Need Advise! Rangefinder off center?

[msvadi]

Hi guys,

I just received Bessa R3A and noticed that the rangefinder , the small central portion of the viewfinder, actually does not stay in the center, but rather moves to the upper left corner, as I decrease focus distance.

On another rangefinder camera that I used, Canonet, this portion always stays in the center of the viewfinder (or, at least, I think it stays). This makes me wonder if there is a problem with the camera i received.

Thanks for your help.

 

[msvadi]

One of my friends has just explained to me that it's supposed to move in the frame, and that's the way a rangefinder works. I guess, it was a stupid question. Well, I don't care, as long as my camera is fine 🙂

 

[wierdcollector]

No problem, there are no stupid questions if you really are looking for help. We've all been there at one time or another. Glad to see your camera is fine. Enjoy the Bessa and I look forward to seeing a few examples of your work some time. We're all friends here and most of us don't bite.

 

[jlw]

Hi guys,

I just received Bessa R3A and noticed that the rangefinder , the small central portion of the viewfinder, actually does not stay in the center, but rather moves to the upper left corner, as I decrease focus distance.

If you look really carefully, I'm pretty sure you'll find that the rangefinder patch stays put, and it's the bright frame lines surrounding it that move. That's how the camera compensates for parallax error -- the framelines shift diagonally as you focus closer.

It can be deceptive, because the surroundings of the finder are dark, so you don't have any point of reference to tell what's moving and what's staying still. One way to see it more easily is to hold the camera very still -- set it on a table, for example -- and look through the eyepiece with your eye several inches away. When you can see the outside of the camera for reference, it's easier to tell what moves and what doesn't.

Not all cameras work the same in this regard -- for example, in Fuji and Leningrad cameras, the rangefinder image stays still and the whole viewfinder image moves back and forth -- so it's certainly not dumb to wonder what's going on! A lot of people wouldn't be observant enough to notice this.

 

[msvadi]

No problem, there are no stupid questions if you really are looking for help. We've all been there at one time or another. Glad to see your camera is fine. Enjoy the Bessa and I look forward to seeing a few examples of your work some time. We're all friends here and most of us don't bite.

Thanks 🙂
The camera feels very nice. I am still getting used to the 1:1 viewfinder - trying to keep both eyes open 😉

 

[msvadi]

jlw: thanks a lot for the explanation, now everything makes sense 🙂 it seems to me that the canonet was different in this respect, but i'll have to check after it comes back from the repair.