35mm lens options for bodies I own

[santino]

The universal viewfinder is brighter than the fed 5b's and has no tint but the image is quite small (a bit smaller than the 5b's viewfinder).

 

[Ko.Fe.]

...
In terms of speed with the SLR, if you prefocus it's not too bad to look through and then you dont even need to use the microprism if rushed, if it looks okay at f2 its usually fine at f5.6-8.

F8 is too dark for me.
I took SLRs on the street few times. Find them to be extremely difficult for me to frame and focus. As I mentioned, I'm not into taking it slow, often I walk in and people are walking. With SLR I have to deal with VF blur as I walk and looking at my (often moving) object. In addition to mirror blackout it was making me disoriented.

Those were taken with Canon FTb (given to me for free) and $50 28mm f 2.8 Tamron lens (very good lens).

 

[oftheherd]

There are many besides Takumar that you can choose from, but I don't know what their availability is where you are. Yashinon, Tamron, Vivitar, Sigma, Chinon, and Tomioka to name a few. Many were made by Cosina. Just make sure they are M42, not Pentax K mount. Sometimes sellers don't know.

 

[hepcat]

Yeah, the rangefinder is another "trying to see what the fuss is" thing; also this is RFF. So far I prefer the SLR. Though it may just be the Fed isn't a particuarly good RF camera.

In terms of speed with the SLR, if you prefocus it's not too bad to look through and then you dont even need to use the microprism if rushed, if it looks okay at f2 its usually fine at f5.6-8.

A 35 is a 35 is a 35 in terms of field of view and DOF. Some are more fiddly than others... and honestly, pre-focusing and letting your DOF carry you would be the ONLY way to shoot the Fed and the J-12 in the street.

And you're right... I've had a number of Zorki 4k and Fed 5 bodies over the years just to play with, and I've never actually been able to bring myself to try to use them for anything serious. They'll take photos... but they're not well finished nor a pleasure to hold or use. I'd even go so far as to ask you not to judge rangefinder cameras as a genre by the Fed you have any more than I'd ask you to judge autos in general after driving a Yugo.

Regarding the SLR-RF body choice though, it really boils down to how you're comfortable shooting.

 

[it'sawhat?]

What's wrong with the 28mm? It should make a great street lens, since you already have it try it for awhile and if it feel too wide then a 35mm is probably the answer and the super Tak 35/3.5 is a very nice choice. I have the 28/3.5 super Tak the 49mm filter pre smc version and it is damn good.

 

[Carriage]

That's a good point. It's harder to get really close though.

 

[David Hughes]

A 35 is a 35 is a 35 in terms of field of view and DOF. Some are more fiddly than others... and honestly, pre-focusing and letting your DOF carry you would be the ONLY way to shoot the Fed and the J-12 in the street.

And you're right... I've had a number of Zorki 4k and Fed 5 bodies over the years just to play with, and I've never actually been able to bring myself to try to use them for anything serious. They'll take photos... but they're not well finished nor a pleasure to hold or use. I'd even go so far as to ask you not to judge rangefinder cameras as a genre by the Fed you have any more than I'd ask you to judge autos in general after driving a Yugo.

Regarding the SLR-RF body choice though, it really boils down to how you're comfortable shooting.

Oh dear; one of the smoothest sweetest running cameras I've got is the FED 4 but just don't ask about the meter as it was DOA and has been ever since. Strangely enough I spent a lot of time this morning trying to decide which FED or Zorki to use next out of the lever winding ones and still can't decide between the Zorki 6 and FED 4.

The Zorki being smaller and neater but the FED has the nicer feel to the lever wind. Having said that I'd only use them with a 50mm lens.

Regards, David

 

[Carriage]

While we're on the topic of how I should spend my money, what camera would you recommend that has all the features that make rangefinders rangefinders. I'm under the impression that the Fed isn't actually giving me many of the advantages that you'd expect from looking through a separate optical viewfinder. Either that or I prefer SLRs. I don't care about having a working meter.

I had a look at fixed lens RFs and the ones with manual override seemed rather expensive and less ergonomic.