How about a rangefinder for your rangefinder?

[CP93]

New adapter from Reveni lets you mount a small laser rangefinder to your camera.

Rveni Labs made a special holder that adapts a portable laser rangefinder device to film cameras.

Zone focusing isn’t difficult, but if you’d prefer to have *laser focus* with your manual film camera, there’s now an affordable way to do this. Reveni Labs, a Canadian startup that manufactures film camera accessories, made a holder with a mirror that lets you clip a small laser rangefinder...

www.analog.cafe

 

[WoodallP]

I have the Reflx labs one which just sticks forward and doesn’t have the mirror system, and find it very good for inside calibration work, but very hard to use above 3-4 metres outside. Once you have a lot of sunlight, a small target and rough surfaces you don’t see where the dot has fallen. For cameras without an RF a simple optical one (I like the Voigtlanders) are much easier to use.

 

[Coldkennels]

I've been ranting about this a bit in some threads on Mastodon for the last 24 hours or so. A brief summary, in points:

• What's the one thing you try to focus on when photographing people? The eyes. Where should you definitely not shine a laser? The eyes.
• I notice Reveni have included a small warning on the underside of the housing warning about the aforementioned eye thing, but I'd be very, very wary of just randomly pointing a laser around "in the wild" in case I accidentally hit something or someone with it.
• Can laser rangefinders measure distance correctly through glass? Last I checked, no.
• Vintage optical rangefinders are cheap and plentiful - and I'd trust them a lot more than a cheap Chinese-made laser rangefinder.
• I've never needed to recharge a FOKOS. Or even a Soviet BLIK. I don't like the idea of having yet another thing to have to remember to recharge... especially when there are perfectly useable much better battery-free alternatives.

So, yeah. This is a huge swing-and-a-miss for me. And it bums me out that people might buy these because they have absolutely no idea that optical accessory rangefinders are a thing!

 

[WoodallP]

I've been ranting about this a bit in some threads on Mastodon for the last 24 hours or so. A brief summary, in points:

• What's the one thing you try to focus on when photographing people? The eyes. Where should you definitely not shine a laser? The eyes.
• I notice Reveni have included a small warning on the underside of the housing warning about the aforementioned eye thing, but I'd be very, very wary of just randomly pointing a laser around "in the wild" in case I accidentally hit something or someone with it.
• Can laser rangefinders measure distance correctly through glass? Last I checked, no.
• Vintage optical rangefinders are cheap and plentiful - and I'd trust them a lot more than a cheap Chinese-made laser rangefinder.
• I've never needed to recharge a FOKOS. Or even a Soviet BLIK. I don't like the idea of having yet another thing to have to remember to recharge... especially when there are perfectly useable much better battery-free alternatives.

So, yeah. This is a huge swing-and-a-miss for me. And it bums me out that people might buy these because they have absolutely no idea that optical accessory rangefinders are a thing!

Mine (Reflx) is basically a super small laser measure with a shoe stuck on (I think the Reveni uses similar). It is however accurate according to my 2m wooden stick (everyone should have one, the stick that is) so it is good for calibrating at 3, 4 and 5m inside when aiming at a piece of paper. It’s handy for checking Isolette/Record III rangefinders (as is having a visible block of flats at 2km). I certainly wouldn’t use it when shooting. I tried once with a bad-mirror Barnack, that was enough.

 

[Coldkennels]

It’s handy for checking Isolette/Record III rangefinders (as is having a visible block of flats at 2km).

This sentence just makes me miss the days of living in a house that had a long view over a Cornish harbour to a dry dock 2-3km away - it was perfect for checking rangefinders regardless of the time of day or the weather. Now I have to wait for a clear sky and a good moon!

 

[CP93]

I've been ranting about this a bit in some threads on Mastodon for the last 24 hours or so. A brief summary, in points:

• What's the one thing you try to focus on when photographing people? The eyes. Where should you definitely not shine a laser? The eyes.
• I notice Reveni have included a small warning on the underside of the housing warning about the aforementioned eye thing, but I'd be very, very wary of just randomly pointing a laser around "in the wild" in case I accidentally hit something or someone with it.
• Can laser rangefinders measure distance correctly through glass? Last I checked, no.
• Vintage optical rangefinders are cheap and plentiful - and I'd trust them a lot more than a cheap Chinese-made laser rangefinder.
• I've never needed to recharge a FOKOS. Or even a Soviet BLIK. I don't like the idea of having yet another thing to have to remember to recharge... especially when there are perfectly useable much better battery-free alternatives.

So, yeah. This is a huge swing-and-a-miss for me. And it bums me out that people might buy these because they have absolutely no idea that optical accessory rangefinders are a thing!

Some excellent points, thank you.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I've been ranting about this a bit in some threads on Mastodon for the last 24 hours or so. A brief summary, in points:

• What's the one thing you try to focus on when photographing people? The eyes. Where should you definitely not shine a laser? The eyes.
• I notice Reveni have included a small warning on the underside of the housing warning about the aforementioned eye thing, but I'd be very, very wary of just randomly pointing a laser around "in the wild" in case I accidentally hit something or someone with it.
• Can laser rangefinders measure distance correctly through glass? Last I checked, no.
• Vintage optical rangefinders are cheap and plentiful - and I'd trust them a lot more than a cheap Chinese-made laser rangefinder.
• I've never needed to recharge a FOKOS. Or even a Soviet BLIK. I don't like the idea of having yet another thing to have to remember to recharge... especially when there are perfectly useable much better battery-free alternatives.

So, yeah. This is a huge swing-and-a-miss for me. And it bums me out that people might buy these because they have absolutely no idea that optical accessory rangefinders are a thing!

It is Canadian company. But wild territory by now. Not too long time ago they had locals pointing lasers at plane cabins while planes were approaching Pearson. So, dude with 3D printer in the mama's basement is most likely clueless.

Totally idiot's idea.

I had regular lights operated RF on the Graflex Anniversary, btw.

 

[wlewisiii]

I had regular lights operated RF on the Graflex Anniversary, btw.

Hmm... Yeah, of course. Hadn't thought about it, but it would work. I had a Century Graphic but same difference. Get it set to the lens, put the lights at top and bottom... 🙂

 

[ranger9]

Not to detour everyone's dudgeon, but is this gizmo a "laser" sensor or a "time-of-flight" sensor (as used in the Mint Rollei 35AF and various Huawei and Oppo phones)? TOF sensors use a short-pulsed near IR laser and generally meet Class 1 eye safety standards. After I read about the Mint camera, I couldn't help thinking this technology might make a good auxiliary rangefinder for scale-focusing cameras...

 

[WoodallP]

It is Canadian company. But wild territory by now. Not too long time ago they had locals pointing lasers at plane cabins while planes were approaching Pearson. So, dude with 3D printer in the mama's basement is most likely clueless.

Totally idiot's idea.

I had regular lights operated RF on the Graflex Anniversary, btw.

I think a reasonable view is that this is a solution that is not very well adapted to real world photography, but has it's niche uses. Reveni are always trying to find ways of giving more to the community and I applaud them (him) for this. There have been at least two other companies producing similar, the below one is combined with a light meter and the difficulty of use is clear, though it is effective in some circumstances:



Shooting and golfing laser rangefinders are built for the job and include optics to help you see the point, but they are much bigger, whereas these are just for measuring room sizes etc. I suppose if you are about to be hit by a bullet or a golf ball, a low power laser spot is the least of your worries 🤣

 

[Coldkennels]

Not to detour everyone's dudgeon, but is this gizmo a "laser" sensor or a "time-of-flight" sensor (as used in the Mint Rollei 35AF and various Huawei and Oppo phones)?

No, they're not "LIDAR". They're old-school "laser" pointers, in effect. You need to be able to see the dot and know where it's pointing to get an accurate reading, too - not the easiest task in a lot of scenarios.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I think a reasonable view is that this is a solution that is not very well adapted to real world photography, but has it's niche uses. Reveni are always trying to find ways of giving more to the community and I applaud them (him) for this. There have been at least two other companies producing similar, the below one is combined with a light meter and the difficulty of use is clear, though it is effective in some circumstances:



Shooting and golfing laser rangefinders are built for the job and include optics to help you see the point, but they are much bigger, whereas these are just for measuring room sizes etc. I suppose if you are about to be hit by a bullet or a golf ball, a low power laser spot is the least of your worries 🤣

I have been in the bullers flying zone. Have you been into it to dare to goof at me?

Safety of Class 2 visible-beam lasers FIY.

 

[WoodallP]

As a related aside, I was putting a Leica II back together today after a ribbon change and had to reset the rangefinder after loosening up the seized adjusting screw. I decided to use my Reflx laser rangefinder for close (1-4m) calibration and realised that as well as accurately measuring distance the projected red dot is perfect for aligning he Leica rangefinder, as I just have to make sure that I have one dot and not two in the window. If I have one dot in the Leica RF and the Reflx RF measurement is the same as the lens (for a known good lens) all is good.

So these things can be really useful but I still wouldn’t use them out in the field.

Now I just have to worry about the cardboard shim, clearly made from packaging materials, under the lens mount. It was a conversion 57XXX, but I find it hard to believe that the cardboard is Leica’s doing back in the 30’s. But that is another story for a sunny day when I can test it.