What is a rangefinders?

[novaD70]

What is a rangefinder? Any significant different from campact P&S ones?

Thanks

 

[justarius]

Try telling a Leica owner that his camera is a point and shoot, and you'll be lucky he doesn't bite off your head

A rangefinder is:
quiet and small, due to the lack of reflex mirror in SLRs
can have interchangeable lens
focus through triangulation
usually is fully mechanical and very reliable
and is a status symbol if it has a little red dot.

 

[swhyge]

Try telling a Leica owner that his camera is a point and shoot, and you'll be lucky he doesn't bite off your head

A rangefinder is:
quiet and small, due to the lack of reflex mirror in SLRs
can have interchangeable lens
focus through triangulation
usually is fully mechanical and very reliable
and is a status symbol if it has a little red dot.

Does it then offer any advantages over the others?

 

[justarius]

Does it then offer any advantages over the others?

Over other what? Cameras? Depends on what sort of cameras you are comparing it to and what use you are going to put it to right?

 

[LiOnElLiN]

Does it then offer any advantages over the others?

appearance wise, the uninitiated will tell you that it looks like some piece of junk which you dug out of your grandfather's storeroom. dont be surprised if your relatives start laughing when you pull one out. :bsmilie:
though its this very same low profile (anyone ever seen a leica RF advert?) which will leave people in awe when they see what its capable of producing

 

[The_Cheat]

Here's an easy readup between for the differences between SLR, TLR and RFs. Have fun reading!

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/focusing.html

 

[khairi]

rangefinders are cool if you dont mind the hassle of manual focusing.

 

[loupgarou]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04062101epsonrd1samps.asp

read on the epson RD-1 digital rangefinder..

its a nice thing to play with leica lenses with it, but in the samples provided.


"i see chromatic moire"

 

[Pro-New]

many compact point and shoot cameras are actually rangefinder.

The main difference btw rangefinder and slr is in the focusing system used and the location of the shutter.