which film camera for 28mm Elmarit

[gzisis69]

hi there, i need your help to decide for a camera. i managed to order my 28mm Summarit and i'm really excited. The problem is now with which camera to pair him with. I need something small, with good viewfinder and not much more expensive than 1000 euros. what would you suggest?

 

[Tom R]

Off hand, would an M4-P work for you? It has a 28mm finder as well as a hot-shoe in the event you want to use speed lights.

Don't know about its availability in Europe, however. I assume that the 28mm Summarit has the same registration as the other 28mm M lenses, such as the Summicron, Elmarit, etc.

Of course, I assume that you're comfortable using a fully mechanical camera. I've used a couple of these, one fitted with a 28mm Elmarit, the other with a 35mm or a 50mm Simmicron for over twenty years and, apart from the required CLAs, have had no problems whatsoever.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

The Leica M6 has a meter. As of recent the price of these cameras is rising. I think you can still get one for 1000 Euros.

 

[gzisis69]

a meter is important to me cause i can't always guess the light and i don't want to carry an external meter.

 

[j.scooter]

The Minolta CLE is wonderful, especially for 28mm. The .58 viewfinder magnification gives you lots of room for the 28 plus there is a nice amount of room outside the framelines.

You should get one for less than half of your budget.

It has a meter and aperture priority.

That's a win, win, win 🙂

 

[gzisis69]

the cle is not a bad idea, but is it reliable ? can it be serviced ? how does the lens sit on her ? is the balance ok or ist the camera going to have the weight in front like some mirrorless with huge lenses ?

 

[retinax]

A few M mount cameras have viewfinders that are ideal for 28mm because of their lower magnification: The 0.58 Leica M models (out of your budget I think), the Bessa R4 (expensive for what it is), the Minolta CLE and the Konica Hexar RF (electronics may be unrepairable, expensive for that).

Your other options are the 0.72 viewfinder Leica Ms with 28mm framelines, and external finders on any camera. If you plan to at some point use a 50 or longer, that may be better because the 50mm framelines in the lower mag finders are quite small. External viewfinders are not so bad, you do get used to them, especially with 28 or wider where you often don't need the rangefinder to focus, so you still use only one finder.

 

[superultramega]

Konica Hexar RF. Bought one in the last year. Better build than expected and nice magnification for 28mm. Supposedly could die at any moment but worth the risk.

 

[Matthew Runkel]

Summaron or Elmarit, either will be great. I don’t think a metered M body with 28mm frames and no issues can be found in the current market for close to your budget. The Minolta CLE suggestion is a good one. Voigtlander Bessa R4a or R4m may be another option.

 

[helen.HH]

To the OP

Curious,
Is there a 28mm Summarit
Or do You mean Elnarit ?

 

[gzisis69]

sorry i wrote it wrong i meant Elmarit

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

M5 - got the 28mm framelines, excellent metering and rather less than an M6. Ergonomics are much better too.

 

[trianbampol]

Summaron or Elmarit, either will be great. I don’t think a metered M body with 28mm frames and no issues can be found in the current market for close to your budget. The Minolta CLE suggestion is a good one. Voigtlander Bessa R4a or R4m may be another option.

M5 - got the 28mm framelines, excellent metering and rather less than an M6. Ergonomics are much better too.

Agree with Matt and Charles. I'd recommend the R4m or the M5 if you're looking or a rangefinder body for under $1k Euro's with a meter.

The Bessa even has aperture priority, but can also be operated fully manually if the batteries die.

 

[Huss]

the cle is not a bad idea, but is it reliable ? can it be serviced ? how does the lens sit on her ? is the balance ok or ist the camera going to have the weight in front like some mirrorless with huge lenses ?

I had two perfect like new condition CLEs and they both failed. The shutters kept locking up. One failed a few weeks after I sold it, the other failed a short while later. I had it repaired in the US, but only one tech would touch it and he took forever. None of the regular names would even look at it.
The issue was corrosion in the internals, just basic oxidation from the years. The tech who fixed it went through the camera cleaning everything until it came back to life.
Of note, I store all my gear in dry boxes but I do not know how this gear was stored before I got it.

This camera does have the absolute best 28mm finder out of any RF I have owned (Leicas and Voigtlanders) but because of the experiences I had with mine I cannot recommend them.

 

[Particular]

M5 - got the 28mm framelines, excellent metering and rather less than an M6. Ergonomics are much better too.

The M5 only has a 35mm finder as far as I know. To me M6 ergonomics are perfect, so I'm not sure how the m5 can be much better, but that is subjective.
Personally I think meters are over-rated, so I think the OP should consider an M4p. Otherwise the Bessa R4 is really very nice, and still affordable but probably not for long.
Having seen a cle in parts, there is a lot of plastic in there. Mostly parts similar to minolta consumer slrs from the same time. I'm not surprised that they don't last.
I don't think the CLE finder is better than an M6, as it has a lot of distortion.
The (Cosina) Zeiss bodies have very nice finders though. There is also no shame in using an external 28mm finder.

 

[superultramega]

I owned a CL was never comfortable with the size, always felt too small. Worth thinking about if CLE is the same size.

 

[helen.HH]

sorry i wrote it wrong i meant Elmarit

no worries ...
changed the Title for you 😉

 

[olifaunt]

I had two perfect like new condition CLEs and they both failed. The shutters kept locking up. One failed a few weeks after I sold it, the other failed a short while later. I had it repaired in the US, but only one tech would touch it and he took forever. None of the regular names would even look at it.
The issue was corrosion in the internals, just basic oxidation from the years. The tech who fixed it went through the camera cleaning everything until it came back to life.
Of note, I store all my gear in dry boxes but I do not know how this gear was stored before I got it.

This camera does have the absolute best 28mm finder out of any RF I have owned (Leicas and Voigtlanders) but because of the experiences I had with mine I cannot recommend them.

I've had my CLE for 2 years. During this time the shutter got stuck once about a year ago. A camera shop owner showed me a very simple manipulation to get it going again and I've only needed to use it once since then. (Touch wood.)


In my case what happened was that a couple of times for whatever reason cocking the shutter/advancing the film (I think at the end of the roll) left the shutter in a not fully advanced position - you could see the physical edge of the curtain was somewhere in the middle as opposed to be at the side where it should be. The trick to get it unstuck in this case was very simple - simply remove the lens and gently take hold of the shutter with a finger on each side and push it gently and it will return to the proper resting position.

 

[Huss]

I've had my CLE for 2 years. During this time the shutter got stuck once about a year ago. A camera shop owner showed me a very simple manipulation to get it going again and I've only needed to use it once since then. (Touch wood.)


In my case what happened was that a couple of times for whatever reason cocking the shutter/advancing the film (I think at the end of the roll) left the shutter in a not fully advanced position - you could see the physical edge of the curtain was somewhere in the middle as opposed to be at the side where it should be. The trick to get it unstuck in this case was very simple - simply remove the lens and gently take hold of the shutter with a finger on each side and push it gently and it will return to the proper resting position.

Mine was electrical. But yours doesn't introduce much confidence either seeing that we now know of two different ways these shutters get stuck.

 

[Huss]

The M5 only has a 35mm finder as far as I know..

Correct. But if your M5 needs a new frames due to RF delamination (a common occurrence and it happened to mine), only framesets that include the 28mm frame lines are available.
This is what happened to my M5.