re: range finder cams

[jungsangchoe]

ok i met skypes today and yeah he told me bout range finder cameras..

got me thinking a bit. you ah made me itchy for range cams!!!

so pls tell me more kind people about range finders.

what can i get for starters???

thanks for your time dear friends and lovers of photography..



jung

 

[alternatve]

Hey, welcome to the world of rangefinders!

Rangefinders is a class of it's own, different from point and shoots and SLRs. To focus, you look through the viewfinder and you should see a patch somewhere in the middle of the screen (Some rangefinders have this in a seperate finder, some do not have this at all). Looking through the patch, you should see another image different from it's surroundings. Turn the lens till both images overlap and combine together, and the picture is in focus. The advantage of this is there is no image black out you get from SLRs and a much more useful camera then a point and shoot. The expensive brands are, Leica, Contax and Nikon to name a few. In the middle is the Bessa range of cameras, which is the most value for money set you can get. The lower class, but still useful are russian cameras like FED, Zorki and Kiev and fixed lens rangefinders. If you are on a budget, you can get a Russian rangefinder with lens plus shipping and get change back from a hundred dollar bill.

I hope this helps and I hope you have a smooth journey in your venture into rangefinders!

Samuel

 

[Ansel]

Rangefinders cameras were the classic cameras people used before the SLR was invented. After the arrival of SLR, those shooting sports, wildlife, micro, etc, appropriately moved on to SLR, but the RF 35mm cams still hold sway in journalism, street photography, general reportage type photography. Main advantages are their compact dimension, ease of maintance and virtually silent operation (the Leicas).

You look through a side viewfinder rather than through the lens to compose and focus. This prevents the "coitus interuptus" that is associated with SLR photography, ie, at the point of capture, the viewfinder in the SLR blacks out and you never get to see the precise moment that your are capturing unless you look at the captured image.

Lots of great info are available on the internet. Lest, this thread be deleted, I shall not review the URL of any particular RF resources and forums, esp the local ones, but just type the word rangefinder in google and many interesting sites will be uncovered.