"it's just the sound of history repeating..."

Fedzilla_Bob

Fedzilla_Bob

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What is a nearly 50 year old dude doing quoting an early 21st century British pop-tune? Well... besides Shirley Massey's incredibly powerful voice, conjuring memories of Goldfinger... It got your attention.

It occurs to me that a number of us who collect and use rangefinder cameras might have some sort of nostalgic interests attached to our involvement with this class of camera. Perhaps our families had one. Maybe we have seen old photographs of favorite artists using or carrying them.

I know many RFF members like the simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the rangefinder. But I suspect there is something deeper. Is it a matter of style or is it a practical matter?

What do you think?
 
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no history for me that i'm aware of.

my family had cheap instamatics, no 'real' cameras and my mother had a super 8 movie camera.

the first camera i bough myself, after reading some photo mags, was the oly 35rc.

joe
 
I got my start in photographywhile at university when I found my dad's old rangefinder camera in a closet. I took that picture of my old girlfriend walking away with her new boyfriend with it that's in my gallery. I wish I had taken some pictures of her with it before she left. Actually I wish I had taken pictures of all my girlfriends. There have been quite a few.
 
I've seen that photo, Frank, and it's kinda poignant even if you don't know the story.

In my case... I faintly remember a Leica, or a look-alike Leica which my uncle showed to me when I was probably 5 or 6. But he was the family shutterbug... and we were mean to him.

Very, very often I wish I could tell him I still remember a lot of his explanations. For a while he tried to turn me into a photographer, but I wasn't too keen on it back then. However, some of his "lectures" stuck with me.

That's for history tonight. At least mine. Bye! 🙂
 
While it's true that the style of photography I admire most dates from the "RF golden age" of the '30s through '50s, I don't use the cameras just to emulate that style. I use 'em because they work so darn well!

There's a lot to be said for a fully-mature technology. It's kind of bizarre: Any competent RF user could pick up the most advanced RF camera of 70 years ago, the Zeiss Contax II, and use it comfortably after just a few minutes of familiarization. The most advanced RF camera of 50 years ago, the Leica M3, is still a solid working tool for a lot of people. (Heck, you can even buy scads of brand-new lenses that are fully compatible with the M3, from three different manufacturers.)

And if they're in good shape, these "antique" cameras will produce results under most conditions that will look at least as good to most people as results from a brand-new camera you bought yesterday.

So, the reason I use RF cameras is that for me, they're the right answer. The fact that the answer was worked out long ago doesn't make it any less right. If you don't believe that, ask Euclid!


(Shoot, I probably should have saved this for the why-use-RF essay contest!)
 
I use them because they are a cheap and interesting entry into amature photography. Cheap because I buy russian gear (at least for now), and interesting because they are easier to use (at least for me) than manual SLRs. Also since I carry a camera around all the time, it doest hurt that they look very cool. The zorki 1 is the best looking camera ever (besides all the actual leicas) 😛.
 
einolu said:
I use them because they are a cheap and interesting entry into amature photography. Cheap because I buy russian gear (at least for now), and interesting because they are easier to use (at least for me) than manual SLRs. Also since I carry a camera around all the time, it doest hurt that they look very cool. The zorki 1 is the best looking camera ever (besides all the actual leicas) 😛.
Click to expand...
OK, so there is an element of cool attached to it. Yes?
 
it started out as a pragmatic thing as buying a 35 1.4L for my SLR is waaaaay more expensive than the 40 1.7 on the QL17. from there, i have come to realize that rf's are just more practical than my 1vhs, which is fricken huge. the rest will be in my essay 😉
 
No history or nostalgia at all.

Years ago, I bought one of the first consumer digital cameras I could get my hands on as a way of getting pictures onto a college sports website we run. The camera, a Sony, served its purpose in that regard, but I started to carry it around on trips, family functions, etc., and was disappointed in the images that resulted and the less-than-stellar printing options at the time.

I think I came to a fork in the road back then - spend more money on upgraded digital cameras and printers to get better images or start using film cameras.

Of course, I took both roads at once. One led me to DSLRs and that has paid dividends in a commercial sense as our websites have grown to include a pair of print magazines that will be debuting in the fall.

The film road led me to buy a Canon film SLR that produced results that somehow gave me a greater sense of accomplishment than digital ever did. From there, I worked backwards and bought pair of old Vivitar manual 450 SLRs and a collection of old M42 lenses. Again, I enjoyed the pace and process of using those old manual cameras and I think they helped me learn.

About that time, I was telling a friend how much I enjoyed using some of those old manual cameras and within a few days, he sent me a Konica C35 rangefinder camera that had belonged to his dad. I read a little bit about rangefinders and took the C35 with me on a trip to Washington, DC and was just blown away - here was a small, simple, silent camera that took brilliant, sharp pictures.

I was hooked. I bought and sold any number of compact rangefinders just to use the different makes and models until I found a couple that became my favorites - a C35 and a Konica Auto S1.6.

About that time in 2003, I discovered this board and that led me to the slippery slope of interchangeable-lens rangefinders. I've settled on a R3 and a Bessa T with four lenses - I use the Nokton 40 and CV90 on the R3 and an Ultron 28 and CV75 on the Bessa T. It's perfect for me - I don't need anything else.

The poor DSLR just sits on the shelf for weeks at a time these days.
 
except for my long wanting of a Leica M described somewere else in these threads - no history thing for my - My granddad had a Retina IIIc and I did get it after he passed a way but I never liked using it - I guess the viewfinder was to small and the corners of the body to pointy to be confortable. For me it is simplicity in use - I have had all the modern stuff Canon with eye controlled focus etc. beep beep autocrap - got sick of it! - Now I enjoy the well built mechanical camras of the 1950ties - As I have not converted into digital yet I use Hasselblad and Fuji GX 680 for studiowork and I gues the Fuji coulkd be considdered a modern camera ? The most automatic right now is an electro 35 G - nostalgica NO - style / trend thing probably not - I like film, Yes - I like soft sharp lenses like Summarit, Tessar and xenar yes - I really Like the moment after you press the shutter, while you thoughtfully wind the film to the next frame manually with you thumb - that moment is sometimes the best - when you get the mixed feeling of wauw that was a good shot and I wonder what is going to be next - that is a truly precious moment!
 
Many of you have seen this link, but for those of you who have not ...

http://www.growlery.com/camera_insanity

It pretty much explains my obsession. I could also add that I've always enjoyed notoriety - I'm *that guy* at work who always has a camera - and not just any camera, but some kind of 1950's bizarre gizmo-sprouting camera that kind of makes them roll their eyes. Also good for clonking them upside the head, the unbelievers.

It is the kind of thing that, if I were still single, would guarantee I would never get a date. But who cares, I'm happily married and my wife, bless her, understands my obsession or at least accepts it. And now that it is starting to make money as well...hmmm. She says she wants to learn more about cameras...

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Style. My Leica IIIa w/ collapsible Elmar simply looks cool and I love the feel. The Kiev's are fun too. History does play a part, not personal history, but that of the camera/make and the fact some of my cameras are older than my parents/grandparents. I always wonder what tales some of the older pieces would tell if it could.

For the 70's RF's, I was born in '70, so it's like having a friend. Interesting too to see what "state of the art" was like when I was born.... so far, I'm quite impressed.

The Romantic in me likes the Russian RF's too, the unknown factor -in more ways than one 🙂, an era, people and culture that was hidden from most of us in the west. I'd love to get a Chinese RF such as a Seagull or one of the Chinese Leica copies, but the later is quite rare.

Last of all, with the exception of the Leica, they were all cheap!!! 😀 Even the IIIa was only USD$100- in user condition.

ps. I do have a ton of slr's and a dslr too 🙂
 
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Hi everyone,

Great thread here! I'm a younger fellow (36 next week) and the addicition to older RFs came about not from nostalgia but as a direct result of my marriage. You see, my camera was stolen on my wedding night. After spending my honeymoon in Bermuda without a camera -- an experience I vowed never to repeat! -- I promised myself a new camera when we returned home.

Being flush with wedding cash I started looking for a new SLR, but then I remembered the fun I had shooting and learning with the good old Canon AE-1 in high school. I quickly discovered that mechanical SLRs were getting harder to buy new, so I went to eBay and picked up a clean, working Minolta SR T-101 w 50mm lens for the princely sum of $90. The SR T-101 is a big girl and after taking her with me on a couple of walking trips I learned about the virtues of the smaller, lighter fixed-lens RFs.

I've since bought and sold several RFs (inlcuding the Hi-Matic 7 in my avatar), finally settling on the recently acquired FED-2 as my primary user. The whole experience of buying, using and selling these old cameras has been a real treat. It's like trying on shoes -- you need to take a few steps in them before you buy the pair that "fits" you best. And thanks to eBay and the digital revolution, these old RFs come pretty cheap. I estimate that I've spent less than $600 on all the camera gear I've purchased in the last five years.

And one more thing -- these old RFs (and any old camera, for that matter) are simply beautiful to look at and hold. They are time travelers, visitors from the past who, in return for the thought and creativity of their users, will provide breathtaking images. It's an absolute shame to let these wonderful tools lie idle in disuse.
 
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Dean,

Nice link, thanks! But then I ask - respect for the image, respect for the camera, or respect for the process? I think for me it is more the process - but parts of all nonetheless.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Not much nostalgia here. If my Nikon could give me the extra stop advantages of the Leica and muffle the metallic clack, I would sell the Leica immediately. But for low-light and inconspicuous shooting, there simply isn't much choice. Build quality on the Leicas are great, but then again so was the old AIS lenses and older F cameras. ah well 🙂
 
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