Please recommend me a rangefinder

S

Starburst

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Apr 21, 2009
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Hi,

I am currently shooting with a Kodak Retina IIa with a 50mm f2 lens. I love the camera but sometimes I miss a more wide angle lens. Maybe you guys can help me find the right camera.

Must haves:
- Lens in the 35mm area
- Rangefinder is a must have. I have been playing around with a Minox EL, love the size but I find it quite useless at open apertures due to lack of rangefinder
- Full manual controls. I hate the fact that I can only use the Minox with aperture priority

Nice to have:
- Fast lens
- pocketable or at least small
- no batteries or electronics

Not required
- Light meter

I have been looking around a bit. I am basically looking for my Retina IIa with a 35mm lens but can't really find anything that fits. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
 
I would recomend a Rank Mamiya 4B. Doesn't need batteries, has a built in light meter. Not as small as some rangefinders, but it has very sweet mechanics. Ultra quiet shutter, 40mm f2.8 lens which has good reviews. Cheap as chips on ebay (around 15-20 GBP). Only draw back for me is the shutter only goes to 1/250. Has an accessory shoe but you will need to synch a flash from the sync socket. I really like mine. Either that or join the fight for an Olympus 35 RC or RD. Much more money though. Haven't tried any others so I can't say anything about them.
 
Leica IIIa

CV 35/2.5 or 35/1.7

CV Metal 35mm Brightline finder

Gordy Wrist Strap.

Lots of film.

B2 (;->

P.S. You might look for an older CV 25/4 Snap-Shot lens with finder for the same body, it is stellar.
 
Guys, please don't mention the L-word. I am having a very hard time as it is not buying a beatiful m-system camera. I would love to own a Leica or Bessa and all I need is two lenses, 50mm and 35mm but this would cost me at least 1500 bucks. ;) At the moment I am trying to be sensible before the Leica bug costs me a lot of money.

Sigh, one day I will buy a Leica but for now I am trying to be frugal. I really love my Retina IIa and I can't believe I got it for only 50 €. I was hoping to find something similar in the 35mm area. The suggested Mamyia goes into the right directions.

By the way, thanks everybody for your suggestions. It seems there are lots of good 50mm fixed lens rangefinders but not so many in the 35mm area.
 
Starburst,

Do not shy away from an old Leica IIIa, with a good CLA you have a very useable camera at a reasonable price. You can spend a lot, but you do not have to. There really were not a lot of manual RFs built with a 35 or wider. You might check here:

http://www.cameraquest.com/classics.htm

for what is listed but I do not remember a lot.

While some folks love FSU camera, I look at them as money pits. I sunk a lot of money into a few some years back and never had a reliable camera. It did move me to Nikon RFs which I now love so it was not bad. But if you want a camera you can count on, without "Tinkering" every so often, look elsewhere.

Another option to Leica is Tower cameras of the same age or Canon. I know Nikon made lenses for both but I do not know who really made the Tower cameras.

Yet another crazy option is to look into swapping out the front elements of another Retina, perhaps a IIIc. I think they made something around a 35 but do not remember. The build quaility of all the Retinas were great so no worries there. Glass was very fine too.


B2 (;->
 
Starburst said:
I would love to own a Leica or Bessa and all I need is two lenses, 50mm and 35mm but this would cost me at least 1500 bucks. ;) At the moment I am trying to be sensible before the Leica bug costs me a lot of money.
Click to expand...

A Russian FED camera would probably fit the bill. But it is a matter of chance to find a good copy. Industar-61 (with luck) is a good 50mm (well, approximately, it is actually 55mm), and usually comes attached with FED-5. For a 35mm lens, you would need to look for a good LTM lens; a CV 35mm/2.5 is a sensible option.

but, I would rather look for a Bessa R2M or R3M... the body will cost you about $500 or $600 new, the kit with a nice Heliar 50/2 is under $1000, and then you can probably find a 35mm CV lens for a couple hundred more. So you can do it for under $1200.

A compromise one-lens option would be a fixed lens Konica Auto S2. It has a nice 45mm Hexanon.
 
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BillBingham2 said:
Retina, perhaps a IIIc. I think they made something around a 35 but do not remember. The build quaility of all the Retinas were great so no worries there. Glass was very fine too.
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest "trading up" to a IIc/C or IIIc/C but using the 35 and 80 accessory lenses is a bit of a chore. The acessory lenses have to distance set usign an auxillary scale or ocnverted using hte calculator on the lenses. Also need a auxilliary viewfinder. It isn't impossible, but it isn't fast to shoot using them either. BTW, there are two different 35 mm lenses avaible -- the more commonly seen f/5.6 and another that is f/4. The 80mm is f/4.

With the standard 50mm lens, the Retina is a great camera!
 
The FSU Jupitar 12 35/2.8 can be a KICK A55 lens. You can pick them up cheap. Plop that on a Leica IIIa and spend another $125 on a used 35mm CV Metal finder used.

B2 (;->
 
RESISTANCE IS USELESS.

You've admitted that it is going to be a Leica sooner or later.

Why waste money in the meantime, buying a camera you know you aren't going to be satisfied with?

Where are you? Wanna borrow a Leica...?

Cheers,

R.
 
I went the FED route first, but it only cost me $20. It works.
Then I bought an M4-P. It really works. But it cost a whole lot more than $20.
If you can swing it, and are not taking bread out of the mouths of your loved ones, then get what you really want.

--michael
 
Canon P, with a 35/2. Use them while you save up for a Leica, then sell the P at a slight loss (if any). Then buy a M2 and LTM adapter for your 35/2. Any questions? :D
 
Thanks everybody for your helpful suggestions. :)

Gumby said:
With the standard 50mm lens, the Retina is a great camera!
Click to expand...

I absolutely love it. It is a very fine camera.

Roger Hicks said:
Why waste money in the meantime, buying a camera you know you aren't going to be satisfied with?
Click to expand...

I was (naively) hoping there is something like the Retina that offers great quality for little money.

Where are you? Wanna borrow a Leica...?
Click to expand...

That is incredibly generous Roger. Unfortunately I am in Berlin, so not exactly around the corner of Aquitaine. How about this: I work as a tour guide in Berlin. Should you ever come to Berlin I will give you a free tour of the city and take a look at your Leica. ;)
 
Minolta CLE, with 28 f2.8, 40 f2.0 and a 90 f4.0 is you need it...along with almost all the leica and cv glass you may decide you need later.
 
Also check out the Olympus 35 RC. Aperture priority if you want, or full manual.

It has a 42mm lens. Not quite wide angle, but close. It's small, easy to use and overall a very nice camera. It uses the old mercury batteries, but the zinc-air hearing aid batteries work fine.

The Zeiss Ikon Contessa S312/Voigtlander VF101 is a rangefinder with aperture priority autoexposure with a 40mm Tessar/Skopar lens.
 
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