Does anyone here prefer scale focus cameras over rangefinders?

M

MarylandBill

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I am just curious, I know that cameras like the Rollei 35 and the Vito B can be very good cameras, but are there people here who prefer shooting with scale focus cameras over a rangefinder?

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Bill
 
I have one scale-focus camera, a Zeiss Ikon Contina. It's small, the 40 or 45 mm lens is three elements and it's OK. Mechanics have a lovely smooth feel. Scale focus. I would *prefer* a focus aid of some kind, but I will use this camera occasionally as it is.

00Zj92-423775584.jpg


HP5+ Film, probably pretty close to wide open on the f/2.8 lens. Shutter speed probably 1/30 sec.
 
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I don't know that "prefer" is the way to describe it. I "prefer" to have the option if it is available. I do use scale focus for a lot of the images that I capture, but I also like to be able to focus on a specific item with the rangefinder for other types of work. I do have a couple folding cameras that have no rangefinder, and I do enjoy working with them. But it does take a different state of mind, "focus" if you will, to successfully work with them. You also have to be willing to accept that a lot of your images may look a little soft.

I do think however that the emphasis on image sharpness is probably a bit overdone. A lot of great images are not that sharp if you look real close, but they work anyway. But with that being said, I suspect that most of those type of images work best at smaller sizes. Enlarging too much emphasizes the softness and the impact can be lost. I have a few that I think look great at 4x6 or 5x7, but do not look very good if they are increased anymore than that.

When you look at it from that perspective scale focusing often produces very nice, extremely usable, images that you may not have captured if precise focus was attempted. But I still like the option of accurate range focusing as well, and I am pretty certain that is what pushed Leitz to introduce that improvement to the Leica pretty quickly after introducing it.
 
I don't know if it makes sense to prefer a scale focus camera, other than lower cost, and sometimes smaller size. But I do appreciate the worth of a scale focus camera. I scale focus a lot of my shots anyway. And I do really like useing my newer version of the Vito B because it has a larger, brighter viewfinder than I've seen on just about any other camera
 
i prefer them for the type of shooting i do. i dont have to worry so much about focusing since i normally zone focus anyways. the only thing i dont like about scale focus cameras is the lack of close focusing (closer than 3 feet) in most cases. thats why i have SLRs though.
 
Actually preferring scale over rangefinder focusing..? No, not in general. You can still scale focus with a rangefinder.

There are some very nice scale focusing cameras though, like the already mentioned Rollei 35. The Oly XA2/3/4 and the Minox 35 also come to mind. What they have in common is their diminuitive size. Stash them in a pocket with the lens set to 3.5m, pull them out and just point and shoot, that's one their two strengths.

Another big plus; scale focusers don't tempt you into riding the focus. The constant fiddling with the focus to get the RF patch to exactly line up, and miss that decisive moment in the process.
 
Actually rangefinders are extended scale focus cameras with option to focus by means of RF. And yes, non-exact focusing is true liberation! With RF or man. foc. SLR I've missed shots because of temptation to focus well.
 
pvdhaar said:
...Another big plus; scale focusers don't tempt you into riding the focus. The constant fiddling with the focus to get the RF patch to exactly line up, and miss that decisive moment in the process.
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A very good point, Peter!
 
You can use a RF camera like a scale focusing camera whenever you want to, but not vice versa.
 
FrankS said:
You can use a RF camera like a scale focusing camera whenever you want to, but not vice versa.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. You can do so with an SLR too, although it is more annoying since you won't be seeing the depth of field. I sometimes preset focus on one of my SLRs with a WLF and snap whenever what's in the frame looks good.

Here's a shot I took with my Ciro 35 RF, that I'd have missed if I bothered to try and focus with the rangefinder:
3640974415_5510ae5b2c.jpg

I just flipped the focus lever to the approximate distance on the scale as I brought the camera to my face, and caught the moment this guy gave a thumbs up.

You might think, well it's not a very good photo anyway - but think about it, half a second later I wouldn't have even got the thumbs up! It'd just be a blurred photo of a tandem bicycle.
 
Exactly right about SLRs! I often do this with wide angle lenses.

But I do like several scale focusing cameras, the Rollei 35 series for example.
 
At least I do prefer the use of my scale-focus lens (25/4 snapshot-skopar) over any other WA lenses...
 
While I love the small size and precision of some of the scale focus cameras, I learned early on that I really suck at guess focusing. I really want some kind of focusing aid.
 
Interesting responses so far :). The main reason I am asking is that I am in the process of getting a Rollei 35 so I can have a camera I can keep with me most of the time. That being said, the Rollei 35 seems to have a rather dedicated following and rather high prices compared to most fixed focus cameras.

Just curious, have there been any reasonably famous photographers who used a scale focus camera to take many of their best pictures.

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Bill
 
Hi,

I'll second the Olympus XA2 and XA3 for fast zone focussing; you can do it without thinking after a while. Plus there's the Trip 35 and Yashica 35-ME and a mass of folders...

Regards, David
 
Even though I didn't get along with the focusing, everyone should give a Rollei 35 a try. They are beautifully built, precision little cameras.
 
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