Ariefb
Established
Another vote for canonet Q17. Small, silent, cheap. Cant go wrong with it.
thegman
Veteran
In the UK, you could maybe get a beater M3 for $500 or more like $600, no lens, so maybe if you really hunt around, you could find one. Also there are the Bessa models of course, again you may be able to get a beater R2A within your budget.
I think you should still consider medium format, maybe the Bronica RF models. The cheapest medium format camera will blow away any Leica 35mm camera for quality, excepting Holga etc.
I think you should still consider medium format, maybe the Bronica RF models. The cheapest medium format camera will blow away any Leica 35mm camera for quality, excepting Holga etc.
Chinasaur
Well-known
A Yashica GSN: f1.7, 45mm, aperture priority. Really "any" later Yashica CC/CCN, GX or GSN would be perfect and you'd have hundreds left over.
streettrailpark
Member
Wow thanks everyone for the input, awesome! So I'm thinking probably going towards the Canon P, really nice looking camera and exactly what I want in a 35mm rangefinder. I'm still entertaining the 645 idea though, possibly the fuji gs645 with the 60mm? How loud is this camera? I'm assuming it's not bad with the leaf shutter but just wondering. I think it would be cool to shoot street with an mf like that.
streettrailpark
Member
Wow thanks everyone for the input, awesome! So I'm thinking probably going towards the Canon P, really nice looking camera and exactly what I want in a 35mm rangefinder. I'm still entertaining the 645 idea though, possibly the fuji gs645 with the 60mm? How loud is this camera? I'm assuming it's not bad with the leaf shutter but just wondering. I think it would be cool to shoot street with an mf like that.
ruby.monkey
Veteran
Konica IIIA -
Pros: it's beautiful; superb 1:1 finder with parallax- and field-of-view-correction; wonderful lens; it's beautiful; easy loading; top-notch build quality and a feel of utter solidity; one-finger focussing; it's beautiful.
Cons: slow in operation; fiddly shutter-speed and aperture controls, especially if one wishes to control each separately; annoying non-linear gap between 1/250s and 1/500s shutter speed settings; badly-placed shutter release button; finicky shutter release linkage that seems prone to resetting the shutter unless one gives the button a good thump.
'tis beautiful, though...
Pros: it's beautiful; superb 1:1 finder with parallax- and field-of-view-correction; wonderful lens; it's beautiful; easy loading; top-notch build quality and a feel of utter solidity; one-finger focussing; it's beautiful.
Cons: slow in operation; fiddly shutter-speed and aperture controls, especially if one wishes to control each separately; annoying non-linear gap between 1/250s and 1/500s shutter speed settings; badly-placed shutter release button; finicky shutter release linkage that seems prone to resetting the shutter unless one gives the button a good thump.
'tis beautiful, though...