Canon 7 Advice

[Sonnar Brian]

Congratulations on the Canon 7 and 35 f2! That was a "steal". I wonder why the person who bought the $10 F0.95 did not scoop it up as well. I hope that lens is not just a paperweight or magnifying glass.

The Canon 50mm F1.8 is very sharp, perhaps the sharpest, of the Canon 50's. They are also the most common and inexpensive. Look for one without haze, as often happens to the coated surfaces on each side of the aperture. It can "usually" be cleaned, but if it was there for a very long time it can etch the coating. You are looking at $100~$150 for this lens. It looks small on the Canon 7. The next step up is the 50mm F1.4, look at $200~$250.

It is amazing with Ebay and internet access how some "steals" like this pop up. Makes spending time in antique shops and estate sales worthwhile; but bargains are farther and fewer between. I picked up a Nikon M unsync at a shop for under $500 in January, went back a few months ago and another dealer in the same court of shops had a second one for $30. With the 5cm F1.4 lens.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Speaking of kids, this is one I took of our friends' son. He was so darn cute. I'll take it down later. Wasn't taken with a rangefinder, though. I'm working on that. The photos in my gallery were taken with my Nikon FE before I really got a good rangefinder. Still old school, though. Manual focus. Gotta love it.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Well here is a shot with my Canon 7 with Nikkor 5cm F1.4, wide-open, of my kid. Metering done with the Selenium meter off of my hand after I crawled into the tunnel for a meter reading. Out of the tunnel, prefocussed and waited for her to climb into focus. My Avatar is also with the Canon 7, focussed on the prior cycle of the tire-swing. Push Tire, pre-focus, push tire, shoot.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I really like that photo. Can't wait until the Kid is old enough to go play on the slides and such. Next year he'll be 2. Should be tons of fun taking him to the park.

(Note: I'm living vicariously through them where he's concerned. If I go on with my plans, I won't get to have any of my own for a rather long time.)

 

[ScottS]

I purchased the accessory shoe with flash photography in mind. I didn't consider lenses wider than 35mm. How does the shoe mounting on the side of the camera affect rangefinding ability? When using lenses wider than 35mm, do you focus through the rangefinder and frame though the viewfinder?

I think that's a different accessory shoe than I was talking about. This sounds like the flash coupler (not sure of the official name) -- but the shoe mounts on the side. There's also the accessory coupler which places the accessory shoe in the normal place (above the meter read-out). This latter one is the hard-to-find expensive one. I think the flash coupler is a bit cheaper.

Look at this (just ended) auction -- the camera has one of these accessory couplers mounted. THe side-mounted flash coupler wouldn't work so well for accessory VFs.

Scott

 

[John Robertson]

Thanks for the info Scott, as we say in Scotland, Canon "took a long way round for a shortcut!!"

 

[ricpr]

Scott.....you are correct. I have the flash coupler and not the accessory shown in your link. Looks like a rare beast....I'll keep an eye out for it. Now some of the previous posts make more sense.