Rangefinder in feet

[ray*j*gun]

Hi,

I have this beautiful Bessa I folder with a Skopar lens calibrated in feet. However my rangefinder is in meters. Anyone know where I can find an external rangefinder calibrated in feet?

Thanks!!

Ray

 

[sweathog]

They tend to crop up fairly regularily on the bay over here, so I'm sure the case is the same over in the States. that's a nice looking camera!

 

[ray*j*gun]

Hi Tom,

Thanks I will keep an eye out on the bay.

Ray

 

[oftheherd]

Having it in feet will be simpler for sure. However, as you probably know, a meter is 39 and some odd inches, or 3 feet and about 3 inches. Multiplying your meters by 3 will get you close enough in most cases unless you are just a few inches away and are using an f/1.4 lens.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Thats what I have been doing but it just seems like somebody should make a RF that is in feet or better still both meters and feet, then I could sell my Voightlander range finder. Heck the cheapest RF camera has a dual scale. Oh well, its Evil bay again if I want to get a little more precise.

Thanks for the response!

Ray

Having it in feet will be simpler for sure. However, as you probably know, a meter is 39 and some odd inches, or 3 feet and about 3 inches. Multiplying your meters by 3 will get you close enough in most cases unless you are just a few inches away and are using an f/1.4 lens.

 

[Argenticien]

Multiplying your meters by 3 will get you close enough in most cases unless you are just a few inches away and are using an f/1.4 lens.

At the risk of taking the thrill of the eBay hunt out of this: if your present external rangefinder has the usual dial that you turn, with the meter distances marked on it, then could you not print out a circular paper disc, with foot distance marks, to paste onto the dial? If you're really industrious, you could do hard conversions (such as interpolate between 3 m and 5 m ticks to find the right places to put 12 ft and 15 ft ticks) rather than less useful soft conversions (simply putting a 9.8 ft tick at 3 m and a 16.4 ft tick at 5m). The interpolations and drawing this disc on your computer would be a difficult one-time task but make the RF much more user-friendly. In fact you could put the foot ticks corresponding to the markings on the Bessa's particular lens, which would not necessarily be the case if you buy a foot-calibrated RF.

 

[ray*j*gun]

I really like that idea......its a Voightlander that has a dial...... I am going to take a good look at the idea of simply printing the second scale right on the dial. I hate the idea of buying a second finder anyway.

Thanks.....Ray

At the risk of taking the thrill of the eBay hunt out of this: if your present external rangefinder has the usual dial that you turn, with the meter distances marked on it, then could you not print out a circular paper disc, with foot distance marks, to paste onto the dial? If you're really industrious, you could do hard conversions (such as interpolate between 3 m and 5 m ticks to find the right places to put 12 ft and 15 ft ticks) rather than less useful soft conversions (simply putting a 9.8 ft tick at 3 m and a 16.4 ft tick at 5m). The interpolations and drawing this disc on your computer would be a difficult one-time task but make the RF much more user-friendly. In fact you could put the foot ticks corresponding to the markings on the Bessa's particular lens, which would not necessarily be the case if you buy a foot-calibrated RF.

 

[ZeissFan]

There are some rangefinder units that are marked in both feet and meters. However, most are either feet or meters. I've had several and ended up giving away most of them to people who needed them.

I bought one several years ago and ended up getting it into shape this year. It's the Zeiss Ikon Contameter from the 1960s. It's marked in feet and meters and has the added benefit of working with the Zeiss Proxars.

It's a nifty little thing, although it's a bit chunky as you can see in my writeup.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Hmmmmmm sounds like you might want to sell it? Perhaps.....

 

[FallisPhoto]

Hi,

I have this beautiful Bessa I folder with a Skopar lens calibrated in feet. However my rangefinder is in meters. Anyone know where I can find an external rangefinder calibrated in feet?

Thanks!!

Ray

If you go to ebay and click on "vintage accessories" in the cameras and photo section and then do a search for "rangefinder feet," you find the accessory rangefinders listed below.

Of those, I think that CIP isn't bad at all, and it may very well have been made by Wata (the makers of the Watameter); if so, it was probably a low budget model. It works well though, and is easy to adjust. Personally, I'd hold out for one of the real Watameters though (or maybe a Telex -- possibly also made by Watameter, but not as cheaply made as the CIP). Prazisa also made pretty good rangefinders, not quite as good as the Watameter, in my opinion, but almost, and a little better than the CIP. I think I'd pass on the plastic Ideal Rangefinder (I don't like their metal rangefinders, so I certainly wouldn't like the plastic ones). I don't know anything about the Bowdan, so you're completely on your own there. Bear in mind that pretty much anything photography-related that is sold on ebay will need an overhaul, or at least a good cleaning.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-CIP-FEE...oryZ4702QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Ideal-P...oryZ4702QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/WATAMETER-RANGE...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

http://cgi.ebay.com/Watameter-Shoe-...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flash-shoe-moun...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

http://cgi.ebay.com/MINT-BODAN-RANG...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

Of course, the very best thing to get (from an aesthetic or collector's standpoint) would be a Voigtlander rangefinder calibrated in feet. They're not cheap, but there are such things, you know. In fact, doing another search (this time on Google) found this guy, who has one for 39 pounds: http://www.peterloy.co.uk/Stocklist.htm

 

[pagpow]

to piggyback on the conversion -- you can get even closer to the conversion by multiplying the meters by 3.33 (there and a third) -- 3 meter is 10 ft, 6 meters is 20 ft, and you can fine tune the near end as much as you want. Print out the conversion, laminate it and stick it on your camera, if a circular solution is a problem. Done deal. By choosing the distances you convert strategically -- hyperfocal distance, or a couple of important zones -- you can really reduce the number of calculations and the size of the print out.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Hey guys thanks for the advice!! I did find some of the finders on the bay as suggested by a number of members. I bought one which I hope will work as well as it looks. For the price it was worth the risk.

Thanks again.

Ray

 

[FallisPhoto]

Hey guys thanks for the advice!! I did find some of the finders on the bay as suggested by a number of members. I bought one which I hope will work as well as it looks. For the price it was worth the risk.

Thanks again.

Ray

Oh oh! You're missing a part. See the hole between the eyepiece and the dial? A screw-in-type plug is supposed to go there.