Small, manual rangefinder

[johannielscom]

try the Ricoh 500G

try the Ricoh 500G

Try the Ricoh 500G.

Really small and pocketable. Can set speeds yourself and have the aperture follow, or set it to fully auto. Lens is 2.8 to 16.

Matt Denton (the guy from the link above) keeps comparing it to the Konica C35 RF, also a good choice.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

Actually, the Yashica GSN may be your best bet. Though not as small as the others it has a very good lens, is readily available, and in your price range. Most of these small cameras were not manual. Since you are making a transition which may or may not be permanent why not go with the Yashica?

 

[Brian Legge]

The 500G is a good suggestion. I haven't shot one - I've had one in my 'to fix and test' queue' for a while - but it handles nicely.

 

[NickTrop]

Going faster than f2.8 will mean a bigger camera, and the faster you go beyond that, the bigger your camera will be because the lens will be larger but there are exceptions:

F2.0 or faster:
Konica Auto S3
Yashica Electro CC
Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII

F2.8
Olympus XA
Olympus RC

The first three are a bit difficult to find and can be a little pricey ($100-$200-$250 I'd say). The second two are more plentiful and less expensive. The XA is a good bet. Lots out there, aperture priority, and truly pocketable with a clamshell case that covers the lens. It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes w/out the flash. The rest are "standard design" cameras - certainly small, but with their lenses protruding from the body.

There are, of couse, others but these are some suggestions.

 

[btgc]

Hi-Matic 7SII stands out of crowd as it has manual override instead of similar but automatic KAS3, Vivitar 35ES and Revue 400SE. Manual mode on 7SII is unmetered just like on Canonet.

 

[sanmich]

Hi

I'm sure it's not the answer you want, but as much as I love RFs, if that was me, and I wanted a cheap but smallish and effective camera, I would buy a Nikon FE or FM, or any of the excellent small SLR available...
I had a short experience with small fixed lens RFs and the superiority of the RF over SLR is IMHO wasted on the so-so finder, the long trip shutter release, the iffy meters and so on.
Just my two cents as they say...

 

[btgc]

the long trip shutter release

Only RF cameras with AE suffer from this. Soft release helps to some extent. RF cameras without shutter or aperture automation feel like a silk. Even cheap Petri 7S is better than GSN in this respect, and lens isn't bad at all.

 

[deirdre]

Nikonos V. I just bought a couple for quite cheap and the cover all your specs.

1. I'm not seeing these this cheaply. Local prices hover around $250 for one in working condition with a lens.
2. Pocketable? Maybe for a giant.
3. Scale focus, not a rangefinder.

I have one and love it, it's a tank, but small it's not.

 

[retnull]

The Konica Auto S2
-- easy to find
-- has an incredible Leica-quality f1.7 lens
-- not pocketable, but good ergonomics
-- can be found within your budget (mine was $20 on EBay in perfect working condition)

 

[kitaanat]

Your requirement similar to me. I need small camera that can carry everyday and no need to carry a big camera bag. I'm with batterytypehah!, Luddite Frank and Brian Legge about Kodak Retina IIIc (small). I used to have Retina IIIc which I got from ebay around 65USD and it works as good as the Retina IIIC (big C) can do.

Ricoh 500G/ 500GX / 500ME also handy and takes good shot too.