Bill Pierce
Well-known
I recently realized that my old rangefinder habits die hard even though I’m not using a Leica rangefinder. My favorite Leica is a Q2. Ninety percent of the time it is set to frame a 35mm field of view, the same focal length and angle of view that did ninety percent of the work on my rangefinder bodies. And like the rangefinder bodies with their bright line finders, I can see outside the fame lines, an important feature for me. Indeed, I recently went on a reading binge of web articles on rangefinders. Rangefinder focusing accuracy wasn’t an admired feature. The bright line finder and the ability to see outside of the frame was. With the Q2 I have the focusing accuracy that the digital mirrorless can offer and a viewfinder that lets me see outside of the frame lines. True, its “bright line finder” doesn’t give me the “everything sharp from foreground to background’ view that the optical finders do. But, while the jpg is cropped to the 35mm field, the raw file preserves the 28mm field of view and at 47 megapixels can provide a quality file even when cropped to the 50mm field of view. The ability to change the framing in the digital darkroom is a definite plus for those of us who are less than perfect.
Fuji provides us with cameras that have a true, non-ttl bright line finder. The X100 series provide a small camera with fixed 35mm equivalent that’s no problem to keep with you all the time, and the lightly larger X-Pro series provide lens interchangeablity. And with the flick of a switch both bring up a conventional EVF. a must for longer lenses and really close shots.
I bring all of this up because different photographers and different situations can benefit from different tools. And how you view the image is certainly important. Film cameras, the subminiature Minox, the 35mm rangefinders and SLRs, the 2 1/4 reflexes, the sheet film view cameras and a host of other gear, provided a variety of viewfinder options for a variety of photographic approaches. Today’s mainline gear - not so much. And that’s kind of sad. I don’t hear any complaints. I’m lucky. I still have viewfinders that let me see outside of the frame. I have a friend who copies rare books and art works, and her employer provides a large format digital camera valued at $120,000 that has a relatively large LCD. (I heard they just upgraded; haven’t got the price on that.) That’s a little high for folks who might have chosen a large format view camera in film days and probably a little more difficult to shoot landscapes with. But I wonder what those folks who would have ended up with other options than the 35-mm SLR in the days of all film are doing now? You could say shoot film, but that’s not always realistic these days. Any thoughts from those not lucky enough to be bright line frame shooters?
Fuji provides us with cameras that have a true, non-ttl bright line finder. The X100 series provide a small camera with fixed 35mm equivalent that’s no problem to keep with you all the time, and the lightly larger X-Pro series provide lens interchangeablity. And with the flick of a switch both bring up a conventional EVF. a must for longer lenses and really close shots.
I bring all of this up because different photographers and different situations can benefit from different tools. And how you view the image is certainly important. Film cameras, the subminiature Minox, the 35mm rangefinders and SLRs, the 2 1/4 reflexes, the sheet film view cameras and a host of other gear, provided a variety of viewfinder options for a variety of photographic approaches. Today’s mainline gear - not so much. And that’s kind of sad. I don’t hear any complaints. I’m lucky. I still have viewfinders that let me see outside of the frame. I have a friend who copies rare books and art works, and her employer provides a large format digital camera valued at $120,000 that has a relatively large LCD. (I heard they just upgraded; haven’t got the price on that.) That’s a little high for folks who might have chosen a large format view camera in film days and probably a little more difficult to shoot landscapes with. But I wonder what those folks who would have ended up with other options than the 35-mm SLR in the days of all film are doing now? You could say shoot film, but that’s not always realistic these days. Any thoughts from those not lucky enough to be bright line frame shooters?
