I Shoot With Rangefinders

I Shoot With Rangefinders

  • Shoot rangefinders nearly exclusively

    Votes: 203 31.7%

  • Shoot with rangefinders along with other kinds of cameras

    Votes: 398 62.2%

  • Only use rangefinders occasionally

    Votes: 29 4.5%

  • Never use 'em

    Votes: 10 1.6%
  • Total voters
    640
Most of my cameras are rangefinders and I really like to use them. There's certain 'je ne sais quoi' associated with a classic rangefinder. You can call it elitism; not in the way of overly expensive modern gear but having rare skills to make images with old and basic cameras.
 
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I've had an Olympus 35SP, Olympus LC, Olympus XA and a Leica M4. All great cameras, but I've since sold all of them for various reasons. Definitely prefer rangefinders over SLR's, for ease of focusing and size, but I prefer using a TLR above all.

That being said, I'll probably end up buying another rangefinder sometime in the near future.
 
I started taking photos in the 70's using film SLRs and rangefinder/viewfinders, mostly Konica. These days, still film SLRs and rangefinders; Leica SL2 and Nikon N80 on the SLR side. Bessa RM 2A with 35mm Summicron v.4 and Zeiss 25mm Biogon, plus Konica C35 and Minox 35GT on the rangefinder side. Mix about 80/20.
 
I use my SLR and RF cameras 90% of the time and my TLR for the remaining 10% of the time. All my cameras are always loaded with film. Some with colour and some with B&W. I just pick one up depending on my mood for that day and shoot. By the way, I have no preference for either SLR or RF as each has its own strength.
 
I've got four Dslrs', an Oly E-P2 kit, and a R3A.

I love how shooting film has slowed me down, but finding anywhere to develop anything but C41 has been a P.I.T.A. for me. I'd love to learn and do it myself but with what scant free time I have I'd rather be taking pics.
 
I shot dSLRs and other digital cameras (D90, Rebel XT, G9, etc) until about a year ago. First I used LifePixel.com to convert a couple to UV/IR, so I still have those to shoot occasionally. The D90, I started shooting more and more manually, turning features off one after the other, and finding I was getting better pictures and enjoying the whole process more. That's when I managed to find an M8 at an affordable price, and sold the D90 to fund it.

GAS attacks have been frequent and severe since then. I think I've achieved some equilibrium now, though.
 
I have used rangefinders to a large degree for the past few years. I am now blending in my DSLR and SLR, Rebel XT and Elan 7e. I plan on doing more work with them.
 
I shoot RF 80% of the time and is so hooked into the film thingy that I am even considering to get a film SLR to replace my DSLR. But I would need to invest some more funds to change some of my EF-S lenses to EF. :bang:

I like the RF to be small, discrete and convenient to carry around and it perfectly suits my favorite street photography genre.
 
I shoot with DSLRs for my commercial work because the fast turn around is required but for my personal work I use different rangefinders and other film cameras these past three years. (no film SLRs though).I like to work with less and light equipment.
 
hteasley said:
I shot dSLRs and other digital cameras (D90, Rebel XT, G9, etc) until about a year ago. First I used LifePixel.com to convert a couple to UV/IR, so I still have those to shoot occasionally. The D90, I started shooting more and more manually, turning features off one after the other, and finding I was getting better pictures and enjoying the whole process more. That's when I managed to find an M8 at an affordable price, and sold the D90 to fund it.

GAS attacks have been frequent and severe since then. I think I've achieved some equilibrium now, though.
Click to expand...

For now,
But it will flare up again at the worst possible time... :bang:
 
I enjoy trying new and different things. I've a gaggle of cameras, all old and cheap, in various styles (viewfinder, rangefinder, SLR, view) from 35mm though 6x4.5 and 6x9 up to 9x12. Leaf shutter, focal plane shutter. I can't say which I use BEST :s but I use the 35mm RF MOST followed by aps-c digital SLR followed by 35mm SLR.
 
I use SLR cameras when I feel like it.
Tele lenses are more suited for SLR cameras.
A 200mm lens is a good change from a 21mm lens on a RF.
 
A Canon P got me addicted to RFs and I've never gone back.
I own a few SLRs and a TLR, but I'm almost 100% RF. Just a more fun/comfortable/natural system for me.
 
Scrambler said:
I enjoy trying new and different things. I've a gaggle of cameras, all old and cheap, in various styles (viewfinder, rangefinder, SLR, view) from 35mm though 6x4.5 and 6x9 up to 9x12. Leaf shutter, focal plane shutter. I can't say which I use BEST :s but I use the 35mm RF MOST followed by aps-c digital SLR followed by 35mm SLR.
Click to expand...

Most of us go through this. But where's the advantage? Rather than 'more' and 'cheap', I increasingly want a camera which does what I want, not one to whch I have to adapt any more than I have to. If it costs more, well, I'm older and have more money -- not least because I waste far less money on cameras I can 'afford', which long deprived me of money I could have spent on better cameras.

Cheers,

R.
 
Tangent: This thread keeps marking itself unread for me, and shows up in the list as "Roger Hicks, 2 minutes ago" or some other obviously incorrect, very recent time. Anyone have any clue why that happens?
 
Lynx 14, $40
Canonet 17, $30
Leica IIIc w/J8 and J12, $200
XA4, $15
Nikon F4s with 85mm 1.8 and 24mm, $250
Zenobia, $70
Bronica SQA, $300

So for just under $1000, I have:

A rangefinder with a great fast lens.
An automatic/manual rangefinder with a decent lens.
A compact manual set
A pocketable, quiet wide angle camera
A heavy duty SLR with wide options
A pocketable 6x4.5 camera with a great lens
A wide angle 6x6

I can also have multiple cameras loaded with film at once, giving me even more flexibility. Sure, a M with a few good lenses and a Mamiya 7 and a pair of lenses could almost cover the same range of functionality. But this has been much more cost effective. In addition, it lets me make smaller bets on and sell the items that don't click with me.

Now, that isn't everything I have at the moment. I need to cull a bunch of cameras in the near future as I'm starting to figure out which don't get much use. I also need to decide if I'm just collecting Olympus rangefinders at this point as I love the cameras. ;)
 
I get frustrated going out, picking which cameras/film/digital/lenses to take. I like my DSLR's but increasingly using smaller cameras such as MF folders, 35mm P&S, TLR, and Canon G11 due to weight constraints. My wife is not happy with a purse full of lenses (I probably push the envelope that way) and I am not big on hauling heavy DSLR's around all day, so am getting more into pocketable cameras. Traveled last week with DSLR, MF folder, and 35mm, and the 35mm got the most use. I picked up a 4x5 recently and a little worried where that will take me...
 
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