What was your first RF?

[Doug]

It was 1967 and I was a Pentax shooter, when I picked up a used Leica M2 along with a new 35mm Summicron... my first actual RF camera (which I still use). Prior to that my first 35mm cameras were a couple of "direct view" models without RF: a Regula, and a Petri Half-7, both long gone.

 

[pvdhaar]

As far as RFs go, I started out with a Hexar RF. Had it for a couple of years (great camera, but the film advance noise and the 0.6x finder bugged me too much in the end) and then replaced it with a Bessa-T.

 

[Lear]

Mine was a Mamiya 6MF, never had a RF before, bought it on a great price by phone. I remember going to a local shop that had a M6 and playing with it half an hour before confirming the seller to ship the camera.

Strange enough it got me into this, and a long line of RF came afterwards. Contaxes, leicas, yashicas.

 

[sf]

oh

oh

People that had a Mamiya 6 as their first RF were spoiled. I had a fuji, little plastic camera when i was in 5th grade. The thing was actually kind of big, bulbous, and had a really cruddy lens. But, for a 5th grader, it was more than enough, and I enjoyed its wide angle lens for taking architecture photos. I wanted to be an architect.

I only wish I had the money to throw at a Mamiya. I ALMOST bought one last weekend, but decided not to. I almost buy one every week, probably. And will for quite some time, until I finally get a real job. Grad school stands between me and a truly self-indulgent GAS shopping spree.

 

[nomade]

Fed-2, my dad's , so it's been there all the time..

 

[fotografz]

I went all the way right off the bat. I had been using a Canon FTB and F1 for most work, but consistently admired certain work that more often than not turned out to be shot with a Leica M.

So, I saved until I could secure a brand new M4. I remember that upon opening the box and lifting out the camera I thought to myself ... " no more excuses".

To this day, digital juggernaut not withstanding, the M is my standard of image quality to which I compare all my other 35mm work. It still reigns supreme.

In fact, I just sold a M7 and replaced it with one of the nostalgic new LHSA MPs in chrome.

 

[Sean Chan]

The Yashica Electro 35 GT.

Non-working one from evil-bay, took me 3 months to learn and fix all the problems that came with it.

1. the pad of death was .........well............dead

2. the ISO blades was not closing down

I can't wait to do a roll after all this few months repairing work

Before I can do that I need to re-seal it !

 

[lubitel]

my first one was Leica M7.

🙂 just kidding. wishful thinking. My first one was a Lomo 35 with scale focusing. I forgot about it for years, then took some fotos with it 5 years ago and was so surprised with the quality, that was the beginning of the rf bug. then a few years back minox 35. the first real rf was a zorkii 3C, 2 years ago.

 

[jorisbens]

My first rangefinder was a fed-1, but after a few weeks, i traded it for a fed-2, which I still use.

Joris

 

[RobynS]

My second 35mm camera, the first was a Regula (non RF), was a super Paxette with a f/2.8
45 mm Xenar. Also I had bought a 35mm and 90mm lenses, these required a separate viewfinder the design of which was lethal. The viewfinder was cone shaped and one had to squint through the sharp end and this could injure the eye in the event of falling or someone pushing from behind. I bought this outfit in Aden in or about 1956. The camera etc was subsequently sold on my return to the U.K due to my being skint.

 

[Mackinaw]

First rangefinder? I bought a used Leica M3 dual stroke back in 1978. I haven't looked back since.

Jim Bielecki

 

[darkkavenger]

I started about a year ago with a FED-3 type B ... Wonderful camera... now property of my beloved 😉

My favourite RF shooter is my Kiev-2A from 1956. Perfect... I think only a pre-war Contax-II would keep me away from it ... or a Zeiss-Ikon 😉

 

[TPPhotog]

I also started about a year ago but mine was a Canonet QL17 (small).

That was followed very quickly with a QL17 GIII, Zorki 4K (which I broke and gave away to a good home), a Fed 2b and the latest addition to my family is a Yashica MG-1 🙂

I did stray along the way and got a Holga 120S which I also love.

Yep I guess I'm hooked 😀

 

[FPjohn]

Kalimar

Kalimar

Hello:

A Kalimar 35 from Sears in 1965.

yours
Frank

 

[GeneW]

I started with a Minolta Hi-Matic 7 purchased new, sometime in 1965. A couple of years later I sold it to a friend so I could afford a new Pentax H1a SLR. I was on a student budget and it never occured to me that you could own more than one camera at a time !!

Later added an XA as a carryaround camera to supplement the OM-1's I'd acquired.

I liked RF's okay, but was not overly enthusiastic about them since much of my photography involved telephoto and macro. Oddly, it was digital that hooked me into RF. I purchased a Canon G2 (now owned by Joe) and found I really liked a simple, small, carry-everywhere kind of camera rather than carrying around my heavier and more cumbersome SLR gear. That got me shooting my XA again, and I added a Stylus Epic. Small, light and portable became my new direction.

Then Big Trouble: I discovered this forum. In the past two or three years I've gone through a series of RF's: Leica CL, Canonet QL17 GIII, Olympus RD, Bessa R, Bessa R2, Zorki 4K, Fed 2, even a test drive of a Kiev 4am.

Now I'm down to two RF's: a Zorki 3M that really turns my crank, and a Leica M2 that I find delightful. These may (or may not) be my final RF's.

What a journey. Thanks RFF!

Gene

 

[Richard Black]

First r/f was a Zorki 4 with J8 about 3 years ago. Was looking for a easy to carry camera that I could loose and not care. Like an infection it blossomed. Zorki 4K, traded, Leica IIIc, Mir, Bessa R, Moskva 5 and I use them regularly, the Bessa R the most. 🙂

 

[wlewisiii]

I picked up a GSN at a flea market a year ago last July and in trying to find information about it, I discovered this place and it's been a fun ride (downward spiral??? 😀 ) ever since.

Time to take my son to day care and then go shoot some fall colors with the Canon.

William

 

[caila77]

Konica III, very nice. I sold it, but now I'd like to buy another one

 

[kzim56]

My older brother was a professional photographer. The first rangefinders I was exposed to were his Leicas which he let his little brother handle carefully. He bought me an old (even then) Bolsy B2. I can't even remember if it was a RF. Last summer I realized I didn't want to spend loads on a DSLR, which was the way I was headed. Nostaliga kicked in. I bought a Nikkormat FT2 to replace one stolen in a burglary 15 years ago. Found RFF and was hooked. Konica Auto S2, Yashica GSN, Fed 3....and so on and so on...

 

[dmr]

My first rangefinder was a Mamiya Super Deluxe back in about 1970, not to show my true age. This was my first real camera.

I absolutely forget what sparked my interest in rangefinders. I think it was mostly a disliking for the pretention I'd experienced among SLR photogs around here, and an interest in old stuff.

Not unlike the attitude we see today from the digital enthusiasts. ... But seriously, I "went SLR" shortly after I got my first rangefinder, a Pentax Spotmatic. Then I traded up to a K1000 several years later.

I really didn't use the Mamiya after I got the Spotmatic, so I eventually sold it, a decision I have regretted ever since.

Fast-forward 30 years. I was shooting some low-light stuff with the K1000, 800 film, wide open. I just knew that the >>THWACK<< of the mirror was costing me an f-stop and I realized then that if I had the Mamiya instead of the Pentax I could probably shoot at a slower shutter speed.

I then went on a quest to re-acquire one of those Mamiya SD's which led me here. I now have a QL17 GIII and a Mamiya SD.