how to use a film rangefinder?

[Contre-jour]

Hi all clubsnap members, i've been into photography since my dad gave me a d-lux4 fr leica for christmas, and i have enjoyed using it. I am eager to try to go in film RF, as i have a M3 to borrow from my dad, but problem is he is overseas all year round and i can hardly learn anything from him.Tried searching google but can't find a simple enough explanation, wondering if anyone here can explain? Thanks... I am going to get a M7 if i am ready, so if you can answer them in the M7 perspective,it be great.

I understand M7 is a more "automatic" cam, so does it mean it has AP, so i don't have to much manual tweaking?

My main queries are :

1) If positives are supposed to be as the name suggests positive, does it mean the film will show all the correct colour? Or must it be processed before we can see the colours?I have seen some pictures of the film on Clubsnap with the sprockets still in and the colour is as it's printed so is it already processed?
2)Can shops x-process your film for you?
3)How do you know if your exposure is correct (the light meter can be fooled right?)
4)How do we ensure the film is protected from light, when loading and unloading? (Will film be overexposed?)
5)How do we digitise film? I have seen members share film shots... so...
6)Is it possible to choose a focusing point on an RF? Thanks...

I'm really sorry if i was too lengthy.Apologies and thank you in advance

 

[ziploc]

1. Possitive means slide film. Yes it will show you all the correct color. And yes you'll need to send it to the lab to have it processed. You can ask the lab to mount them onto slide holders or you can do it yourself. To look at them you can either use a projector or a light panel with a loupe.
2. Why not?
3. The light meter on the M7 is a small spot at the center. The easiest way to set the exposure is to either meter a gray card or use an external light meter. Otherwise you'll need to know how to count stops and compensate exposures. You can't shoot with it like a p&s, unless you don't mind horrible pics.
4. When you load the film only the tongue is exposed, the rest is still in the film roll. Before unload you'll need to rewind the film all the way back into the canister.
5. You can either ask the lab to scan it for you or you can do you own scanning using a film scanner.
6. Rangerfinder uses superimpose images to focus and there is no seperate focusing point.

Cheers and have fun.

 

[merelyok]

Everything he said!

2) Perhaps its subjective (highly so), but why ruin a good roll of slide film : P (unless its expired of course)

3)Or you could get a proper light meter.

5) A simple flatbed film scanner will do the trick (Canon 8800F, Epson V500 or V700 if you have the dosh)

6)As Ziploc has explained, only one point of focusing. you focus by overlapping images until they snap into focus, then recompose from there.

Have fun with the M3!

 

[nsng]

Hi all clubsnap members, i've been into photography since my dad gave me a d-lux4 fr leica for christmas, and i have enjoyed using it. I am eager to try to go in film RF, as i have a M3 to borrow from my dad, but problem is he is overseas all year round and i can hardly learn anything from him.Tried searching google but can't find a simple enough explanation, wondering if anyone here can explain? Thanks... I am going to get a M7 if i am ready, so if you can answer them in the M7 perspective,it be great.

I understand M7 is a more "automatic" cam, so does it mean it has AP, so i don't have to much manual tweaking?

My main queries are :

1) If positives are supposed to be as the name suggests positive, does it mean the film will show all the correct colour? Or must it be processed before we can see the colours?I have seen some pictures of the film on Clubsnap with the sprockets still in and the colour is as it's printed so is it already processed?
2)Can shops x-process your film for you?
3)How do you know if your exposure is correct (the light meter can be fooled right?)
4)How do we ensure the film is protected from light, when loading and unloading? (Will film be overexposed?)
5)How do we digitise film? I have seen members share film shots... so...
6)Is it possible to choose a focusing point on an RF? Thanks...

I'm really sorry if i was too lengthy.Apologies and thank you in advance

Hi,

By positive, I gather you are referring to the film. In this case, it is slide film or transparency as opposed to negative film. Positive films or slides are usually developed with E6 process. Once developed, you can see the positive images.

Does the M3 have the external coupled meter? Is this the MC (selenium) or the latter MR, MR4 (CdS) meter? The MC is very old and is less sensitive compared with the MR or MR4. When using this type of meter, to take a reading, tilt the camera slightly downwards so as not to avoid having a large area of the sky influencing the meter. The M3 is a fine camera. It was my first Leica together with the MC meter. Film loading is slow as you need to remove the take -up spool to insert the film leader.

The M7 is a modern version of the M with ttl metering as well having an electronic shutter with AE. Therefore, you can say it is more automated. But try the M3. You might like it.

Any light meter can be fooled. Slides have less latitude compared with negative film. Accurate exposure is important. When I was shooting slide, I used to underexpose by 0.5 to 0.3 stop to achieve greater saturation.

As for x-processing, you will have to ask the shop. But you can use Photoshop to achieve x-processing look.

It is advisable to load the film in the shadow area to prevent stray light from exposing the film.

To digitise, just scan the film. A dedicated film scanner is still the best, but a good quality scanner will do for a start. Some shops will develop and scan the film as well.

You can easily choose the point of focus in the RF. Just point the rf patch at your subject and focus.

Go out and shoot some films and post some photos here. Good luck.

N.S. Ng

 

[Contre-jour]

thank you so much ziploc, nsng and merelyok for your help! i am curious as well, since there is no seperate focus points, how do one focus on a certain object? such as bringing out the object from the background? do i have to move the camera's focusing point (middle) to the object? thank you so, so much! this has really helped me alot. if i have any questions, i will post them here again thanks so much ziploc, merelyok and nsng for your help once again!

 

[azzurri]

Not sure if I got your question right; but you are wondering how to focus a rangefinder?

If you are, you need to make sure that the two images within the rangefinder patch (the off white patch inside the viewfinder) are aligned. Once they are aligned, the subject is in focus.

 

[Contre-jour]

no,i wanna know how to focus one particular spot.

 

[ziploc]

Look through the viewfinder, aim the patch onto the spot you want to focus, turn the focus ring until the two images align, recompose, and shoot.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Courtesy of wikipedia

you are suppose to adjust till the 2 images meet as per the picture above.

For taking off center shots on an RF, focus first than frame the shot.

 

[Contre-jour]

thank you so much all of u!never has any forum provided me with such insight... really appreciate itso nice of you guys.

 

[joshuachan28]

It's not in all parts of the forum that you get such nice guys. I find that the canon forum is so unfriendly. People ask questions and they get fired and flamed by everyone for not searching and being a noob. But i find the people in the film forums much more willing to share their knowledge and help each other out and are more focused (no pun intended) on taking photos than talking about their gear all the time. So way to go guys!

 

[Royale With Cheese]

It's not in all parts of the forum that you get such nice guys. I find that the canon forum is so unfriendly. People ask questions and they get fired and flamed by everyone for not searching and being a noob. But i find the people in the film forums much more willing to share their knowledge and help each other out and are more focused (no pun intended) on taking photos than talking about their gear all the time. So way to go guys!

Because the RF section, unlike the others sections, we do not sit at home & stroke our long lenses :bsmilie:

Bottom line, shoot more, talk about gear less, good gear or average gear, end of the day, picture tells all about your skill & creativity, not the gear.

 

[mmmel]

Because the RF section, unlike the others sections, we do not sit at home & stroke our long lenses :bsmilie:

Bottom line, shoot more, talk about gear less, good gear or average gear, end of the day, picture tells all about your skill & creativity, not the gear.

well said! :thumbsup:

 

[Srono]

Because the RF section, unlike the others sections, we do not sit at home & stroke our long lenses :bsmilie:

Also, I found that RF people really enjoy telling about their stuff :bsmilie: They can repeat many many times without feeling bored :bsmilie:

 

[welspain]

Also, I found that RF people really enjoy telling about their stuff :bsmilie: They can repeat many many times without feeling bored :bsmilie:

RF (specially LEICA) is something to be proud of...

 

[Royale With Cheese]

especially those who got the M9 plus *erhem erhem* a few Noct, type 1-4 :bsmilie:

 

[ziploc]

Either that or people using RFs are mostly uncles which are usually very patience. ;p

 

[Srono]

or very rich, no need to work. Therefore, they have lots of time to poison you. :sweat:

 

[theRenaissance]

This is really poisonous, I am an amateur photographer who just started shooting with a D90. Stumbled upon RF section and all this talk about film and smaller and more compact bodies is really luring me! Damn!

Still hesitating whether to step into the RF world or just stick with digital for now.

 

[enivre]

I suggest you just play with the m3 first, don't bother with the m7 for now. You can get a VC lightmeter that can attach to your m3's hotshoe. Save up your money to burn more rolls of film to learn the ropes, you'll even have money left over for a few more lenses.

For RF, you can learn to use range focus. I.e. focus without actually focusing thru the viewfinder but rather based on the distance between the subject and your camera and the aperture you are using.

Then there's also the "shoot from the hip" method, i.e. not even looking through the viewfinder.

Have fun!