What the best of the smallest RF's for my pocket?

My small cameras.

(Iskra: $50 for the pair. EX except inop shutter.)
 

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I was just going o suggest the Minox GT when I saw what Frank posted above! Yes, this is the camera to get and use for sharp results. I trust it more than the XA. It's great for slide film photography.
 
My vote is for the Rollei 35S. Lens is plenty good enough for me.

I added a Mini-soft release to the shutter as I was always wanting to press the lens release button instead of the shutter button when I grabbed the camera without looking to shoot.

Wayne
 
egpj said:
I got the chance to hold the Oly XA and I would have to say that I was very impressed by that little package. The XA is the best. I wish I could find one that was mint to play with.
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The reason you'll have a time of it finding a "mint" XA is that the camera is so well thought out overall that people who buy them actually use them. A world-weary XA is testimony to good design.

That being said, my favorite "pocketable" 35 is a Ricoh GR1. Yes, it's AF (the only AF camera I have left, not counting my somewhat bigger Olympus digital), but it has a programmable zone-focus/hyperfocal mode that makes street/spontaneous shooting swift. And, yes, it has AE, but you have the choice of program or aperture-priority (with half-stops), and the best implementation of exposure compensation I've seen in something this small.


- Barrett
 

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kshapero said:
Looking for a small manual everything 35mm rangefinder. The smaller the better to keep in my pocket at all times, so I never miss a shot. Any ideas?
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Pocket requirement will eliminate most interchangeable RF's.

For a RF like experience, I would suggest:

Olympus XA - been all over the world with it and it takes great pictures. Has a great f2.8, 35mm. Flash is unobtrusive if you attach it. "Spy Camera" size if the flash is off. Is auto-aperture, too.

Some like the Ricoh GR1 though I don't know much about it except it is pretty small as well.
 
FrankS said:
My small cameras.

(Iskra: $50 for the pair. EX except inop shutter.)
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Hi Frank, I picked up my 35 GL at a flea market last year. Nice pix of your pair. Have you tried new batteries? Regards.
 
The repair person who CLA'ed my Rollei SE--and who loves to talk about at length over the phone- -says everything is quite easy to work on. It's all mechanical, all in small replacement modules. Also that the lens coating for the Sonnar may have varied over the period of production, some more yellowish and some more blueish. This probably yields some subtle variation in contrast or saturation but nothing to go crazy about.

The nice thing about the Rollei S/T/SE is that you can carry the camera snugly in your hand, the lens column between your fingers, a finger lazily on the shutter release, ready to shoot quite quickly. And I find the 40mm focal length yields me more usable photos than a 35mm--such as on the minox or the little olympuses--does.
 
second vote for the film Ricoh's, they are fantastic compact cameras.

if you are at all considering digital the panasonic lx1 and lx2 are interesting and enjoyable cameras (cant shoot with them above 200iso, but they do have a built in stabalizer so its a trade off)
 
ok, I gotta throw in my two cents. This is too much fun. I own both the XA and the Rollei 35 and love both. Each has it's own endearing personality, and it's own shortcomings. The XA is prone to electrical faults, and is not fully manual. This last issue was part of the original requirement. The Rollei is not as quite as pocketable and although it has a very useable depth of field scale it lacks a rangefinder. Again, this last was part of the original requirements. Retinas come in various configurations and I've managed to own most varieties. The earlier Retina II cameras I find too hard to hold securely. You almost have to hold it by the fold out door, and I for one can't seem to hold it steady. The later IIc is a beautiful user but it's as big as a screw mount Leica. You might as well get the Leica and have a better range of lenses. (Or get a Fed like I did.) There's also the Olympus RC which gives unmetered manual and rangefinder focusing in a tiny package. Or the Ricoh 500g (AKA Sears 35rf) which gives fully metered manual in an only slightly larger package. Both the Olympus and the Ricoh have sharp lenses. These are the only the ones I can give personal testimony on, but I've come to the conclusion that there's no one perfect pocket rangefinder. Not for me anyway.
 
Contax T. One has been in my pocket for twenty years, loaded with K-25, or now Provia or Scala. Superb results from a superb lens
 
M5, just kidding.

I have a CL with a 40/2 and it is pretty pocketable, of course I'm a pretty big guy, or at least my pants are!

My Zorki 6 with Collapsible 50/3.5 is nice b/c there are no sharp edges to catch on anything, not exactly light though.

Mark
 
I have an XA2, a Rollei 35T and a Ricoh GR1. The GR1 is the undisputed favourite. Light enough, well built, good controls, quick to use in 'snap' or autofocus and accurate metering (unlike the other two) It also has a small flash built in - often enough to save the photo.

It's main virtue though is the superb lens which outperforms most of my SLR lenses.

I must confess none of these are actually 'rangefinders' but at short focal lengths, zone (XA2 and 35T) is good enough and Ricoh autofocus is easily overridden in 'snap' or 'infinity' modes.

New toy Bessa R2 is great but not really a pocket camera.
 
I've been after a little scale-focus wondercamera like the XA or the Rollei, but to be honest a Leica screwmount fits in my pocket just fine.
 
i have used the yashica t4 and ricoh gr1 extensively and they are both awesome. the gr1 is really the best of the best. tough, great meter, super lens, compact and really well thought out for a street shooter.
 
Minox 35 GT-E.

Plastic and no rangefinder, but a great lens in a great package. Better ergonomics, for me, than the XA (which I also own).
 
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