How did you get started in RF photography?

[richiedcruz]

I had given up on photography a while ago, after finding that I do not get along well with autofocus and, to a lesser degree, SLR's. One day, years later, I stumbled across a copy of The World of Henri Cartier Bresson at my local library and found myself keeping it for months pouring over the pictures. A couple of weeks of internet searches, and an Eb** account found me bidding and winning my first Argus C3. I have not looked back.

Richie

 

[amateriat]

For me, it was a case of "back to the future". My first 35mm camera was a Yashica 5000E Lynx in 1972, followed by an Electro 35 GTN a year or so later. Then, when I had a bit of money, I got a new Canon F-1, setting me on the SLR path for the next 25 years, with only a few minor but memorable detours (black Canonet GIII, Leica CL "50 Jahre", Konica Hexar autofocus), and finally the jump back to RFs with my pair of Hexar RFs starting in early 2002.

And the seasons
They go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies
Go up and down
We're captive
On a carousel of time

We can't return
We can only look
Behind from where we came
And go 'round and 'round and 'round
In the circle game


- Barrett

 

[ICU]

It been great reading all of your stories. I was curious because I had not even heard of rangefinders until a few years ago. When I was growing up my dad had a Kodak Instamatic 126 camera then a 110, then a disc and finally a 35mm P&S of some type . My uncle was the photographer in the family; I remember he had a folder, but I am not sure which one. Anyway, it caught my interest. When I was in high school I tried a K1000. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a few years ago that I acted on my interest in photography. I learned about rangefinders and knew I had to have one (at least,one).

 

[nyx]

I was in need of something lighter and smaller than my current gear and after missing one deal on hexar af, I ended with hexar rf (BIN on ebay, so quite impulse buy)...and I'm happily starving since then (while my lens collection is growing).

 

[petebown]

I used to use 35mm SLR (Nikon and Pentax) and medium format (Bronica) in the past and found the weight of all the kit was too much for me. My 35mm kit was getting out of control... When I upgraded my SLR kit to the latest autofocus Nikon with zoom lenses, I failed to produce any decent photos. My best work was pre-autofocus, when I had a manual Pentax many years ago.

I switched to a rangefinder in order to use high quality prime lenses, reduce the weight of my camera gear and get back to 'simple' photography. I wanted to be back in control of the camera.

I've since returned to SLR but insist on Leica primes now. My rangefinder kit is biased towards wide angle lenses, the SLR kit is biased towards telephoto.

 

[Sparrow]

My Dad got me a Yashica J for my tenth birthday, I can recall the smell if the leather and the texture of the little bag of silica-gel so clearly it’s hard to believe it is so long ago; had one or more ever since

 

[Terao]

Well, the first ever photo I took (at the age of about 5) was with my Dad's rangefinder (the Agfa Ambi Silette in my sig). That undoubtedly got me interested in photography (fascinated by the little green dot in the viewfinder and the gossen lightmeter) but my rangefinder use went on hold for 30 years. When I had enough cash to buy myself a decent camera I bought a Nikon SLR. I did look at RFs at the time but it was basically Leica, Contax, Minolta, or medium format stuff and they were more than double the price of an F80.

The whole Nikon experience (film and digital) always lacked something for me and I spent a load of money messing about with other stuff - medium format, endlessly torturing myself over going to digital, etc.

Finally the SLR lost the argument. My photography got stale and the camera stayed in the bag for months, so I was looking for a new challenge, and the R-D1 had been nagging away at the back of my mind for a couple of years. Finally I had enough money to spend on it so did, and now I have an R-D1, a Canon P on the way, and a huge pile of wonderful lenses. Oh and I've also just bought *whispers* a Nikon F3-HP for those occasional SLR requirements *whispers*

I feel my rangefinder obsession is enough to be strong enough in the face of the modern retro interloper. Were someone to make a fully manual digital SLR it might be a different matter...

 

[Spyderman]

I got into photography when I got a cheapo plastic-fantastic SLR for my 18th birthday. I built a set of a few lenses and flash, but it became to be too heavy and big... I was looking for something smaller I could carry with me all the time.

One day I saw a Canonet QL17 in a second-hand camera shop. I was wondering what that nice camera was... I searched the net and found Steve Gandy's site (Cameraquest) with rangefinder camera profiles. Read something about Canonet and bought it a few days later. I would keep it with me 24/7. And I was pretty much surprised how good the lens was compared to the SLR kit zooms

I kept searching for more info on RFs and found this site. And I was lost. Picked up some serious GAS here...

I decided I needed interchangable lenses (especially something longer) so I got me a Zorki 4 with 50/2, later added 85/2 and 35/2.8. But the external viewfinder... and the lack of metering... got me wanting a Bessa. Bought Bessa R in summer of 2006 from a RFF member. And I'm happy I did. It's such pleasure to use...

 

[mike goldberg]

M2: a lucky find...

M2: a lucky find...

After the Argus C-3 it was mostly SLR's for a few years. My RF story is a bit of luck & pluck. I had begun working as a Photojournalist in Jerusalem in 1972, read a lot of photo books and mags, then wanted an M2 or M3. David Rubinger [Time-Life], now 82, sent me to Jugend Bros. in Tel Aviv, and they had none in stock.

While I was there, a guy came in to sell an M2 with the Summaron 35/2.8, and he did not like the deal offered him. Twenty minutes later, when I exited the store, he was waiting for me, and we did the deal. The body & lens in the thumbnail pic below, cost me a little better than $300- in 1972.

I took it with me during military service, used it professionally for 15 years, and it was CLA'd just before I quit the rat race. Though I've bought and sold a lot of cameras through the years, the Leica M2 has always been with me. When I pick it up, I feel its story with me.

Thanks for listening,
mike

 

[Steve Bellayr]

I always wanted a Leica and no one would give theirs to me. So I was forced to buy one on my own. Since then I bought two more. A story: My wife and I went to shoot pictures at a local re-inactment around Christmas. She took a Nikon SLR while I took a Leica. Everyone there thought she was a professional from the newspaper. I with my Leica was totally ignored as an amateur.

 

[Quercus]

Not been onsite for a bit and just found this thread - so well here goes:

I guess i started with a rangefinder because of a belief that it should be spelt Kamera

Must have been about 1980 when i was 14 and just getting into photography and using an old (even then) halina 35x a fixed lens leica imitate. I had saved enough just before xmas so that with xmas money i would be able to buy my first SLR and had spent most of the year drolling over a voigtlander VSL 3E in a local camera shop window knowing that it was in fact a rollei in sheeps clothing.

And then wallop the Rollei crash and all of a sudden no more affordable voigtlander - so oddly come xmas i had enough to either buy a cosina CT-1 (k-mount) and a few cheap hanimex lenses or a pentax ME so i went for the Cosina and from there Pentax ME super, P30 even a mamiya 1000s but all the time wishing that either I had more cash or that i would find a Rollei SL2000 really cheap on sale.

Eventually sort of drifted out of full time amateur photography even selling all my equipment to fund a business venture.

jump 20 years and come the millenium and photography started to bite again but I didnt want an auto everything SLR and certainly not auto focus (hated minolta for even thinking it in the first place) and guess what voigtlanders were available again and built around the CT-1 which regardless of not being a leica was a blooming great camera so via ebay over the last few years i have got together a R2 then a few bits of glass and from buying and then selling stuff found in boot sales as well as that even managed to get a Rollei SL 2000 and a mamiay 330 and 645 super and re inherited a 1950's 5x4 press camera that i had used a few times as a tennager (long story) and then for my 40th birthday last january got myself a Zeiss Ikon and 50mm Plannar

Also have a pentax *istD but that is for just playing with for taking

But for fotographica its got to be a Kamera - (ok dont need to tell me there not German made but the spirit and essence is)

 

[edodo]

I began photography with various under 50€ point and shoot cameras not mentioning throwable ones. Then when I entered architecture school I decided to buy myself a real camera. I bought an EOS 5 with the 50mm f1.8 and 100mm f2. Very nice result in term of sharpness but the outfit was damn heavy and shooting candid was impossible because everyone was noticing at that big black professional camera... Then I sold it all and bought myself a leica autofocus minilux. Then my pictures got better and I could shoot a lot more photos because that camera was light and compact and I could bring it everywhere I went to. I still have that minilux jewel. But the dependance on batteries was really annoying... I also dislike most of the time the lack of manual focus, and lack manual everything... I then opted for for a light camera without batteries (using my brain to expose photos with manual focus and interchangeable lenses. And I found the leica IIIa, really nice. I then upgraded for a M4 and now I am happy! It came with a 50 summicron wich is my main lens, and I bought a jupiter 12, jupiter 9 and jupiter 11 for the occasionnal shoot. It cannot get any better for the money I can tell...

 

[Nostalgie]

Pecker...And Beyond

Pecker...And Beyond

There were a few real reasons I got into RF's. Mostly because I shoot a lot of street, and getting in someones face with a big SLR is a delicate thing to do. But, if you use an RF, most of the time its small, quiet, unobtrusive, and they think youre probably a tourist instead of someone whose actually taking what their doing seriously. In 1998 I was 15, Id been at it for a bit with SLR's, then a little movie called Pecker came out, just a kid like me and his trusty Canonet 28, a lot of the film is concentrated on him shooting candids with the quiet little RF. I loved the movie, and about a 2 years later I saw it again, I was 17-18, and decided it was damn time I got one. So I hopped online, checked out some sites, Yashica Guy I think, Karens Photoethnography site, etc, at least I think those were the one, anyway, I got on EvilBay, and picked up a Canonet 28, a Yashica GSN and a Minolta, all three combined for well under $100! That was another thing, the prices of bodies! So, from the day those arrived at my apartment, I never stopped, I switched out here and there, from Canons, Minoltas, Yashicas etc, eventually got a nice Canonet Glll QL17 after some crummy ones, and have loved it since. Im 23 now, and my photography has just kept growing, along with my Nikon DSLRs and lenses, Im NEVER without an RF, its my daily camera. Now Ive finally decided to upgrae and am picking up the Bessa R kit from Gandy this week! Thats the short of it! Im sure many others have similar stories, it just basically evolves if youre really into photography, you have to get some RFs! Perid.
Bryan

 

[w3rk5]

I got started by looking though some old photos from both friends and family. I just kept thinking, "Wow! Look at the way we were". I knew, I wanted to be part of recording memories. Before I could even begin I needed a camera.

Upon doing a research on cameras I came across this forum. I think I read one too many threads. Now I have 7 cameras. 6 of them are rangefinders.

These people here are bad........very bad.

 

[Biggles]

My M3 was my dad's. He bought it new in 1966 or 1967 or thereabouts, with a 50mm Summicron. It was our family camera while I was growing up and I never thought there was anything special about it, nor did I know that there was a difference between rangefinders and SLRs. I thought all cameras focused with a rangefinder patch.

Heh. Substitute "Voigtlander Prominent with 50/3.5 Color-Skopar" for "M3 & 50mm Summicron", and move the purchase date to around 1952... and that's my story, as well.

Shot SLRs for a while, left recreational photography for a while after that, and eventually decided to get back in to film by trying this awfully expensive Leitz glass I'd heard and read so much about. Don't really like M bodies, so I bought a CL with a 40 and a 90.

Hilarity ensued.

 

[Ken Ford]

I was a PJ working for the local papers from the late 70s until the mid 80s. I always shot Nikon SLR gear at work, and it came to the point where Nikon = work - I couldn't have fun with them when I was on my own time.

So, I went through a series of other cameras and systems for "off duty" use. Mamiya TLR, Pentax and finally Oly OMs. I was happy with my OM1ns and small sack of lenses.

One day I popped in at my local pusher, and he had several Leica lenses that were used at the '84 Olympics and were being offered to accredited journalists at ridiculously cheap prices. (This was the "Press '84" stuff.) I picked up a 35 Cron, a 50 Noct and a 90 Cron, plus a used M4-P and M4-2 winder. I was home.

I used the M for all my personal stuff after that, and for some work shoots, too - the 90 Cron was a killer at press conferences, smoking my 85/1.8 and even my 105/2.5. The Noct was used for a personal feature (never finished, never published) that I did at the Cook County Hospital emergency room about weekend gang violence - being able to handhold Tri-X at 800 with available darkness and selective focus without calling attention to myself was intoxicating.

When I left for a real job around the time I got married in 1986, I pretty much hung up all my cameras - I was burnt out. A few years later I sold the Leicas at the height of the Japanese buying frenzy and paid the mortgage for quite a few months with the proceeds.

Fast forward to four or so years ago. I was back to shooting railroad subjects as a hobby using Nikons, but found myself missing the RF experience for other things. I did some research and decided that I could afford a Bessa-T with Triggerwinder and two Leica lenses - the 40 Cron/90 Elmar-C pair from the CL. I shot these for several years, but was never completely happy - the T was too loud for my tastes, and I missed an integrated RF/VF.

Then, last February, I decided I was ready for a "real" M body once again, I found a nice clean used M6. M6, 40, 90 - what more do I need? Riiight...

The following week I stopped at the local Wolf Camera on the way home from work. They had a few Leica accessories on clearance (they weren't Leica dealers anymore), and among the white boxes was a brand new 35 Summicron ASPH. It was marked down to $1039, but I wasn't sure about buying it. After all, I had just spent a *lot* of money on the M6. I agonized about it overnight (resulting in a humorous pNut thread), and finally decided to go back the next day. I had the manager pull it out, and then asked him if he could check and see if they had any more room in the price. I almost soiled my knickers when he came back with $842.39.

It's all been downhill from there...

 

[x-ray]

My father was a amateur photographer and shot with a vintage Argus C3 when i was a kid and also a Ciroflex 6x6. I was absolutely fascintaed from before the age of 3 with the photographic process. I watched him print B&W in the bedroom at night with his federal enlarger set up and washing prints in the bathroom. When I was 5 my mother handed me her Ansco 620 box camera and I started making images. I loved it and at the age of 7 my parents gave me a new Brownie Star Flash set. I took it to school and everywhere I went and documented everyday life in Oak Ridge Tennessee. At the age of 9 my father told me I was going to have to get a job to pay for the habbit or I would have to learn to process and print my own film. I opted for the process and print. While in high school my dad gave me a new Crown Graphic 4x5 Pacemaker. What a fantastic camera and I still have it and use it today. he also let me use his TLR Rollei. I started shooting for the school paper and then advanced to shooting publicity pictures for rock bands. I made quite a bit of money doing this. When in college I met the chief photographer with the news paper. He was going to Alaska to work and needed a photographer to fill the vacant position. I took my portfolio to him and got the job. Henry Peck was his name and he was a Leica shooter. This is where it started. I had a Minolta SRT101 and a few lenses but found I needed more. I bought my first M2 in 1968 with a ridgid 50 summicron. Soon I had added another M2 and M3 with a 21 f3.4 suoer angulon, 35mm summilux v1, visoflex II and 65 elmar, 90 elmarit, 135 hektor and 200 tellyt. Nice combo for a young college guy. The assignemnts came quickly and I was noticed by the chief photographer of the Nashville Tennessean, Jack Corn. The assignemnts and work came quickly with shoots for UPI, AP Esquire and later Life magazine. Since 1968 I've not been without an RF camera and almost the total time had leica M's.