.
 
hteasley said:
A lot of fans of it here. Can produce great images. Not a rangefinder, obviously, but still a great camera.

Does you budget change if you try for an X100? It's nowhere near what you described as your target budget.
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Seen used ones around for 900 dollars. Considering the xpro is on the verge of release (Or already has been) I'm assuming the price would lower. Of course this is nothing but a guess, and something I would save for in the future if I found it was best suited for my needs.

ChrisN said:
You can buy and process a lot of film for the price of an X100.
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My thought exactly.
 
Still film is expensive, and is an ongoing investment. Most good quality labs are quite costly, I recently developed some c41 at BigW and every single frame was scratched across. Just remember to factor that into your budget.
 
crispy12 said:
Still film is expensive, and is an ongoing investment. Most good quality labs are quite costly, I recently developed some c41 at BigW and every single frame was scratched across. Just remember to factor that into your budget.
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This is also another fear I have with film. I have no other means of developing my film, and I have no possible dark room available to me, nor a space to create one for myself. Let alone learn everything about it.
 
McFlurry said:
This is also another fear I have with film. I have no other means of developing my film, and I have no possible dark room available to me, nor a space to create one for myself. Let alone learn everything about it.
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If you have a scanner on a computer, you can shoot black & white and develop it yourself for not much money, and scan the results in. B&W development is easy to learn: if I can do it, anyone can do it. Development costs go from several dollars a roll to several cents.
 
A couple of points from my personal experience:

I know that everyone's different, but I caught the rangefinder bug a few years ago and dipped my toe in the water with a Minolta Hi-Matic 9 and a Canon QL17 GIII. They're great cameras and I still use them occasionally, but I soon came to the realisation that I enjoyed using my Pentax Spotmatic SLR kit better. The moral of this story is that I'm glad I tested the rangefinder waters with cheaper examples rather than jumping straight in to a Leica.

Secondly, I wholeheartedly agree with the recommendation above to develop your own black and white negatives. In fact, that's half the fun of film photography. You don't need a darkroom. All you need is a change bag to load the film into the tank; a developing tank; the chemicals; and a few other odds and ends like measuring beakers; and you're set. After that initial investment the ongoing costs are quite cheap, and it really is a lot of fun and very fulfilling to see your own photos come to life. You'll then need a scanner for the negatives, but that's a one-off investment too if you don't have one already.
 
crispy12 said:
Still film is expensive, and is an ongoing investment. Most good quality labs are quite costly, I recently developed some c41 at BigW and every single frame was scratched across. Just remember to factor that into your budget.
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Similarly, depreciation on digital gear is expensive.


McFlurry said:
This is also another fear I have with film. I have no other means of developing my film, and I have no possible dark room available to me, nor a space to create one for myself. Let alone learn everything about it.
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As others have said, a darkroom is not necessary. For years I developed my film in the kitchen or the laundry. You need only a changing bag for loading film into your tank. About $70 should buy you all you need if you shop around carefully. A good scanner will be needed if you want to make prints, or settle for a cheap scanner for web-images and proofing, and get the best negs scanned professionally for making files for printing.
 
Thanks for the info on B&W shooting. I'm going to be researching this myself, but do you folks have any links to what you believe to be a good source of info on it? Maybe even a possible link to another thread on these forums. Thanks.
 
I agree with Chris. Ilford has some great information...



This particular Ilford guide on the link below was my "bible" when I first started out. The step-by-step guide starts at page 8...

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200629163442455.pdf

Using that guide as a starting point I made my own step-by-step guide to follow when developing, printed out on an A4 page. Over time I've personalised it a bit by adding and slightly changing things.

Here is another link I saved a long time ago which seems to have some good info too...

http://chromogenic.net/develop
 
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