And my first RF should be a....

[vineyard7]

Hi everyone,
I'm about to purchase my first RF after having watched hundreds of really nice pics taken with them, and of course the selection process hasn't been easy!
Canon, Nikon, Yashica, Minolta, Olympus.... my budget doesn't allow me to consider something beyond 30, maybe 35 dlls, and I'd like to own a nice, well featured RF, as small and light as possible, and obviously with a nice lens and a not so hard to find or adapt battery...
Any suggestion will be welcomed and of vital importance to clear my mind!
Thank you all guys.

 

[arseniii]

Start off with Canonet QL17, need to look for a deal cauz they are popular! But be careful RFs are addictive!!! Sonner you will want a Bessa and later may be Zeiss Ikon and most likely you will end up with MP in a couple of years 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

All the manual Konicas I have ever encountered have had excellent lenses and better-than-average rangefinders.

Cheers,

R.

 

[payasam]

The major manufacturers were in competition with one another, and they all made models with pretty much similar specifications and of equivalent quality. Better than a search for a particular brand might be a search for a camera in good condition. You are already aware of possible battery problems.

 

[rxmd]

I second Payasam, who has sound advice as always. The differences between these cameras are fairly minor. Don't get hung up on particular models.

Where are you located?

 

[sture]

I highly recommend the Minolta Hi-Matic 7 S II. I use this camera for about 2 1/2 years now and i'm still happy with it. As a poor student i cannot afford a m6 or zeiss ikon, so i use this little gem.
You can still get batteries for it, but you may also use it without the meter (using the sunny 16 rule).
The lens is very sharp - you can visit my photoblog (http://thomaskockmann.tk/) to see some samples.
Some facts about the Hi-Matic here: http://rokkorfiles.com/7SII.htm

Cheers,
Thomas