SLR to Rangefinder - What to expect?

[back alley]

steve, a rf will not change the essence of you as a shooter but...as in driving, there is a difference when i drive a big ol car with an auto and when i drive a small sport car with a nice smooth stick. i take the corners harder and accelerate much quicker with the sports car than the old buick.

as for ebay tips, i look at seller's rating, i look at the pics of the camera and i email with questions before, mostly to check response time and attitude.
you may already know this stuff- for questions i ask about the finder, if clear or cloudy, sticky seals (many have these) if they have actually taken any pics with the camera.

you may be better off putting you own 'wanted' ad here and at photo.net - i find the quality of what you get is better and the prices are the same if not a bit better.

joe

 

[jpmccormac]

As a RF wanabe I've been following this thread because I'm smitten with the R2a/R3a. I have a Canonet QL III 17, but I don't use it much. The VF is a bit cloudy and I find focusing it much slower than the AF on my Canon Elan 7E SLR.

Question: Someone told me to try using the viewfinder with BOTH eyes open so I can see more of the surrounding subject area. The problem with this is that if I look through the VF with my right eye and the subject area with my left eye, the old brain breaks the VF into two images of different sizes - presumably because of the smaller image in the VF, so I have to close the left eye anyway to focus properly. Maybe I'm a "left eye" person. Am I missing something or was this a silly suggestion?

Thanks for the pointer to Dante Stella's article. Very informative.

BTW, renting an RF is not an option, as I live in the middle of nowhere in central Florida.

 

[rover]

Not a silly question at all. What follows though is a silly answer.

You simply are right, it doesn't work when using a viewfinder with a low magnification. This is one of the upcoming potential pleasures to be had with the R3a which has a 1:1 viewfinder. Both eyes will be seeing the image in the same size, and the frame lines are supposed to float in your field of vision. At least that is what I think is going to happen. I will let you know when mine arrives.

 

[doubs43]

To determine which eye is "dominant", raise your arm with your index finger extended and point the finger directly at an object. Then close each eye in turn. The eye that sees the finger pointing directly at the object is the dominant eye. This is a problem for gun owners who are right-handed and have a dominant left eye or vice-versa. Some British shotguns are made with a "crossover" stock that is brought to one shoulder but is curved so that the shooter is looking down the barrels with the opposite dominant eye. Some shooters with the problem wear an eye patch or glasses with a patch that covers the dominant eye, forcing the weaker eye to be used.

Walker

 

[jpmccormac]

Based on the "finger pointing" exercise and my own experience my left eye is surely dominant and my natural inclination is to use my left eye for focusing and for aiming a gun (which I haven't done for quite a while thank you.) 🙂

I shoot right handed, fish right handed and throw left handed, but Mama said I ain't been right since she dropped me.

Thanks for the information.