Which rangefinder to get for 35mm lens

[Rayt]

Thank you all for your beautiful answers. I went to a the leica store near me and tried the 0.72 viewfinder and it was definitely better than the 1.0 of the canon p but i think the 0.58 would be the best option for me. Sadly they didnt have any camera with that magnification to try. That made me think of the hexar af. Thats a total different camera of course but i read it has 0.58 magnification. Has anyone used it ? How is the experience of it ?

The Hexar RF is a fine camera and the AE is very convenient but not the right camera for me due to the shutter lag. I do street photography and need a responsive shutter. For general photography it’s a absolutely a good option. I tried using it in manual mode but there was still a delay between pressing the shutter and the shutter firing. I don’t know if I had a dud so just FYI.

 

[Freakscene]

Thank you all for your beautiful answers. I went to a the leica store near me and tried the 0.72 viewfinder and it was definitely better than the 1.0 of the canon p but i think the 0.58 would be the best option for me. Sadly they didnt have any camera with that magnification to try. That made me think of the hexar af. Thats a total different camera of course but i read it has 0.58 magnification. Has anyone used it ? How is the experience of it ?

The Hexar RF has a 0.6 finder that works well with 35mm lenses. You still can’t shoot with both eyes open. It is a beautiful camera and system. The rangefinder in mine went out of adjustment frequently. I learned how to fix that myself. But they have a reputation for unfixable electronic failures. Mine still works, but I would hesitate to spend the $US1-1.5k that they go for now. I got mine for a few hundred dollars in the mid-2000s when film gear was cheap.

The Hexar AF is a completely different camera with a nice parallax corrected 0.6 magnification viewfinder. They are also electronically somewhat unreliable although I got mine fixed from the common shutter button problem.

 

[Pioneer]

My favorite 35mm lens for a rangefinder is the Zeiss Biogon 35mm in Contax mount so that is the one I pick almost all the time. But the truth is that there are so many wonderful 35mm lenses for the Leica M-Mount it probably isn't worth bothering with anything else. If you try one and it doesn't make wonderful pictures for you just trade it in on another. Eventually you will find one that satisfies your needs. If my ZM didn't handle the 28mm so well I would probably use it.