As to usage, Tom... Do you use the RF cams more than the non-RFs, or less? And why, if you wish to say. 🙂
I Shoot With Rangefinders
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graywolf
Well-known
I consider digital a tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver, it is what I pick up when I need to do something. What I pick up when I want to have fun, is one of the RF's. My Olympus C-5050z P&S being my first choice if it will do the job at hand.
Today I was out with the Crown Graphic, that big snapshot camera is fun, and it interests folks who see it. You also do not waste film when it costs something like $5 a shot considering film, flashbulb, and making a print. I tend to use it for people photos. My only real regret is that I can no longer get the 4x5 Polaroid Sheet Film. A kind of interesting thing happened while I was out today, one of my friends picked up that big camera and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, this is real easy to hold". He showed it to someone else saying the same thing. My Crown has the flashgun on it with the red button that fires the shutter which fires the flash (two cables), so the three D-cell batteries add substantially to the weight. The camera is easy to hold, the weight adds to its stability.
Yesterday, I shot a roll of 120 with the Hapo 66E, mostly land/water scapes. This camera is fairly new to me, and I am not 100% sure I have it sorted out yet. I bought it because I have given up on getting a decent 4x5 enlarger I can afford. I do have an Omega B22 that the Hapo, and the enroute Iskra, will provide fodder for. My new (old) darkroom is coming along now and I only need to get an 11x14 easel to have everything. The bathroom/darkroom is now light tight and near ready to go operational. That is kind of exiting for me.
My 35mm RF is a Canonet EE1.7 GIII, I have had it the longest of any camera I currently own, since about '93, I think. It is the third of those I have owned over the years. One of my favorite cameras. I admit that it has had a roll of color film in it for a long time, that I need to finish up. It is my stealth camera, quite and unobtrusive.
I have always loved RF's, my main professional camera back in the day was the Mamiya Universal Press, I had two of those over the years. I love their Leica bright range/viewfinders. I have always found that RF's are easier and quicker to use for routine photography than SLR or TLR cameras. I admit that my old Rolleiflex was my favorite portrait camera. And, I have used Pentax SLR's for decades, my favorite being the MX (that is my current film SLR outfit).
These days photography is becoming strictly a hobby for me, with no attempt to make money from it as it was in the past. So my main requirement for a camera is the fun factor.
T
tedwhite
Guest
I, too, have a Simmons-Omega B22XL enlarger. Bought it new from St. Louis Photo in 1971 and it still works fine. For SLR's I mostly use Pentax Spotmatics, but recently bought a Pentax MX and two lenses. However, I find the tiny LED meter lights difficult to see. I even sent it to Eric because he thought that if it had the older circuit board he'd install a newer one, but turned out it had the newer one. Other than that I'm quite taken with the camera. Maybe I'll just carry a hand-held meter, like I did when I had an M3. I'll google your Hapo 66E and see what it's all about.
raytoei@gmail.com
Veteran
i had a major sell off in the past 3 weeks.
Sold off the GA645, MInilux, XPAN, Contax in the past week.
I have developed 340 rolls of film from exactly 1 year ago when I first started developing and 15months since I first asked myself, Why can't I capture this fast moving F1 car with my 8MP Compact Digital.
Sold off the GA645, MInilux, XPAN, Contax in the past week.
I have developed 340 rolls of film from exactly 1 year ago when I first started developing and 15months since I first asked myself, Why can't I capture this fast moving F1 car with my 8MP Compact Digital.
graywolf
Well-known
The LED's are only hard to see in bright light. Who needs a meter in those conditions, Sunny 16 works OK then. That said I am a incident meter user and do not even have batteries in my MXen.
You can find a lot about my Hapo and its ilk, in the 120 RF Folders Forum right here on RFF.
Wlodek
Member
My first camera (some 5 decades ago...) was a rangefinder; Russian Zoki. I became quite addicted to rf. My favorite was Leica IIIg - classic look, great rangefinder and very compact. I am sorry I sold it, but I am still using my Bessa II.
And still waiting for a simple, reasonably priced full frame digital rf camera. A camera like this is mechanically simpler than an SLR and should not cost a king's ransom.
And still waiting for a simple, reasonably priced full frame digital rf camera. A camera like this is mechanically simpler than an SLR and should not cost a king's ransom.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Not really. A rangefinder is quite a complicated piece of machinery. Compare Bessa RFs with the SLRs on which they are based.
Also, of course, it's not the mechanical complexity that's the problem. It's the short flange-to-sensor distance, and things are made worse if you want (a) interchangeable lenses and (b) the chance to use 'legacy' lenses.
Cheers,
R.
MC JC86
Negative Nancy.
I got my first Leica years before my first pair of skinny jeans. I swear.
T
tedwhite
Guest
I found out why I couldn't see the LED's - I had a haze forming on my left eye. Apparently this is a common occurrence after cataract surgery. So yesterday an opthalmalogist/surgeon blasted it to smithereens with a laser - the haze, not the eye - and restored my vision to 20-20. Now I easily see the LED's. Life is good.
Ted
graywolf
Well-known
Well, that is good. That you got it corrected, I mean, not that you had a problem with your eyes.
vbarniev
Established
I shoot with a Retina IIIc, Leica IIIf with a Sumitar and a Rollei 35 S with a Sonnar
