Why do you use a Rangefinder?

RF cameras makes IR photography easier...

... just don't forget to take off the red filter when you're done.
 
An RF is more transparent for me. It's a different sort of tool for a different sort of photography.

I love my 5D, but a little RF is great for personal stuff where I wouldn't want to lug a DSLR.
 
Simplicity, size, low light focusing accuracy, no mirror blackout and the lenses. All seem to add up to more good shots per roll for me, relative to other 35mm camera systems (that are also excellent).
 
Human distance/closeness

Human distance/closeness

In addition to the reasons above:

The distance/closeness limitations of the RF suit my style. The RF can't get really really close (macro) nor really really far away (super tele). It's best suited for a distance/closeness that captures (for me) the relation between people.
 
Since you put it like that....

Since you put it like that....

Roger Hicks said:
Ezzie said:
I never was particularly mainstream. And rangefinders look and feel like real cameras, industrial design masterpieces many of them. SLRs just don´t hack it in the same way. My first camera, I was 7 or 8, was a cheap East German VF, can´t remember what. Only recently have I found out what I´ve been missing all these years.

If it was technical quality and ease of use I was after, I´d stay with the SLR most of the time, but where´s the challenge in that?
Click to expand...
Ezzie said:
Where's the challenge?

In trying to work out which of the 33 buttons, switches, dials and knobs does what, especially in combination, and in trying to regain control after you've pressed the wrong button/combination of buttons.

In trying to get a decent picture despite all that.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...
Since you put it like that, I´ll have to reconsider......😕
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
IdeaDog said:
There are girls? 😎
...
Click to expand...

If there aren't, you may be doing it wrong. As far as I know, there were only two guys who spent much time with the most beautiful girl in the Law Faculty. Me, and the man who married her. Mind, I wasn't trying to seduce her: we were (as they saying goes, but for once honestly) just friends.

Tashi delek,

R.
 
I got into rangefinders because I wanted something small with high IQ. There are several reasons why I am going RF. However, I wont abandon my digital DSLR bodies.
At this stage, I am finding myself to be more the rangefinder "type."

Simply, I was tired of lugging my Canon APS-C dSLR. I then got into a micro 4/3 camera (E-P1). Great IQ in a small package BUT, BUT it is still not full frame.
Meaning, I couldn't get the kind of shots I wanted. Night time (available light) type street photography with dreamy bokeh and narrow DOF.
A DSLR (even film SLR) has a mirror and you get that camera shake. Also, DSLRs are not exactly small. Now, when micro 4/3 cams have lens that are super, super fasts 1.2-1.6, I'll be using my E-P1 a whole lot more.

So, with that in mind, I started buying older RF cameras to see if it suited my style - Yashica Electros, Canon QL17, Minolta Hi-Matics. At $10-25 (craigslist and flea market),
they were worthwhile experiments. My Canon has a broken meter but I shot several rolls and I like what I got.
I use an iPhone app to help with metering and this has helped me become more acute to lighting; and thus making me a better photographer.
I also came to the conclusion, I want full-frame and wide as possible. 24mm-40mm fast primes which comes out to 48-80mm on cropped digital sensors. There is no way I am spending $2500 on a Canon 5DM2 plus the assorted lens with that.
Have in mind, my $20 Canon with a 1.7 lens and dozens rolls of film is still cheaper than a full rig FF DSLR with 35/50mm prime lens. So far, I am loving the shots I have taken.

I now prefer using my film RF cameras along with my micro 4/3 E-P1. I recently got a Leica CL with working meter for $300 and I think I've gotten the Leica bug.
I could see the justification in investing in an M outfit. It is all about the lens. I could buy different bodies like a Bessa R3M, M6,MP. The lens could be used with my CL, E-P1, and whatever other RF camera I get. And eventually, when a M10 comes out, I could see me going that route.

I know for a fact,I like shooting with a lens that has a manual aperture ring. I could do either full manual or aperture priority. At this stage, it is still taking me a while to compose a shot and do metering.

So, I will still keep my dSLR. I have a 18 month son and sometimes, shooting with fast AF helps. But for pleasure shots, I will go RF.
 
Because it works the way I do. I do not need to think a out it, I just do it. It allows me to focus on the task more than any other type of camera. To me it's the perfect tool for the way I shoot.

B2 (;->
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom