How do you use your rangefinder?

How do you use your rangefinder?

  • Family pics and everyday camera

    Votes: 407 58.4%

  • Professional work

    Votes: 77 11.0%

  • Landscape

    Votes: 247 35.4%

  • Street

    Votes: 432 62.0%

  • Don't use rangfinders at all

    Votes: 18 2.6%

  • Sports

    Votes: 15 2.2%
  • Total voters
    697
Z

zvos1

Well-known
Local time
2:51 PM
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
279
I like rangefinder cameras and have been using them last 5 years but I am not much of a "street guy" where rangefinders are traditionally used.
I'd like to find out how my fellow RFF members use their rangefinder cameras...

EDIT: Here's the poll, more than one choice available...
 
i buy an expensive lens and then turn the 1.0 1.2 1.4 5.6 8 knob all the way to 16 and then just random click to people's faces. This way i don't have to focus

i have a new book coming out in amazon called shooting while jogging , where i basically clack clack to peoples faces while exercising
 
denizg7 said:
i buy an expensive lens and then turn the 1.0 1.2 1.4 5.6 8 knob all the way to 16 and then just random click to people's faces. This way i don't have to focus

i have a new book coming out in amazon called shooting while jogging , where i basically clack clack to peoples faces while exercising
Click to expand...


^^^^^^

Hey, Bruce Gilden is a member of RFF!!
 
denizg7 said:
i buy an expensive lens and then turn the 1.0 1.2 1.4 5.6 8 knob all the way to 16 and then just random click to people's faces. This way i don't have to focus

i have a new book coming out in amazon called shooting while jogging , where i basically clack clack to peoples faces while exercising
Click to expand...


Im guessing your not being sarcastic..... :rolleyes:

If Im using my 28mm walking to and back from work, yes, I do zone focus and shoot..
If Im somewhere else with more time, I spend time composing, focusing, etc. etc..
All depends what Im shooting, and my mood I guess.
 
finguanzo said:
Im guessing your not being sarcastic..... :rolleyes:

If Im using my 28mm walking to and back from work, yes, I do zone focus and shoot..
If Im somewhere else with more time, I spend time composing, focusing, etc. etc..
All depends what Im shooting, and my mood I guess.
Click to expand...

spot on , the right answer to this over generalized thread is "it depends"
 
I like candid photography in general. I like street photography but living in the suburbs makes it hard - I generally just like to take pictures of friends or people I see who are interesting. Or dogs.
 
How? I hold the lens with the left hand from under it (the lens), hold the camera with the right hand. This may seem like a tongue-in-cheek answer to many, but there are some who don't realize that holding it this way steadies your shot.

Where? It doesn't matter where, as long as it's not in the shower or heavy rain. Nor underwater. :)
 
Sheesh. What a question! and you an Aus'!! Too much time on your hands mate.

There are endless possibilities out there (even if you only photograph kangaroos hopping - but with a RF it will be just the tip of the tail in the frame by the time you press the shutter :))

Just get out and do it.
 
Rangefinders have no specific usage location or field of photography. However, there are some types of photography they excel in, while not so much in others.

For example, you won't see many photographers using a rangefinder for Moon or Astrophotography (or any Telephotography in general). You also won't see too many people with a rangefinder in a sports game or similar events. Not that RFs can't do such things, but they are just not very good at it and will demand a very skilled photographer to do such types of photography well. Then again, there was a couple of people with large format rangefinders on the sidelines during Olympic Games in London. :D Rangefinders are also not very suited for macro work ...

I am sure you are quite aware of areas it CAN excel in, like street photography and anything where patience is a virtue, and there are no critical scenes that only appear for a fraction of a second and are gone afterwards. Any type of still or semi-moving objects that allow enough time to meter, focus and compose. That's where a rangefinder does well.
 
I'll use mine when I have plenty of time to actually take a picture...I'm very slow when it comes to using my Rangefinders...
I mostly use them with B&W film and when the subject doesn't move that much or not at all...last time was at a family birthday party...
 
I'll be on a Greyhound from Port Authority to Altoona on Halloween to take pictures with my Zorki. That way I'll have a record of an Altoona experience without the memory of being there.

From what I understand Altoona is the place to be on Halloween. Destination... Sunny Crest Lane and beyond.

That's the way I'll be using my Rangefinder with FED lens.
 
Like a scale focus camera.

Money well spent ;)

No, but to answer your question, I use my rangefinder for anything that isn't too specialized or where turnover time means every second counts. It's my every day carry
 
George Bonanno said:
I'll be on a Greyhound from Port Authority to Altoona on Halloween to take pictures with my Zorki. That way I'll have a record of an Altoona experience without the memory of being there.

From what I understand Altoona is the place to be on Halloween. Destination... Sunny Crest Lane and beyond.

That's the way I'll be using my Rangefinder with FED lens.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I lived in Manhattan for 4 years, and went through the Port Authority station almost every day.
People from elsewhere are generally intrigued by Altoona, but most who live here feel trapped.
 
grapejohnson said:
Interesting, I lived in Manhattan for 4 years, and went through the Port Authority station almost every day.
People from elsewhere are generally intrigued by Altoona, but most who live here feel trapped.
Click to expand...

how would you live in manhattan and somehow go to port authority everyday , do you work there
 
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