new to rangefinder

[balmo]

hello! i am new to rangefinder camera and want purchase a good, inexpensive rf camera. right now i am looking at yashica electro gsn at ebay. can you guys recommend a different rf camera? what thinngs do you want to look for in buying one? thanks.

 

[BillBingham2]

You might look at a Konica S3 and read some of the classic camera profiles you can find at www.cameraquest.com. Stephen has some great info on older (but still great) inexpensive rf cameras.

The Yashica you mention has a great reputation here, as do a few of the Canon cameras out there.

A lot depends upon your knowledge of photograhpy, what you want to take pictures of, how much you want to get into the technical side of things and how much you want to spend (what is inexpensive to you).

Welcome and give me some more info and we (many of us here) will chime in with opinions.

B2 (;->

 

[shadowfox]

Konica S3 is a good suggestion, albeit expensive (for me at least 🙂 )

If you don't mind a 2.8 max aperture lens, the similarly-sized, much less expensive Konica C35 is one to get.

I started with Olympus XA, cheap, small, surprisingly sharp lens, and small...
The one with the best lens IMO is Olympus 35 SP, not cheap, a black one just sold for $300, usually a good chrome one will cost you anywhere from $60 to $120.

 

[KoNickon]

Besides the Konica S3, check out the Konica S2. Similar size to the Yashica. Much easier to find than the S3, and less expensive. Another compact camera like the S3 (and likewise much more plentiful and less expensive) is the Canonet GIII QL17.

Unfortunately, each of these cameras (including the Yashica and the S3) requires a battery that's no longer made, and so you need to check out non-mercury alternatives, or in the case of the Yashica a special adaptor.

 

[shadowfox]

Eh, I don't know why everyone thinks the Canonet GIII QL17 as being great, I have one, have it CLA'd, used it, not blown away by the result at all, rather flat and not very sharp.

The S3 has nicer bokeh, the Olympus 35 SP has sharper lens, only the quickloading and the heft make up the positive points for it.

And the Canonet is bigger than the S3, I think the S3 or the similarly sized Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII are the best if you're going for small camera (the Oly 35 SP is even bigger than the Canonet, but not bigger than the Yashica Electro).

Now batteries, the Konicas (S3 or C35) can use Walgreen-branded 675 hearing aid batteries without problems. I've read using aluminum foil to pad the battery on the Yashica works (I've done something similar for my Olympus 35 EC, so I knew it *could* work).

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

Any of the compact RFs will be a good introduction to RF photography but I'd advise you not to buy one on Eboy. I've had much much better results from the classifieds on this forum.