Dang prices for RDs & SPs

btgc said:
Don't know if 1.6 makes any difference to 1.8 lens, though 1.6 versions has hot shoe, if flash is often mounted on.
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Good point, I forgot about that. I actually do find it useful. One warning, however: the Auto S2 and S16 are pretty big. About as big as my OM-2n, but without a pentaprism.
 
A different POV

A different POV

Mablo said:
Congrats on your Hi-Matic and SP. Both were bargains. Noone ever uses the spotmeter on SP anyway.
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When I had my SP (which I now regret selling) I used the spot meter all the time. It was accurate and provided what I considered better 'advice' regarding the exposures I chose.

YMMV (and Mablo yours apparently does! 😉)/ScottGee1

BTW, my name is not Earl! 😀
 
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scottgee1 said:
When I had my SP (which I now regret selling) I used the spot meter all the time. It was accurate and provided what I considered better 'advice' regarding the exposures I chose.

YMMV (and Mablo yours apparently does! 😉)/ScottGee1

BTW, my name is not Earl! 😀
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Me too - the spot meter works well.

Incidentally, my Oly RC cost £12 and the SP £25. There used to be many fixed lens RFs coming throught he classifieds at bargain prices, somehwat more Leica/Bessa?Nikon flavour now.

Some of the other less glamorous/cheaper cameras to look out for: Olympus 35LC, Vivitar 35ES (my favourite), Konica Auto S2, Canonet 25, Petri 7S, many Minolta Himatics.
 
Success?

Success?

Success has consequences . . . this site and Cameraquest may have a lot to do with the increase in demand for 'classic' RFs.

eekbay auctions often link to Stephen's reviews.
 
Just this once . . .

Just this once . . .

Well done Mablo; we'll waive the fines for your past offenses and credit you with time served.

😉
 
btgc said:
....
Petri 7s looks and feels cheap and yet it has BEST shutter release, it's literally feather-like. Yes, better than Lynx has, not mentioning cameras with heavy-and-slow-moving releases to engage AE levers.

Just use what you have got and they will be good picture takers.
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It's nice and smooth, until you wind it with that loud "clunk"! I don't think it seems cheap at all. It seems pretty robust. But, yeah, it seems to have a sharp fast lens and the bokeh looks pretty good too; I need to use it some more before drawing too many conclusions, but my biggest beef with it is its size -- quality-wise, I think it's great. And I don't have to worry about batteries.

I'd rather have an RD or SP more for the newer features and smaller size, but I doubt that the quality difference would amount to much. Well, hard to justify $100. But it seems to me that several months ago, SPs could be had for less than that, so it does seem that the going price has gone up.

I think the demand for certain models just emphasizes that people do value the smaller size of some models. The Petri 7s just isn't going to be popular with its manual metered approach. I don't care for that much myself, as I still make too many errors, but I can see where a more traditional photographer would feel fine with it.

As for the RC, what else is as small, and has both manual and metered (shutter-priority in this case) modes?

Just before I first started looking at rangefinders, apparently Ken Rockwell came out with an article praising the RC. The prices, perhaps coincidentally, went higher. Meanwhile, not seeing KR's article, I read other articles about how cheap the RC was and what a good bang-for-the-buck it was, but yet I didn't see those cheap prices! Four months too late, I guess! :bang: But then I picked up and old junky one with some minor flaws for cheap, so it's not so bad. Even crappy-looking cameras can manage to make beautiful photos. 😀

Anyway, there are alternative bang-for-the-buck choices if you are willing to compromise here and there.
 
vidgamer said:
It's nice and smooth, until you wind it with that loud "clunk"! I don't think it seems cheap at all. It seems pretty robust. But, yeah, it seems to have a sharp fast lens and the bokeh looks pretty good too; I need to use it some more before drawing too many conclusions, but my biggest beef with it is its size -- quality-wise, I think it's great. And I don't have to worry about batteries.
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I agree - winding department on Petri 7s is somehow distracting, and that "clunk" makes whole business looking like it has internal error, though it's by design. I had wrote how to silence it a bit.

Also agree on lens, it compensates what I called cheap feeling. Turn aperture and speed rings, material for me doesn't look too solid, and feeling when speed ring is turned, also lacks smoothness. Everything works, just like cheaper built car moves you from place A to place B.

Viewfinder has nice contrast, guess because of green sheet over RF window, that's called Green-O-Matic; I like VF a lot, just RF patch isn't large enough, though still usable.

I don't have Petri Color to compare build quality, though owners report it's more solid built than 7s model. For me it's like Yashica Lynx models feel more substantial than full-sized Electros, later GSN especially. World changed, companies had to make cameras cheaper, nothing extraordinary here.

To add on Oly, beater 35RC is my only Olympus RF camera. I like it's size, off-the-top multi-pass advance lever, and how pictures come out.

Shutter release gets improved a lot by release attachment.
Aperture ring is too narrow and too close to body, because Auto mode were designated as general way to use camera. Thus shutter speed knob was designed to be accessed easy and fast as main exposure control.

Don't know if it's only my camera, though focus ring on front on lens can easily turned off position. I'd like focus ring to be more dampened.
It's nice carry around camera, if I don't need large apertures or slow speeds.
 
btgc said:
Don't know if it's only my camera, though focus ring on front on lens can easily turned off position. I'd like focus ring to be more dampened.
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Seems to be no bug but a feature - I have 2 RC's doing that. I'd like it more damped, too.

But otherwise they are fine cameras, very good lens and pretty accurate AE.
 
Don't forget the thrift/opshop/charity stores. I've got most of my rangefinders from there and the best thing is you can see they have come straight from the original owners and have not been "hacked" with as some of my evilbay specimens have been. Oly RC $20, Yashica CC $10, Canon GIIIQL17 $10, Yashica Lynx 14 $10 - all working perfect.
On the Oly side, there is also the EC and the DC, both electro types though and no manual controls. Nice though.
These rangefinders have a charm and seductive appeal of their own thats hard to explain (gulp).
An OM-1, I concede is often the more practical choice. But then more so is the Canon G9, and then to my Nokia with a Zeiss in it.
There's something else involved but I'm not sure what it is.
 
elwrongo said:
Don't forget the thrift/opshop/charity stores. I've got most of my rangefinders from there and the best thing is you can see they have come straight from the original owners and have not been "hacked" with as some of my evilbay specimens have been. Oly RC $20,
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Sounds good, but I've had poor luck at thift stores. Finally found something, but seems broken-- had better luck elsewhere. Oh well. Maybe someone else around here is more persistent than I am?

...
These rangefinders have a charm and seductive appeal of their own thats hard to explain (gulp).
An OM-1, I concede is often the more practical choice. But then more so is the Canon G9, and then to my Nokia with a Zeiss in it.
There's something else involved but I'm not sure what it is.
Click to expand...

I guess I can't say I'm "seduced", but I am fascinated. Although it seems to me that a digital replacement should be possible, I'm not sure that the g9 is it. Close?
 
akarin said:
Well...another record breaking price. $286!!!
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hm...it's just one of those FL RF with sub-f2 lens. I wonder. But I like this, this means I could sell some of my cameras.

Look at frontal picture, does aperture just looks without a blade or two?
 
4359563953_ffa6de0b4d.jpg


I could sell mine.
 
I've a tale of my own for this thread!

Was in Paris last year browsing along boulevard beaumarchais, you can't walk 10 metres without walking into a camera shop full of film cameras. I was looking for something cheap and cheerful and probably overpaid for the Olympus pen EE-2 I bought.

Anyway, while hunting I had a look at a 35RD and the store owner asked if I wanted to make an offer "it is fully guaranteed, fully refurbished, €375 is my price but make me an offer"

I politely declined!

I also managed to get an Olympus 35DC recently on the bay for €55 🙂
 
I foolishly missed out on a 35RD on Epay recently that went for £27 with a sticky shutter - I should have bid a little more...!

There are bargains out there - just keep looking.
 
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