Rangefinder without exposure locking

[zuckerfuenf975]

Hey guys,

At the moment I am really getting into night photography and need a new rangefinder with a minimum aperature of f1.8. At the moment I am using a friends olympus om2 with a nice f1.4 lense, but I would like to swap back to rangefinders.

Since I am a canonet fan I would love to aquire a canonet ql 17. However I am worried about its exposure lock system and that the lightmeter gets turned off when shooting manual.

As an alternative I looked at the vivitar 35, but I couldnt find out if it has exposure locking.

Do any of you have suggestions? The camera would have to have a fast aperture of min f1.8, a lightmeter which is decent enough and an Asa/iso setting of at least 800.

Also I am wondering if you guys prefer shooting with an slr or an rangefinder at night?

 

[B-9]

Canon Sure Shot AF35ML,

Save you $$$ youll want a bessa R at least! 😉

 

[oftheherd]

I am more of an SLR shooter, but that isn't the only reason I would recommend you stay with an SLR. Trying to find the frame lines isn't a worry, although you still may have to move the camera around some while composing, to ensure you have everything you want; depends on how dark your shooting is.

The Canonet should be OK using it full manual. Again, how dark are you shooting and what are your highlights? The meter may well be fooled by lights anyway, making full manual a good idea.

Let us know what you choose and how it works for you.

BTW, welcome to RFF.

 

[Sid836]

Olympus 35LC. Not so big, but bigger than the rest of the 35XX family, but excellent metering featuring a match needle, no lock (uncoupled) and a 1.7 lens.

 

[ForestCap]

For night shots, I'd avoid those shutter speed priority cameras. They have limited metering range and limited shutter speed.

Being electronic cameras, Yashica Electro 35 series have good low light metering range down to 0 EV and lower, this beats most of the compact 35s from Canon, Minolta and/or Oly by 3 or more stops.

The shutter speed goes down to 8s or slower depending on the model.

The Electros don't have exposure locks. Disadvantage is there's no manual mode. Some models do have B mode.

One sample shot from Yashica Electro 35 CC. I think the meter on mine was one stop off (photo was underexposured). It can be easily compensated with ASA setting.

Fujicolor C200.
Shot with lens wide open at f/1.8. Can't remember how slow the shutter speed went, I was leaning on a pillar at the bus station.

 

[zuckerfuenf975]

Hi, thank you for all the messanges. I would mostly shoot street around in London with ISO 800, so will shoot put of hand. My issue with slrs is the sound and size, while in daylight people are mostly quite excited, at night they seem rather annoyed when they hear me taking pictures of them. This is also my issue with the yashica, it is big. As big as an slr, otherwise it would be my first choice.

 

[grouchos_tash]

I would probably not use TTL due to street lights etc making it difficult to meter this way. Use the camera in manual and a mobile app for metering 😉

 

[ForestCap]

Hi, thank you for all the messanges. I would mostly shoot street around in London with ISO 800, so will shoot put of hand. My issue with slrs is the sound and size, while in daylight people are mostly quite excited, at night they seem rather annoyed when they hear me taking pictures of them. This is also my issue with the yashica, it is big. As big as an slr, otherwise it would be my first choice.

Electro 35 GX is a smaller model and with ASA 800 setting.

123×75.7×64mm 580g

Small but a little to large to be pocket-able.

It doesn't suffer from PAD OF DEATH according to various reports.
It doesn't have B speed but has flash sync for all shutter speed.
It's rarer and CAN be more expensive. Need to snipe on eBay in order to pay less.

PS: I do care a lot, maybe too much about camera size too.
Attachment is a size comparison between GX and two pocket-able cameras.

 

[zuckerfuenf975]

The Electro 35 GX looks really interesting, just hard to find... I will check around in the camera stores in London. Has it got exposure lock? Thank you very much tho 🙂

And btw, do you guys think aperture or shutter priority is more important in night photography?

 

[Frontman]

The Electro 35 GX looks really interesting, just hard to find... I will check around in the camera stores in London. Has it got exposure lock? Thank you very much tho 🙂

And btw, do you guys think aperture or shutter priority is more important in night photography?

Shutter priority works well if you want to select a minimum speed high enough to prevent shakes and resulting blurs. But for night shooting where shutter speeds are very long, aperture priority works better.

The GX does not have exposure lock, but it does have a number of good features. I think the GX has a better lens than the Canonet, and Yashica uses better glass and coatings. Many old Canonets have haze, scratched glass, or terminal fungus, these problems are quite rare in Yashica cameras. The GX is about the same size as a QL17, so you will find it no less easy to handle. And for night shooting, the GX is a great choice, it shoots quite accurately in low light.

You can check eBay for a GX, I have a couple listed there now, one black and one silver.