Rangefinder etymology? (another GorG spinoff) ...

[dmr]

Sorry -- I'm pretty much the only one of my friends, male or female for that matter, who even knows what a "rangefinder" is, not counting the friends I've made because of the cameras themselves.

This got me to thinking ... (yes, dangerous, I know) 🙂 ... back when I got my first rangefinder, I don't really remember the term "rangefinder" being that commonly used, either as a noun to describe the camera itself, or as an adjective, modifying the term camera.

If I would have held up the camera to somebody, even one who knew cameras and asked what type of a camera it was, the answer as I remember it would be "a 35mm" or just "a 35" or maybe by brand "a Mamiya" or something.

I can remember hearing things like 'oh wow, you got a 35!" when I showed it off. 🙂

I don't even recall using the term "rangefinder" much, if at all in those days, to refer to the gadget that does the actual rangefinding.

I do remember that years after I would always refer to my old camera as "a rangefinder" and I was wondering when that term really became in common use.

Maybe in the early 70's it was in common use, but either I don't remember it or those I hung out with just didn't use the term.

 

[bmattock]

The term 'rangefinder' is used in my camera magazine dating from the 1940's onward. Before that, the cameras that used 35mm film were most often referred to as 'miniature' with no further qualification.

During the period of time when the rangefinder design was ubiquitous, the term 'camera' was used most often without requiring qualification (say roughly 1940's to early 1950's in the USA). When the SLR camera began to make inroads, once again people qualified the term 'camera' with 'SLR' or 'rangefinder'.

I did not grow up hearing the term "rangefinder," that's very true (1960's to 1970's). But then again, aside from a Leica, I didn't know what a rangefinder was - I was a Canonista SLR boy.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

People living around me call my RF camera a 'Kodak'.

Only video cameras are called 'camera'.

 

[bmattock]

People living around me call my RF camera a 'Kodak'.

Only video cameras are called 'camera'.

I had not heard that, but it may be regional, like calling a soft drink "pop," "soda," or "coke." In my oldest camera magazines, dating back to the 1910's and 1920's, people refer to being photographed as 'being Kodaked'.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[oftheherd]

Curious. I don't remember hearing that term in the 50's, but frankly, when attending camera club meetings with my father, I probably wasn't paying much attention to that. Still, from my vague recollections, not that many people had rf cameras. My recollection is that most people called their cameras by brand or model name. Money was still tight for a lot of people in the 40s and 50s, so it wasn't uncommon for people to sport prewar folders or 9x12s along with their 35mm cameras. 127 and 120 was alive and well then too. Rulers and tripods for closeups were common, as were flower shots in b/w.

 

[bmattock]

Curious. I don't remember hearing that term in the 50's, but frankly, when attending camera club meetings with my father, I probably wasn't paying much attention to that. Still, from my vague recollections, not that many people had rf cameras. My recollection is that most people called their cameras by brand or model name. Money was still tight for a lot of people in the 40s and 50s, so it wasn't uncommon for people to sport prewar folders or 9x12s along with their 35mm cameras. 127 and 120 was alive and well then too. Rulers and tripods for closeups were common, as were flower shots in b/w.

Don't forget the ubiquitous bit of string to mark distances! "Here, hold this! OK, you're exactly ten feet away from me. Drop the string and watch the birdie!"

And every camera magazine sported ads from a dozen makers of 'speed enhancing' additives for developers, all of which claimed everything. Faster, less grain, more accutance, etc.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Finder]

"Rangefinder" denotes a device that measures object distance. It does not always apply to cameras. Rangefinders have been used by the military artillery units for a long time. A long time ago, it was two words, range finder. You can see that on old literature. Today, it is one word.

 

[oftheherd]

Don't forget the ubiquitous bit of string to mark distances! "Here, hold this! OK, you're exactly ten feet away from me. Drop the string and watch the birdie!"

And every camera magazine sported ads from a dozen makers of 'speed enhancing' additives for developers, all of which claimed everything. Faster, less grain, more accutance, etc.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Do I recall a manufacturer who had a metal thing that fit into the tripod socket that was supposed to be used for closeups?

I don't remember when I last saw an advertisement for speed enhancement additives. I remember there was one in the mid-80s that I used to use and recommend when I taught forensic photography. I don't remember what it was called, but it worked very well. I guess 1600 and 3200 color, not to mention b/w film has made that something no longer needed.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

My Olympus XA of late 80's vintage had a wrist strap exactly the right length for the closest focus distance.

 

[dmr]

People living around me call my RF camera a 'Kodak'.

Now that I think of it, my grandmother (MSRIP) used to refer to any camera as a "Kodak", and also as the photos themselves as "Kodaks". 🙂

I remember her distinctly saying one time "You know, we used to develop our own Kodaks back when your dad was your age ..."