Looking to step into the rangefinder world.. any advice is welcome!

[jrm27]

Leicas look absolutely wonderful. One of my friends shoots Leica digital cameras and they are outstanding machines. Unfortunately, film/digital/new/vintage, etc.. .all look to be beyond my budget at the moment. I need to research the differences in those various retina models too. Between those, the canons, the minoltas, the Rollei, etc... there are a lot of things to learn about! You all are awesome. Thank you. Please keep the info coming. And if you know of places other than Ebay, I am all ears!

 

[CMur12]

First of all, jrm27, welcome to RFF!

You have a lot of good and varied advice here. I can speak to the compact, fixed-lens rangefinder cameras, such as the Canon QL 17 GIII, which I have. I have used such cameras, with total satisfaction, for travel photography, because they were so compact, light in weight, unobtrusive, and easy to use. I always got sharp, well exposed slides with mine.

The shutter-priority automation was convenient, while providing manual-equivalent exposure. You achieve AEL (auto-exposure lock) by pressing the shutter button half-way down. (Aperture-priority or shutter-priority automation serves me well, as long as I have AEL. Otherwise, I find said automation useless.) The meter doesn't work in manual mode.

These cameras required a mercury battery, but an MR-9 adapter plus a 386 (flatter than more standard 357) silver-oxide cell should fit and enable the camera to work as designed.

You can also enter the guide number of any manual flash, and the camera will provide auto-flash.

The Minolta Hi-Matic cameras are also very well regarded, and they have the same features as the Canon.

- Murray

 

[jrm27]

First of all, jrm27, welcome to RFF!

You have a lot of good and varied advice here. I can speak to the compact, fixed-lens rangefinder cameras, such as the Canon QL 17 GIII, which I have. I have used such cameras, with total satisfaction, for travel photography, because they were so compact, light in weight, unobtrusive, and easy to use. I always got sharp, well exposed slides with mine.

The shutter-priority automation was convenient, while providing manual-equivalent exposure. You achieve AEL (auto-exposure lock) by pressing the shutter button half-way down. (Aperture-priority or shutter-priority automation serves me well, as long as I have AEL. Otherwise, I find said automation useless.) The meter doesn't work in manual mode.

These cameras required a mercury battery, but an MR-9 adapter plus a 386 (flatter than more standard 357) silver-oxide cell should fit and enable the camera to work as designed.

You can also enter the guide number of any manual flash, and the camera will provide auto-flash.

The Minolta Hi-Matic cameras are also very well regarded, and they have the same features as the Canon.

- Murray

Thank you for the kind welcome! Glad to hear that the QL17 is a reliable and and easy to use option. That was my first thought, and it remains high on the list, though some of these others are creeping up. It's good to know that there is a bevy of wonderful pieces to chose from. when something pops up in my budget, it seems there are many ways to chose "correctly". I am certainly drawn to the size of the Canons and Minoltas due to their size. Shutter priority sounds somewhat nice actually. I generally shoot full manual on my digital cameras after learning on my old Minolta, so it'd be another learning curve, but likely a fun one.

 

[CMur12]

Thank you for the kind welcome! Glad to hear that the QL17 is a reliable and and easy to use option. That was my first thought, and it remains high on the list, though some of these others are creeping up. It's good to know that there is a bevy of wonderful pieces to chose from. when something pops up in my budget, it seems there are many ways to chose "correctly". I am certainly drawn to the size of the Canons and Minoltas due to their size. Shutter priority sounds somewhat nice actually. I generally shoot full manual on my digital cameras after learning on my old Minolta, so it'd be another learning curve, but likely a fun one.

I shoot my digital cameras in manual mode (with spot-metering), much of the time, too. But I shoot my Minolta X-570 in aperture-priority + AEL, my Minolta SR-Ts in full manual (of course), most of my TLRs with handheld meters, and the compact, fixed-lens RFs I have had in shutter-priority + AEL. It all works!

- Murray

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Replacements are not only available, they're dirt cheap: Eye-piece frame for Leica IIIf 3f 2f 1f 3c 2c 1c eyepiece | eBay UK

I replaced the surround in my IIIf with one of those from Nobbysparrow a couple of years ago. Works a treat.

I should also add that the plastic surround on the IIIf is much more friendly to glasses than the metal eyepiece of many other cameras, Leicas or not!

You didn't get...
Plastic cracks, lenses are falling out.
No replacement.
Your IIIf becomes dirt cheap, for parts only.

 

[Coldkennels]

You didn't get...
Plastic cracks, lenses are falling out.

If it gets to the point the lenses fall out and you didn't notice in time to prevent it, that's very much on you. But the screwmount Leicas were made in the hundreds of thousands - it'd be a lot easier to find replacement viewfinder lenses than it would be to find parts for a lot of other cameras. DAG probably has a metaphorical bucketful somewhere.

 

[BillBingham2]

Just to really muck with you. I love Stephen's site, kept me busy reading for hours.

Classic Camera Profiles

B2 (;->

Edit (forgot the link to CC treasures).

 

[Bolo Kukus]

Godfrey, a quick question for you, please.

I see from your images that you have the Kodak clip-on viewfinder for the Retinas. Could you use this on a Leica LTM?

Or will there be a slight but noticeable shift in the image viewed and that on the negative?

I have one, and even though I own a Leica universal finder, I'm quite interested in putting it on one of my cameras, like the Contax G1 or now and then my iif. You have to admit it looks super cool - some might even think the red Kodak button ID could pass for a Leica dot...

 

[Godfrey]

Godfrey, a quick question for you, please.

I see from your images that you have the Kodak clip-on viewfinder for the Retinas. Could you use this on a Leica LTM?

Or will there be a slight but noticeable shift in the image viewed and that on the negative?

I have one, and even though I own a Leica universal finder, I'm quite interested in putting it on one of my cameras, like the Contax G1 or now and then my iif. You have to admit it looks super cool - some might even think the red Kodak button ID could pass for a Leica dot...

Unfortunately, the Kodak Retina optical multifinder is a very poor fit on the the Leica II or III series bodies ... Here it is on my IIIc fitted with Color-Skopar 35mm f/2.5 lens:

Leica IIIc with Kodak Retina viewfinder fitted​

You can see that it occludes access to the shutter speed selector and places the optical center of the viewfinder well off the lens axis. Using the Voigtländer 35mm viewfinder places the viewfinder much closer to the optical center and allows full access to the shutter speed selector:

Leica IIIc with Voigtländer 35mm finder fitted​

If you want a single finder that covers the range from 35mm to 135mm on a Leica II or III series camera, the Leica VIOOH Multi Focal Finder is the one to get.

​

I had one of these back in the day when I first had Leica IIc, IIf, and IIIf bodies. It fits nicely, has good parallax correction, and does not occlude the shutter speed selector at all.

G

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

My advice to @jrm27 is watch your step. That first one can be a very slippery one.

 

[Streetmaniac]

Is there any fixed lens rangefinder with a 35 lens ?

 

[MarkWalberg]

Is there any fixed lens rangefinder with a 35 lens ?

I don't know of one, but Konica Auto S3 has 38mm f1.8. It is a pretty good lens, too.

 

[The Spastic Image]

Thank you. I assumed that the light meters would be questionable at this point in their life cycles, but hopefully they'd be good enough to at least get me in close"ish". I've read that some are using modern batteries with different voltages and are compensating in their exposure calculations. But, hoping that actually works may just be wishful thinking. You make a good point that I haven't put too much thought into. Thanks for that. I appreciate the eBay advice too. I'm not too knowledgeable on opening up cameras and fixing them, so trying to find something reliable there might be a challenge!


Sounds like I have another group of cameras to look at! Thanks. I will say, the main reason I hd been looking at a fixed lenses was because it seemed like those cameras were all generally smaller than the interchangeable lens options. I'm also really wanting the film experience to be less about weighing which lenses to bring, which lens to grab for the day, do I need more lenses, would this look better on a 35mm, etc... and just grabbing and going. I realize that can be done with the others too... it just requires that I restrict myself to owning one lens, and that point the size difference of the body seems to be a factor. However, I'm going to check those out! Do you have a favorite among those?

I use my Canon L1 rangefinder with one lens (a Canon 50mm, f2.8). I'd like to eventually own a 35 mm lens for it as well. No law says you must own one lens.

 

[The Spastic Image]

I don't know of one, but Konica Auto S3 has 38mm f1.8. It is a pretty good lens, too.

Wonderful camera except for no manual mode. Which for me is a big deal breaker.

 

[The Spastic Image]

I had Leicas - 2 and M3 - in the 1980s and I loved them both. Hard times came and I had to sell the two kits. They are still greatly missed.

Now I'm a pensioner. I had dreams of buying another M2, but they are now too expensive for my budget. A few years ago an estate sale iif came my way and I nabbed it at a not cheap but reasonable price. It came with the stellar Elmar 50/3.5. I quickly acquired a 50/2.0 Summicron (the collapsible one, a gift), a 35/3.5 Summaron and a 90/4.0 Elmar. I then decided to stop buying there as I realised I could too easily and quickly become a bankrupt pensioner. Yes, budget. Or lack of...

I use the iif with a Weston Euromaster. When I go walkabout I have the camera and one lens (usually the Summaron) with a UV and a lens hood, a Weston EuroMaster meter, and one or at most two cassettes of film. That's the entire kit.

it's entirely mechanical, very little to go wrong, and when something does it can usually be quick-repaired at not too high cost. The exception for me was the 50 Summicron which was riddled with haze. I sent it in for cleaning and in the end it cost me more than the camera. Lesson learned, but that lens was a gift to me from its original owner. So.

Not low-budget cheap to buy, but a good Leica screw mount f or g can go a long way to keep one's excessive GAS compulsions under control.

The Leica IIIf was what I wanted, a good shooter body and a lens was more money than I had. Which is why I bought the Canon L1. One thing for our OP, the Leica cameras in screw mount (the Barnack cameras) are bottom load, and need specially trimmed film leaders. The Canon V, VI, and 7 do not.

 

[The Spastic Image]

I wasn't aware of the Canon P! I'll take a look. Sounds like it could be a solid base to build on. Is it considerably larger than something like the QL17?

I'd rather stay away from point and shoot. I've got a digital point and shoot, which is fine.. but I miss the tactile control. But, that's a good world to explore! At this point, just perhaps not for me.

This is awesome info! I haven't really looked at any of these. I'll dig into those options as well. Such a breadth of options! Thank you.

The Canon P is a little bit larger and heavier, but is a far better built, and more durable camera. And more reliable. But still reasonable size and weight to carry daily. Plus it accepts Leica screw mount lenses.

 

[Godfrey]

The Leica IIIf was what I wanted, a good shooter body and a lens was more money than I had. Which is why I bought the Canon L1. One thing for our OP, the Leica cameras in screw mount (the Barnack cameras) are bottom load, and need specially trimmed film leaders. The Canon V, VI, and 7 do not.

I've never bothered to specially cut the leaders for any of the Barnacks I've owned. I find it just as easy to stuff the film and the loaded spool in with the standard leader. 🤷‍♂️

G

 

[Jbennett68]

I’m going to say iiif as well. Easy to find, inexpensive as far as Leicas go, easily fits in a jacket pocket. Vest of all. Relatively affordable Leica lenses and canon and Nikkor etc. The film loading is a little awkward at first but I find everything else pleasant to use. I have way more cameras than I need but Barnack Leicas are among my favorite.