Budget rangefinder options

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Sam S

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Hello everyone, I'm sorry if this is a consistently asked question. I am looking to get a rangefinder for under £75. I don't have many requirements, it just has to be easy to use on the street; so a lightmeter would be handy. A fixed focal length is perfectly fine and I don't need a very fast lens. Please share any recommendations you have, thanks.
 
I like the Ricoh 500 (no meter but has a nice bottom-mounted trigger wind) and the Ricoh 500G (with meter), both fixed-lens cameras. The 500 should be easy to find in your price range, good 500G's would likely be more. Plus, if you're looking at metered cameras from that era, there's a good chance that the meter either won't work or won't be accurate (and it will likely use the old PX625 batteries). If it were me, I'd opt for the Ricoh 500 and get yourself a modern hand-held meter or possibly a shoe-mount meter.

Another one that comes to mind is the Minolta 7s.
 
I recommend the Konica Auto S2. Has a meter, a stunningly sharp lens and can be found pretty readily.


If it hasn't been serviced, it will usually need the viewfinder cleaned (but oh! what a view when it's clear!)
 
It is super easy.
Put your price in search at eBay for rangefinder camera.
Make sure you select Sold and only listings.
Note which rangefinders are made in Japan.
Google about them and ask, if needed, more specific questions.

You are looking at some Canonets and such. Mercury battery and so on.
Be prepared to have them for not very long before they crap out.

My advice is not be so low on price and get made in Japan LTM clone of Leica or Canon P.
Those are free of old electronic and will last longer, much more serviceable.
Get J-12 low cost lens for P and it is ultimate film street machine.

Also from my almost ten years street on film daily experience, Nikon EM with wide Vivitar lens is just as good; if not better. And it is low cost kit, with way better than in old RFs electronics.
 
Though Ko. Fe. tends to have rather strong opinions with which many don't agree, I am totally in agreement here. Canonets etc. were made for the amateur market, and just don't have the toughness or reliability of the Barnack clones. The battery issue is not insurmountable, but the ageing meters often aren't trustworthy. The CdS cells of that era just didn't have the uniform spectral response of modern meters as well.
If a meter is a must, the inexpensive Doomo clone of the Voigtlander VC meter is a true bargain at about $115. Works great; I have one.
 
Canonets or Olympus 35 series will suit you. Minolta HiMatic series is also nice depending on your taste. If you want more of a system camera in a budget look for the Soviet RF. Their glass is excellent.
 
I prefer not to have a meter in my film cameras, generally. It's easy enough for me to meter for a scene with an iPhone app or with a hand-held meter, set the reading, and then tweak it as I'm walking about by eye and guess.

My choice for an inexpensive RF camera nowadays is the Kodak Retina IIc. I've been out shooting quite a lot with a slightly higher end Retina IIIc model that cost me about $40. It has some damage (the meter doesn't work and the top cover is bashed in such that the accessory shoe is unusable) but works just fine regardless.

G
 
Minolta Hi Matic F (as shown in my avatar as of time posting) is a nice automatic-only camera which is small and light weight. But like many other affordable cameras, they were often bought by casual users who were equally casual with their maintenance, so check for obvious signs of neglect, like battery leakage and fungus.

Original batteries were obsolete mercury types, but a pair of 1.5V LR44s plus home-made battery adapter sleeves work well.
 
Since the Canonet QL 17 has achieved cult-like status, prices are out of your range. Lesser Canonets, such as a Canonet QL 28, are less than 75 pounds. Pretty much the same camera as the QL 17, but with a slower lens. Mercury battery though (or equivalent).

Jim B.
 
The Ricoh 500 is a solid choice. Tamioka-supplied Ricomat lenses in early Ricoh rangefinders have a near-cult status in Japan.
 
Ko.Fe. said:
It is super easy.
Put your price in search at eBay for rangefinder camera.
Make sure you select Sold and only listings.
Note which rangefinders are made in Japan.
Google about them and ask, if needed, more specific questions.

You are looking at some Canonets and such. Mercury battery and so on.
Be prepared to have them for not very long before they crap out.

My advice is not be so low on price and get made in Japan LTM clone of Leica or Canon P.
Those are free of old electronic and will last longer, much more serviceable.
Get J-12 low cost lens for P and it is ultimate film street machine.

Also from my almost ten years street on film daily experience, Nikon EM with wide Vivitar lens is just as good; if not better. And it is low cost kit, with way better than in old RFs electronics.
Click to expand...

All great suggestions - I particularly like the eBay search suggestion.
 
Look for a Canon QL17……this is a great camera. A sharp fast f1.7 40mm lens with a built in meter, a quick loading film feature and a very quite leaf shutter. I have used one for years without complaint.
 
My first Rangefinder is (I still have it) the Minolta HiMatic 9. I've cleaned the viewfinder twice, bought it in 1969. The Meter uses old 1.35v Mercury cells, but 1.5v replacements can be used. The camera has full-auto exposure using the meter, and full manual exposure with the meter indicating exposure. 45mm F1.7 lens is sharp, and the viewfinder is auto-parallax corrected. These cameras are in your price range.

The Konica Auto S2 is comparable.
 
If you're looking for portability and reliability, but can eschew using a meter, then a Kodak Retina IIa is very hard to beat, once they have been serviced. A Leotax K or Fed would be a great small rangefinder as well.

After that, take Kostya's advice and look it up on ebay. You could do a lot worse than invest a bit more and pick up a camera like a Pentax MX with 50mm f/1.7 lens, or Olympus OM-2n with a similar lens. Both are the size of screwmount rangefinders, have excellent meters, can be repaired into the 23rd century, and are extraordinarily reliable.

The days of the working thrift store camera at a thrift store price are long gone. I regularly see Olympus XA, Canonets, Nikon L35AF go for up to $200 USD on SGW, so you're simply not going to find them unless you have a relative who wants to give you their gear.

If you have to have a light meter, get a Gossen Luna Pro, the Gossen battery adapter, and use it for the rest of your life. You're not going to find a rangefinder with a working light meter for a bargain. You *might* be able to find two of those three criteria, but no longer all three in one camera. These days, all the fixed lens, compact rangefinders or point and shoots should be considered disposable, unless a person is willing to put some real money into getting them serviced. None of them ever had a great light meter to begin with, only decent when they were brand new.

Phil Forrest
 
The other Minolta that I picked up recently- The Minolta AL-E. About the same size as the Canonet QL17l and GIII.

Shutter-preferred auto, with full manual exposure. 40mm F1.8 lens, closer to the Canonet.
 
Alternative that I haven't seen anyone recommend - the Yashica Electro is an excellent option. Aperture priority, 45mm 1.7 lens that is really very good, and a clear viewfinder with a great rangefinder patch. 0.7m close focus so you can get nice, frame-filling portraits. Downside is that it's *only* aperture priority, but that's not much of a downside. Runs on a single battery that's not too hard to find, and one will last you ages (I used mine for 18 months without ever changing the batter).

Can be had cheaply if you keep an eye out.
 
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