Why do you have a RF?

[kiev4a]

Kiev4a, where did you get the info on replacing a zorki curtain? I can't "Google" anything that isn't an expensive book that costs more than another Zorki. Just curious. 🙂

http://jay.fedka.com/
Jay Javier has probably replaced more Zorki 1 and FED 1 curtains than most technicians from companies. He has even made his own curtain material. I think he has powered back somewhat on his work but his site gives you just about all the info you need.

 

[stet]

Because my father gave me his Canon 7s. Why was I so eager to acquire a 35 and 55 lens, as well as another RF system? Because of RFF.

 

[Iskra 2]

http://jay.fedka.com/
his site gives you just about all the info you need.

Thanks Kiev4a. I'm going to let Oleg do mine and then practice on another old "beater". 🙂

 

[Rodinal Addict]

I like rangefinder cameras because they're what I really learned with.

In High School, in Chico, California, in 1978, my photo teacher had a whole fleet of Nikon S cameras for the students to use. These things were hammered, having been dragged around for years by students. They took really good pictures, and Mrs. Wismer taught us to use our "Mark I eyeball meter". She gave us the simple directive:" f16-1/125th outside, f2.8-1/60th indoors, bracket like crazy". After we could make good reliable prints for her and the yearbook, only then could we graduate to SLRs and zoom lenses.
After a few kids, a couple of SLR's and a lot of Ho-Hum photos, I realized the need for a rangefinder again. When I went shopping on E-boy for another Nikon S like I used before, I saw the prices and nearly fainted. I researched rangefinders and found the FSU cameras available from the Ukraine, and now have a couple of useable FEDs and a couple of lenses, and have felt my photos to be more satisfying.
My kids are curious too, about Dads funky looking cameras, and I've found that teaching them has taught me just as much.

 

[rovnguy]

It must have been all the fun my Dad had with his Argus C3. He was quite patient and I just loved the time we spent together shooting. Ten years later I discovered the glory of the Olympus line of RF cameras. I had been shooting a Pentax Spotmatic, but the clunk of the shutter and mirror gave me away too many times. The 35LC would fit into my coat pocket and was such a pleasure to use. It is a good thing I found this forum so I can learn from you all.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Since I started taking pictures at 12 y.o., I realized at a later date that 95% of it was done using the normal lens, be it either any focal distance from 40 to 58 mm.
Then a second thought for RFs was mandatory.
I´m very happy with my RFs, as they are quieter, less bulky and faster when doing street photography.
They won´t offer me more that one lens, so my best tele is (and should be), as HCB said, my bare feet. Also my best wideangle is distance to the subject, and some cropping if needed at the darkroom. Light? just the available, no flash if possible.
Automation? the minimal...
It does not mean I forgot SLRs just because extreme macro and some orher pro jobs are only possible with an SLR, but it is something I´m not doing so often.
Digital? it may be the next step, however I still prefer the old fashion.
Favourite cameras? my Kiev 4, Canonet QL17 (old model) Mamiya Super Deluxe 1.5, Contax II (arrived today).

 

[RML]

Film or digital... it's the same to me. But SLR or RF... that does make a difference to me. Since I got my Bessa L about 3 years ago I haven't touched my Eos 3000, which I used for 3-4 years with much pleasure. After the L I got an R, some Russians, a CL, and an M2. All saw action, though some more than others, but since I got my R-D1 I haven't looked back.

Both transitions had to do with convenience. I find that my (d)SLRs are too cumbersome for me to shoot freely. I felt like that for quite some time and it was the main reason I went looking for something less cumbersome. Over the past years I got really fed up with spending huge amounts of time scanning negatives, so when the R-D1 came out I knew this could be the camera for me. It turned out it is.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

I like the size and the quiet little "click" when I release the shutter. I also feel somewhat philanthropical in keeping Henry Scherer honestly employed 😀

 

[Igor.Burshteyn]

I started with good auto-everything SLR and a quality zoom. Next came the 50mm and it improved my composition skills immediatelly - primes make you think first. So I wanted something smaller to walk around with, and next came Oly OM1 with 50mm and 35mm. Felt in love with camera (to be exact with ol'good mechanical cfaftmenship), found my average pictures worse than with auto-thing, but those 2-3 exposures from the whole roll you usually print and store became much better. So I understood that I am quite happy with 24-135mm range and here came Kiev4 (as experiment) with 50mm. I got hooked almost immediatelly - feels just right, and optics are quite good within their limitations(though not a snobbish thing, err, quite an opposite). Why I use kiev? I love RF focusing, lack of mirror slap, and how it sounds "wzzzzz" on 1/50sec, how it feels and looks 🙂 Delivers surprisingly good pictures, too.

 

[kuvvy]

I bought a camera in 1973 with my very first weeks wages, although this was a Kodak Instamatic and not an RF. However it didn't take long before I got my first RF, an Olympus 35RD. I have always carried a 'pocket' camera daily since.
I sold my SLR gear (I've had a number of SLRs) some time ago when developed a back problem. This caused me to get in to RFs. Light weight and excellent lens quality meant I could carry on with my hobby.

A short while ago I bought , on a whim, a Canon EOS 30V Date with 28-105 USM II zoom. My first SLR in years. I went out yesterday, with the 30v, to a local beauty spot and to shoot a roll and I didn't enjoy using it. It does an excellent job, fast to focus and zoom is versatile but I didn't get the same user enjoyment from it as my RFs. May be that's why I've only used it about 4 times!
So it's on it's way out just as soon as I get around to advertising it on the Bay.

Paul

 

[kiev4a]

Thanks Kiev4a. I'm going to let Oleg do mine and then practice on another old "beater". 🙂

The most important rule of curtain replacement is patience. My first try (with Jay emailing me suggestions and encouragement) required three weeks of evenings and weekends. It was additionally complicated because the old curtain had come loose from the drum so I didn't have a reference point. The second time I did it took four hours. The next time about two hours. Not a big deal although it would be easier if we had six fingers on each hand🙂

 

[XAos]

I got into RF's because I was looking for a camera with magical properties that didn't exist, discovered RF's looking for it, and found I enjoy it. I'll add too that the $30 I spent on my GSN got me way way sharper glass than I could ever afford for my Pentax SLR.

 

[Chuck A]

For me it is the viewfinder, camera and lens size and the sharp glass. It is totally different taking photos while looking through the viewfinder of a rangefinder. The cameras and lenses are smaller and very intuitive and rangefinder glass gives you more bang for the buck.

 

[Kat]

I'm not really qualified to answer this, because I have yet to use an RF. But here are what I read about RFs that made me want one (though might not be applicable to all brands/models):

Quality (of lens, construction, etc)
Smaller than SLR, ergo easier to carry around
Good low light capability without necessary needing a tripod
Ability to work without battery for the mechanical ones
History
Cheap prices

And I'm getting a little bored with the buttons in my digicam. Someone mentioned DSLRs produced too perfect images. While my digicam is just P&S, I still feel that way, too, I was using its B&W, and I found myself looking for the graininess I see in old pics, but the digicam pics were just clean and sharp--which is great for some occasions. I'm inclined to believe that RFs have more character.🙂 It would be interesting to get one in my hands and move around those levers instead of pushing buttons for a change.

 

[vha]

Got a rangefinder almost by coincidence, a photographer at home was selling some stuff (he had just bought the marvelous Fuji S1pro then .. 😉 ) and he was selling a Hasselblad 500c/m and some other stuff, which happened to be a Contax G2 w/28mm and 45mm. Though why not, bought all of it, sold the 500c/m half a year later. Bought then the 21 and the 90mm. Been addicted since, of corse it helps to have a Frontier lab to play with after closing-time as well. The Contax G2 is a really good camera, solid built, and a enormously high image quality, so it´s battery dependent, but for this image quality it could for my part have been using 6 D batteries pr half hour . . the prints you get is enormously. Don´t try the camera if you can´t afford it.

Just recently got a M6 w/28mm elmarit m, and likes that as well. Has some of the same, but different.

vha

 

[egpj]

I got into handheld photography in general because of the day job. I work in Aerial photography with digital multi-band systems. The cameras pretty much run themselves after you setup the shutter speeds but all the images from the different cameras are in gray scale and then composited later to make a NIR or natural color image. I wanted to learn the characteristics of light better but from the film side (mostly because the digital cameras are "supposed" to mimic film sensitivity). After doing some research into optics I gravitated over to the Leica side of the house. After playing with an MP for a year I learned more about photography then any digicam I had ever picked up in the past. In my pursuit of making perfect images I gravitated into not just having well balanced images but wanting the more artistic to come out in my photography. When I meet someone interesting now I want to take their portrait and capture that quality that makes them special. The essence in their eyes. It can be very obsessive! I find myself examining some people for that particular tilt of the head or the thing that they do that screams their character. When I find "IT"..... it's magic!

 

[vsolanoy]

1. UI. I really started disliking the "user interface" of modern cameras, whether it be digital or film. There's something satisfying about the mechanical feedback rings and knobs.
2. Size. I wanted great, interchangable optics on a smallish camera (in comparison to my SLRs). As long as I stay away from Leica lenses, Voigtlander seems to have a great reputation.
3. Looking like a pro. I was tired of looking like a professional photographer (I'm not even close to being one). What turned me off of SLRs was taking snapshots for my wife at an event she had organized and having guests say, "... he must be the photographer".

 

[Matthew]

I use a rangefinder because...

I prefer the focusing to a modern SLR--I dislike autofucus and find focusing a modern SLR difficult (even worse on a D-SLR). Some classic SLR's are OK, but I far prefer rangefinder focusing. I've got a good grasp of the depth of field different lenses deliver and like to know exactly where I'm focusing. I tend to shoot with shallow depth of field and tend to miss my focus point with an SLR.

I prefer a small camera and small lenses. I just don't understand why someone wants to walk around all day with a four pound brick around their neck when a small rangefinder does the same thing for most focal lengths. Nature and sports photographs often need long lenses, so the rangefinder is handicapped, but for everything else it suits my needs perfectly.

The simple mechanical interface is very satisfying to me. Nothing gets in the way of the image in front of me.

The small size is less intimidating and less obtrusive than a modern SLR--again some classic SLR's are pretty small, but the average modern camera is just bloated--this is a big advantage for the type of social reportage I prefer.

The near-silent shutter of the Leica M is reason enough to use a rangefinder.

 

[wlewisiii]

I got into rangefinders by accident. I was feeling constrained by my Rebel Xs after nearly 10 years and got a Yashicamat 124G after some research. That was an eye opener. Then at a flea market I saw a Yashica GSN. I bought is only because I knew the TLR was a really good camera, so I presumed this one would be as well. It turned out to fit my style well aside from the lack of interchangeable lenses. In searching for info on the GSN, I discoverd RFF and that lead me to the Contax/Kiev side and my wallet has been whimpering ever since.

The lack of zooms is a big draw for me. I had used the Rebel's kit zoom as a crutch for so long it was a shock to my system to get back to using a normal lens. A good shock, as I think my photographs are getting better. Sometimes the best thing that can happen is to be forced to work for your picture.

William

 

[lellou]

3. Looking like a pro. I was tired of looking like a professional photographer (I'm not even close to being one). What turned me off of SLRs was taking snapshots for my wife at an event she had organized and having guests say, "... he must be the photographer".

I hate that too. Just because I can make wonderful photos, it doesn't mean that I just like to take the photos. I like the art in photos and therefore I think it's hard just to run around and taking family-snappshots.

/ Marcus