Looking for a small rangefinder

<p>I shoot with an olympus om2 and Ive been looking for a smaller size slr like the Leicas for street photography. What do you guys recommend? I am not looking to spend more than $200. </p>

<p>Thats tough. You can definitely find a good leica screw mount with lens for under 400 or 500 but leica for under 200 is hard.</p>

<p>Im not looking for a Leica, just something similar in size.</p>

<p>igorcamera.com <br>

Canon <strong>IIF</strong> #140242, E.P markings, Canon <strong>50</strong>/<strong>1.8</strong>, Ex- $175.</p>

<p><em>looking for a smaller size slr like the Leicas for street photography</em></p>

<p>Assume you meant rangefinder, not SLR. Consider the fixed-lens rangefinders from the 1970s and 1980s, perhaps a Canonet. They're unfashionable, but they make excellent negatives.</p>

<p>hmm the canonets look small and the prices arent bad either. Thanks for the info dudes</p>

<p>What do you guys think of the canon P's?</p>

<p>Canon P with 35mm f2 Canon is what I have used for many years. Fabulous combination. Do not worry about wrinkled shutter it's metal, most Canons with this shutter have the same non issue! great camera, no complaints. Much cheaper than Leica M series.</p>

<p>Canonet G-III QL, Minolta 7SII, Olympus SP. Those are the smallest and can be had for under $200. If you are will to go a little bigger then the Yashica Lynx series with the Yashica 14 with a Yashinon 45mm f1.4 being the high light of the series but still under $200. Another camera is the Yashica GSN for under $100. They all have meters. I have used them all and they are good cameras...not Leicas...but will fit your price range and provide images that can be blown up to 11x14.</p>

<p>If you don't mind scale focusing perhaps a battered Rollei?</p>

<p>I borrowed a Zorki 3M for a week recently, it was solidly built, and the 2/50 lens, which I think is made to a Zeiss formula, was nice. I've seen some later Russian camera which were pretty dodgy, but this one was good, and a real bargain IMO. I think they go for around $100 or less. </p>

<p><em>What do you guys think of the canon P's?</em><br>

<em> </em><br>

I like my Canon P for photographing people. Like Paul, I have a 35/2. It's a tiny thing, said to be a copy of Leica's Summicron, and it's an excellent lens. The downside is that a Canon P body with a 35/2 will run at about double your budget or a bit more, unless you chance upon a lucky bargain. </p>

<p>You might find a good user Canon P with a plain vanilla 50/1.8 for around $200. I doubt it will give you better negatives than a Canonet GIII with a 40/1.7, but the P handles like a better camera, with smoother mechanical functions and better fit and finish. The P, of course, takes interchangeable lenses and has a focal plane shutter. </p>

<p>I used to have a Canonet GIII, until I left it at a bus stop. :>( If I recall correctly, clean GIII's with recent CLAs sell for about $150. Working but unserviced dubious users are maybe $50. The GIII has a meter, which may or may not work, and a leaf shutter-- not a bad thing, because leaf shutters are very quiet. </p>

<p>Olympus XA smallest 35mm rangefinder</p>

<p>For flexibility at low cost, a range-finder camera made in the USSR is a good bet. If an accessory finder is added, lenses from 28mm to 135mm can be used on one body. The trick is to pay a little more and buy from a known seller with a good reputation. If you are in the USA, the obvious choice is www.fedka.com. I freely admit that Yuri Boguslavsky is a friend.</p>

<p>I think you should be able to get a Voigtlander Bessa L for about $120. An Industar lens would probably be only about $30-40. The camera is fantastic. No rangefinder focusing, but you won't need that for street photography. The lens is also good, but some examples are better than others. </p>

As you are already using an Olympus camera, I would recommend the Olypmus SP. The SP has an excellent 7

element lens, a great meter, and it has a mechanical shutter which can run without batteries. The Canonets are good

cameras, but their lenses are not quite as good. The Yasihica Electros have excellent lenses, but they have aperture-

priority automatic operation only, and their shutters are battery dependent. The Olympus RC is also a good choice, but

the lens is slower, and not quite as nice as the lens in the SP, and the aperture ring is small, and is snug against the

body of the camera, making it hard to turn, which is ironic, as Olympus put the shutter speed control dial on the top of

the camera.

 

FSU cameras are a lot of fun, but only if you are mechanically competent. Odds are that any FSU you find will need at

least a little of work to make it function properly.

 

I own perhaps 100 rangefinder cameras (they seem to breed in my closet), including a few Leica Ms and Nikon

rangefinders, but I usually favor my old SP.

<p>I don't do street photography as such but I love my Canonet GIII QL 17. Very small and light -- will fit into pocket of many jackets -- and has a built in meter. Nice bright, easy to focus rangefinder. Sharp lens, sometimes known as poor man's Leica.</p>

<p>I would say get an Hexar AF but it will blow your budget a bit.<br />I got one and it's my daily friend. I use it in daylight and in the subway with a 20 ISO film and I still get... something :)<br />It fits my style anyway.<br /><br />Just my two cents.<br />

<p>The smallest reflex camera using 35mm film is Tessina<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4936195-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="494" /></p>

<p>For small size pocketable street shooting, you really don't need a rangefinder, any of the following viewfinder is good enough: From left to right<br>

Tessina with 25mm/2.8 lens, Rollei 35S with Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 40mm/2.8 and Minox MDC with 35mm/2.8 lens.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/12161672-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="324" /></p>

Smaller size SLR like the Leicas is an OM2. Start shooting.

<p>My everyday camera is <strong>Canonet QL17 GIII</strong>, great and reliable tool, but don't expect miracles with lens wide open @ 1.7. You need to stop down to f2.8 to have professional results, but at least You have all-manual control.<br /> <strong> Yashica Electro</strong> rangefinders have better lens but these are aperture priority, battery-dependent cameras...<br /> If You can live with f2.8 lenses there are lot of beautiful mechanical shutter cameras, with <strong>Minolta AL-F </strong>and <strong>Voigtlander Vitomatic IIa being my favourite.</strong><br /> <strong></strong> I also love my <strong>Minolta Hi-Matic E</strong> - beautiful camera with <strong>40mm f1.7, one-hell-of-a-lens</strong>. Automatic, battery dependent but great, fast shooter. Little <strong>Miranda Sensoret </strong>rangefinder is great but again, it's shutter is<br /> depending on batteries.</p>

<p> I think i changed my mind about getting a RF camera with all the crazy prices so i think im gonna stick with my OM2. </p>

<p>thanks everyone!</p>

If you don't want to pay a crazy price, simply get a garden-variety Yashica Electro 35. You can get a clean and good

working example for less than $100, or under $10 if you pick up one that needs to be cleaned up. It will take pictures

every bit as good as your OM2 (I have examples of all the M1 and OM cameras in my collection), but the Yashica will

run circles around most SLR cameras at night or in low light. Many people try out the Yashica Electro to get a taste of

rangefinder photography, as it's an excellent camera and a small investment. There is no guesswork involved, simply

set the aperture you like, and push the button. If you don't like it, sell it for what you paid for it.

<p>Yashica Electro 35... can't go wrong and you can get a good one for less than 100.00.<br /></p>