How do you use your FSU RF with a 35mm lens?

[hoot]

Being that the Jupiter-12 is such a great bang for the buck, I was wondering how different people actually used it on their FSU rangefinders, which all show the approximate 50mm FOV.

 

[Kin Lau]

Aux finder. I use a turret finder with 28-135 focal lengths.

 

[RML]

I've never used it on any of my FSU cameras. I have used it on my R-D1, though, and then I can set the appropriate framelines.

 

[GeneW]

I have framelines for 35mm on my Bessa and Leica, but on my Zorki 3m I use the VF and guesstimate.

Gene

 

[varjag]

I have both the dedicated VI-35 and a turret finder, and prefer the latter. Having several accessory leses it makes more sense; besides the parallax correction is useful.

 

[Solinar]

Party pics, shot from the hip with Zorki 3, without the auxilliary viewfinder.

 

[Richard Black]

I have two aux vf, one a turret of a sorts and the other the fsu version of 35mm. Use them both on the Mir and the Leica IIIc.

 

[zuikologist]

Plastic sports finder from an old Vivitar underwater camera. Approximate fov is 35mm It is kinder to eyeglasses and quick to frame. No parallax correction available.

 

[kmack]

Guesstimation... I hang the Zorki around my neck with a hippy strap and just reach down and trip the shuttter.

 

[rbiemer]

I opted for "other" as I use both an FSU turret finder and a Yashic(I think?) Tele/wide finder. If I'm shooting with just the J-12, I use the tele/wide. If I have some other lens(es) with me I'll take the turret finder.
Rob

 

[r-brian]

I use a Leica variable finder, 35mm-135mm, when I remember to bring it. Otherwise I guess with the camera's viewfinder.

Brian

 

[vincentbenoit]

Don't have a Jupiter-8, but occasionally use a CV 35/2.5C on my Zorki-4, framing by guesstimation.

 

[Nickfed]

Only 42% use a single optical finder?? OK, so it costs about the same as a good FED but, once you have one, you will wonder why on earth you lived so long without it.
For thirty odd bucks, the KMZ 35mm finder has to one of photography's great joys - and I don't even own a J-12!

 

[reagan]

I've got a $10 Petri tele-wide I use, but I've got no problem using/guesstimating the J12 with the camera's VF which I did pre-Petri. Guesstimating wider [like 28mm] is a stretch for me.

 

[GeneW]

Guessing isn't bad with the Zorkis. The built-in VF is greater than 50mm anyway if you use the edges of the VF. I actually have a greater problem trying to figure out what I'm framing when I shoot 50mm.

 

[hoot]

At the moment, I am using an "Ikodot" wireframe finder which lets you frame most focal lengths between 50mm and 21mm depending on the angle and distance of your eye to the finder. It's very esoteric (but then, so is rangefinder photography in general) and I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to stick with this method because vertical parallax is HUGE close-up, but then, vertical parallax is a problem with any shoe-mounted finder. I borrowed Roman's KMZ turret finder for a day, and chopped off people's heads with it even after considering parallax. The only shots that turned out well were those for which I never bothered looking through the finder at all (see my gallery). On the other hand, that's a bit too risky for my taste when shooting more important stuff.

I'd get a camera with a 35mm frame for it, but back when I used my J-8 on my M3, Leicaphiles were giving me really dirty looks. My father, who used to sell cameras back in the '70s, went as far as saying that I "raped" my Leica with the Jupiter-8.

 

[wlewisiii]

Being that the Jupiter-12 is such a great bang for the buck, I was wondering how different people actually used it on their FSU rangefinders, which all show the approximate 50mm FOV.

Eh, not quite all... I picked "other" as my Kiev 5's viewfinder FOV is 35mm with brightlines for 50 & 85... My SC Skopar 35/2.5 and my previous Jupiter 12 work quite well with it.

William

 

[brians]

I wish I had an eye that could see framelines... That would be a neat option for contact lenses for photographers.

I use a Leitz VIOOH. The simulated view kind of sucks for the 85~135mm, but for the lower numbers, it gets the job done.

 

[Nickfed]

but then, vertical parallax is a problem with any shoe-mounted finder. I borrowed Roman's KMZ turret finder for a day, and chopped off people's heads with it even after considering parallax.

I'm a bit surprised to hear that. Mine does what it's supposed to do and compares sensibly with an SLR. I have used it for people OK. Shooting at one metre with it can't be a good idea, but the difference from the standard finder is only 1 deg. 20, so it cannot be that bad either. Perhaps yours has been damaged. My KMZ doesn't appear to be repairable.


[QUOTE = hoot]
I'd get a camera with a 35mm frame for it, but back when I used my J-8 on my M3, Leicaphiles were giving me really dirty looks. My father, who used to sell cameras back in the '70s, went as far as saying that I "raped" my Leica with the Jupiter-8.[/QUOTE]

If there is one crowd in life you should studiously ignore, it's the Leicaphiles. You can be reasonably sure that most of them don't know what they are doing. There are also times when you should ignore your own father, particularly when he has a pompous attitude like this.

I used a Leitz lens on a Zorki for many years and learned to ignore Leicaphiles at a tender age. Fortunately, my 91 year-old father has a pragmatic streak and I can still respect what he has to say. He didn't used to sell cameras, but I did - in the '50s, a time when brand snobbery was probably worse.

 

[hoot]

Shooting at one metre with it can't be a good idea, but the difference from the standard finder is only 1 deg. 20, so it cannot be that bad either.

Well, I usually get quite close (see my gallery)...

When you say "standard finder", do you mean the camera's built-in viewfinder, or a regular shoe-mounted auxiliary optical finder? The 50mm framelines on my M3 don't give me any noticable parallax error, even when I get quite close.

If there is one crowd in life you should studiously ignore, it's the Leicaphiles. You can be reasonably sure that most of them don't know what they are doing. There are also times when you should ignore your own father, particularly when he has a pompous attitude like this.

Oh, agreed. I eventually shelled out for an old collapsible Summicron, but the Jupiter-8 outperforms it on all counts. The problem - and this is an opinion I developed before being sneered at by the Leica snobs - is that "good handling" applies not only to bodies, but to lenses, too. The M3 handles well; the J-8 does not. The Summicron handles well, and - I say this without shame - looks better on the M3, too. It's not necessarily other people I want to "dress up" for - it's mostly myself. I put on a nice shirt in the morning even if I'm not planning to leave the house that day. If the Jupiter took a clip-on lens shade (I detest the screw-in ones), had aperture click-stops and boasted a gorgeous chrome finish, I'd be using it on the M3 much more often.