Camera Talk

I shoot a lot with SLRs but I also have a real affection for rangefinders. I like their simplicity and the brighter viewfinder and also the fact that I don't really know what I'll be getting until the film comes back.

Top 5 Favorite Rangefinders

1. Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa - I know people like the II because of its wider base and brighter viewfinder and smoother focusing, but for me, this has always been the ideal camera. I like the smaller body and its operation. After many times of using it, I still instinctively push the infinity release with my middle finger.
2. Olympus 35 RC - Of all of the smaller rangefinders, I think Olympus got it right with this one. Small size, a decent selection of speeds and a good lens. Very simple to operate.
3. Canon Canonet GIII QL17 - Despite its ridiculously long name, this is a fairly awesome camera with autoexposure and full manual exposure, a wide range of speeds from 1/500 to 1/4 second plus B. It's coupled with a very sharp f/1.7 40mm lens.
4. Zeiss Ikon Tenax II - This might be one of the all-time favorites. I really like the square format, and this camera pretty much has everything that you would want. Speeds run from 1/400 to 1 second plus B. It has a self-timer, which I've never used. It has the famous rotating-wedge rangefinder that never falls out of calibration. And it has a seriously good f/2.0 40mm Sonnar lens. There also is a f/2.8 Tessar. The body is small, and I really enjoy using this camera.
5. Kodak AG Retina IIIC - There are so many excellent folding Retinas that it's tough to select one as my favorite. And depending on the day of the week, I might give a different answer. But what more could you want? A very sharp f/2.0 Schneider Xenon lens, a Synchro Compur shutter (albeit with the dread LVS locking system) and a folding body.

Others that I have used:

- Zeiss Ikon folding Contessa and Contina II: High-quality cameras with sharp Tessar lenses.
- Yashica Electro 35: A good lens in an oversized body.
- Olympus 35-S: An excellent camera that just feels right when you pick it up.
- Olympus XA: It might be too small. Nice camera. Got it for $3 at a church sale.
- Kodak Signet 35: Nice little camera but maybe too small?
- Rollei XF 35: If only it had a rangefinder that was rock solid.
- Konica C35 Automatic: Excellent little camera with program autoexposure only
- Leica LTM: Excellent quality, excellent lenses. But no longer own it.
- Leica M: Built rock solid but for me it never felt quite right. Sold it.
- Minolta Hi-Matic F: Another small camera but you need to solve the battery issue. Took Type 640 batteries. Two of them.
- Voigtlander Prominet: Probably the worst camera of all time when it comes to ergonomics.
- Voigtlander Vito III: Ironically, it uses the same shell as the Prominent, but as a folding camera, it's very good.
- Voigtlander Vitessa: Who doesn't love a flag pole coming out of the top of the camera? It has either a Skopar or the excellent Ultron lens.

My collection:

Canon Canonet GIII QL17 (As you said, just about perfect.)
Konica Auto S (Too big, cracked viewfinder, meter is shot, but a great lens. I like it because it makes me think about what I am doing.)
Leica IIIf (Really nice size, crummy viewfinder, fantastic lenses, lovely mechanical feel - my first real camera)
Yashica Electro (Too big but a great lens with an almost foolproof meter - I need that.)
Zorki 4K (Some excellent lenses, cheaply made and hard to really like, although it does work. The guy I bought it from put beautiful red leather covering on it, which is probably why I keep it.)

They are relatively simple gadgets compared to my SLRs and certainly compared to my DSLRs. In a way they remind me of the "slow food" my wife does so well. It takes her longer, requires more thought, and sometimes costs as much or more, but it is far more rewarding than anything that is fast or easy.

Mike

I agree, too, about the 1.7 Canonet. It is definitely my favourite of the twenty-odd RF's I have owned & used.

I would like to say the Olympus XA is my second favourite because it is such a neat little package. But as I have gotten older I have found I just cannot use its RF anymore and I rely entirely on guessed distances. It's just too tiny for my nearly 62-year-old eyes.

The pre-XA Olympus 35-series ones with rangefinders were also very good: I especially like my 35DC. I have a 35RC but I've never got really excellent results from it -- but then perhaps the RF is out of alignment.

Mike,

I certainly agree with your choices of the Olympus 35RC and the Canon QL-17 for being fun, easy-to-use, quality picture takers. But my favorite rangefinder is my Nikon S2. It is an excellent picture taker with its 50mm/1.4 Nikkor, and with one of my Jupiter 12 lenses.





Although I own a Retina III-C, I find it to be rather fussy to use.

Best,
Dennis

From Mike's list, my favorite fixed-lens is the Olympus 35RC (I have two of these). All my interchangeable lens rangefinders are LTM, and I prefer the Bessa R for its weight, nice variable brightline viewfinder, and good meter (over my Leica IIIf, Contax IIa, Zorki 4, or Canon RF).
--- James

There are so many cameras that I've forgotten: Nikon S, Konica I, II and III (the III is awesome), Foca 2 Star, Braun Paxette and the Cosina Voigtlanders, which brought me back to photography.

It's interesting that Pentax never did rangefinders - at least, not that I recall or in a mass market way.

I just located my little Voigtlander Vitomatic IIb - a sweet camera. I recently added an Agfa Ambi Silette, which is an interesting camera that I need to restore. I still have a soft spot for Agfa cameras, which usually are good but often seem to have some issue that takes hours to resolve.

I owned one of the early Canons for a while but never used it.

I like using the Contessa that replaced the folding model. The later models are cheaply made and are not nearly as nice.

And then there's the Werra -- an excellent camera that has many unique features. In fact, it might be on my Top 5 list.

Fed 3 and my Kiev IV.

The only one I don't have on your Top Five list is the Tenax. And I had a Vitessa L back in '72 that I stupidly traded in on something else. I don't use my rangefinders enough to feel like one is a favorite over the others, and I've got a couple that are awaiting repairs that I have great hopes for. But the Contax IIa, and Oly 35RC are the two that I felt one with right off the bat.

I'm currently working up a couple of Leidolf models (Lordomat, and C-35), along with a complete lens set that seem to have a lot of potential. If I can get one of my FED-2's in working order, it might be a good knock-around every day sort of cam. Plenty of different Yashica models, but I like the older ones better for the manual controls. For sheer proving you can take good shots with anything, you can't beat an Argus C-3

PF

Leica IIIc and Moskva

I'm fond of several RF cameras, but I don't think it's really the rangefinder that I like. Nor are my choices 'great' cameras. Nevertheless, I like these more than some better-specified RFs. For example, I have a Fed 3 (and a 4), but they're so BIG. I have two original-model Canonets, both broken; that camera also felt too big for what it did. I have an underused Isolette III, and can't say why that doesn't excite me like my three choices do.

Given my feelings for my little Pax (see below), I think if I had any of the little Olympus cameras, or a Konica I, those would be in my favourites. But I'd sooner get an OM2, and have a little SLR; there - my colours are nailed to the mast.

So here's my list:

My Pax 35 has a very ordinary f/3.5 triplet lens, and there's no silvering left on the RF's mirror, so it only works in quite strong light. Also, the shutter's primitive, and is getting fragile; so bad it doesn't always close on the slowest speed. Nevertheless, it's one of my favourite cameras. I also have a Pax M3 and an M4, and they have Tessar-type lenses, but the old one is the best. I think the smallness is very important.

My Super Sport Dolly is a different matter. I have two, only one with an RF. It also has an uncoated f/2.8 Tessar, and a Compur shutter in good condition. The RF is an odd one; you have to look through it at just the right angle to see the split-image (not an overlaid double-image). If the light's good and I'm in a hurry, I often don't bother with it, but the RF's accurate, and sometimes it makes the picture. This camera will go into my pyramid with me.

The Century Graphic is an RF camera, I suppose, but the RF is only ever in adjustment for one lens. I have a bit of a grudge about that, in fact; I have a 240 mm Tele-Xenar, and I'd set the RF up for that if I could, but it's beyond the adjustable range. Nevertheless, having the RF is what turns a small, not-very-well-specified field camera into a press camera.