Help me choose a film RF

[ampguy]

After viewing many hundreds of photos taken with film in 2006-2010, I've decided I want a film camera again.

Really don't care about name or brand that much, but a small RF would be great. I like the M6s, but hate the reliability, always had to pay a few hundred for repairs. Is an M4-P or M4 the way to go?

Where's a good place to get a used one with warranty, KEH?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Small RF is Leica IIIf. Less expensive in service than any M.

 

[fraley]

The M7 has aperture priority which can be very useful.

 

[CameraQuest]

Nikon Rangefinders are quite simply more trouble free than Leica film rangefinders.

Take a good look at the Nikon S2 Black dial. Great with a 50, and you always have the option of other lenses.

Stephen

 

[Veggies]

Is fixed lens off the table? If not, the Olympus 35RD is a great piece of kit. Also, if you want medium format, the Fuji rangefinders are great too.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I agree that from the standpoint of reliability, without an already existing collection of lenses, a Nikon S2 would be just about perfect.

I've owned two S2 bodies and both were bought largely sight unseen, one with a 5cm lens, the other without a lens. Both hit the ground running and worked perfectly. I kept the one I got with a lens for a few years and sold the other one with a J-12 to a classmate. That camera still is used regularly and still works perfectly. I can't speak for the other that I sold to a member here on RFF.

The SP was my favorite rangefinder camera but that's a slippery slope. I had an S2 and SP at the same time. 5cm f/1.4 on the S2 and usually the 3.5cm f/1.8 or 10.5cm f/2.5 on the SP.
The later (majority of) SP models had titanium shutters like the Nikon F which were impervious to pinholes from the sun but could wrinkle.

Every Barnack Leica I have ever owned (four bodies total) has had to have an immediate CLA and two of them have had to have curtains replaced first thing. They are great little cameras with a collapsible Elmar. Fully professional level 35mm cameras and a system to back them up but they do take more maintenance than the Nikons.

If I were to get another Barnack these days it would be a Tower 5 (Nicca 5L). Loading like an M Leica, winder lever. The best of both worlds.

There are a lot of choices out there and you can't go wrong with many of them as long as you take care of that maintenance that many need.

Phil Forrest

 

[Roger Hicks]

It always puzzles me how many people have/ have had unreliable Leicas. In almost 50 years of using the things I doubt I've had ten repairs.

The real enemy of old Leicas is gumming up from lack of use. Well, that and cheap'n'nasty "CLAs": see Leicaphilia on my old .com site, about half way down.

Cheers,

R.

 

[farlymac]

Before you drop a lot of money on a high end camera, maybe you could give one of the fixed lens models a go, just to see if you will really like using a rangefinder.

Ricoh, Konica, Yashica, Canon, Minolta, and others made some nice cameras, even some with 35mm lenses. They came in non-metered, uncoupled meter, coupled meter, aperture priority, shutter priority, just about any type you could imagine. Choose from a standard size body, or compact.

PF

 

[Sumarongi]

It always puzzles me how many people have/ have had unreliable Leicas. In almost 50 years of using the things I doubt I've had ten repairs.

The real enemy of old Leicas is gumming up from lack of use. Well, that and cheap'n'nasty "CLAs": see Leicaphilia on my old .com site, about half way down.

Exactly -- unfortunately, too many Americans have *CLA* apparently in their genes, like *put everything into the clothes dryer*, *make your meal in the microwave*, and so on ...

 

[David Hughes]

One of the differences between Nikon and the Barnacks could just be the age of the cameras. Many of us are shooting with 30's Leicas and it seems reasonable, to me at least, that they might just need a bit of attention from time to time.

Regards, David

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

I think the majority of CLA's are done because we are churning cameras and don't know the condition of what we are buying, so send it off the tech for good measure.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

It always puzzles me how many people have/ have had unreliable Leicas. In almost 50 years of using the things I doubt I've had ten repairs.

The real enemy of old Leicas is gumming up from lack of use. Well, that and cheap'n'nasty "CLAs": see Leicaphilia on my old .com site, about half way down.

Cheers,

R.

One repair every five years...

I don't know why it is like this. M3 ELC DS I had was with original C seal.
Yet, Fred Herzog told how his M3 broke numerous times back then.

My fifteen+ years old EOS 300 still works without repairs.

 

[seany65]

From personal experience I can't recommend Agfa Ambi Silettes at all.

 

[View Range]

To continue the apples and oranges comparison, my Leica M8 is approaching 12 years old still without repairs. (It is a Lot 2 camera.) But my Nikon S2 does need a CLA because the slow speeds are inconsistent. My Nikon F had to be repaired twice. And I had to have my Nikon F3 repaired once for a mirror angle adjustment. Based on totally random hearsay evidence, Leicas are more reliable.

 

[Guth]

I used to pay more attention to reliability ranking for cars. Where can you find camera reliability ratings and how is this measured — do they go by number of images/rolls of film shot per repair incident or something similar?

 

[splitimageview]

Pick up a Canonet. I have a few laying around, all serviced and ready to go...the entire camera would cost less than a Leica CLA.

 

[lynnb]

If you can live with shooting without a meter, a CL with 40mm M-Rokkor or Summicron might fit the bill. Smaller than an M. The meters can be unreliable.

 

[maddoc]

Leica M4-2 would be my recommendation. That or the Leica M7 with optical DX reader and MP-style VF.

 

[aizan]

what's your budget?

 

[ampguy]

Thanks for all the comments. I have used most of those mentioned except the Nikon RFs. My M8 did last several years with no issues. The M4P was OK, M6's needed CLA's, and upgraded non flare VFs. I'm done with fixed lens.

Here's the thing, I think I want an M mount, as I will probably want a V3, V4, or asph 35/2 cron as I've had before. Also, I want a 35 or 50 with absolutely no distortion. I don't want to edit my photos, and to be honest, I see distortion in almost all non cron lenses, including CVs, and even some summilux, and noctilux lens I've had.

If you have an M6 and you shoot hundreds of rolls a month, I'm very surprised if you've never had issues. M7 is too electronicy for me. M4-2s, aren't those cheaply made?