1st Lesson of Rangefinders.

[ChristopherCoy]

Always remove the lens cap, or you’ll waste half a roll of film.

Today’s lesson is concluded.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Lesson #2.
Use protective filter and hood instead of cap.

 

[wyofilm]

Lesson#3 When going from b/w to color film make sure to take off that orange filter!

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Lesson #2.
Use protective filter and hood instead of cap.

don’t have one of those yet. I’ll have to look.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

don’t have one of those yet. I’ll have to look.

Amazon sells not expensive, but OK protective filters (just received another couple today).
MiC metal hoods are just fine for few dollars under free shipping on eBay.

Another great thing about RF, contrast filters doesn't give you odd view in VF

 

[logan2z]

BTDT. OK, not half a roll but the occasional frame. I'm not a filter guy so I've learned to accept that it'll happen occasionally.

 

[Pioneer]

Always remove the lens cap, or you’ll waste half a roll of film.

Today’s lesson is concluded.

Best shots you will take all year.

 

[BradS]

Yup, I've got a few really fantastic photos of the inside of the lens cap.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Always remove the lens cap, or you’ll waste half a roll of film.

Today’s lesson is concluded.

View attachment 245074

+1

Lesson #2.
Use protective filter and hood instead of cap.

+1

Lesson#3 When going from b/w to color film make sure to take off that orange filter!

+1

 

[mshchem]

Lesson 1 also applies to digital cameras with optical finders. Twice, maybe three times I picked up my little Xpro3, thought there was something wrong with the camera.

Lesson 3 I shot one full roll of Fujichrome and when reloading my Fuji 6x9 found my yellow filter in place.

Lesson 2 I've always used a high quality UV filter, but you still need to keep it clean

Lesson 1 The reason I keep batteries in my Leica M6ttl is the LEDs flash if you leave the lens cap on

It's hard to look cool doing dumb stuff, I'm kinda used to it.

 

[reddesert]

Everybody's done this at least once.
It's kind of like forgetting to pull the darkslide on a camera without an interlock. On the Mamiya Press you can do both.
Sometimes people tie a string to the cap or darkslide handle to serve as a reminder.

 

[jimjm]

With 35mm SLR's, not checking if the rewind knob is turning as you advance the film.
I shot a whole roll of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs this way...

 

[Kyle M.]

I have yet to make the lens cap mistake. But tomorrow I will be testing out a new to me Helios 103 53mm F=1.8 on my Kiev 4A so I better double and triple check.

 

[David Reynolds]

Lesson#4 always do some research before you advise someone about a lens' need of goggles .

 

[John Koehrer]

Have you gotten used to not picking the camera up by the lh corner & putting smudges on the VF?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Have you gotten used to not picking the camera up by the lh corner & putting smudges on the VF?

Nope. My big fat sausage finger is always in the way.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Lesson #2.
Use protective filter and hood instead of cap.

The problem with that is if your rangefinder has a cloth shutter, and you set the camera down lens facing up, you can very quickly burn a hole in the shutter curtain on a bright sunny day.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

The problem with that is if your rangefinder has a cloth shutter, and you set the camera down lens facing up, you can very quickly burn a hole in the shutter curtain on a bright sunny day.

Is this scary statement comes from personal experience or you are rumors spreader?
Some reality check:
I have burned the curtain in FED-2 only once. I was at f1.5 shots contest and have my Jupiter-3 wide open on crazy bright March day at white snow. It was burned in first few minutes I entered on the snow.
Rather than this, I don't keep f1.5 under bright sun. And I never burned curtain in 30+ years of using rangefinders without lens caps.
It is not going to happen if lens is f2.8 or slower. Perhaps only if you are not taking pictures but typing all day on the Mac with camera facing into the sun, sitting on the table next to your latte

 

[Donald Qualls]

The problem with that is if your rangefinder has a cloth shutter, and you set the camera down lens facing up, you can very quickly burn a hole in the shutter curtain on a bright sunny day.

Which is one good reason to use a Contax/Kiev instead of a Leica/Fed/Zorki. Metal shutter curtain.

Still won't warn me about the lens cap, though, and most of my other non-SLR cameras don't even have one (I'm not one of those folks who'll spend $30 for a lens cap to correctly fit/match a $15 eBay camera). So far as I know, I haven't left the cap on my Kiev 4M. Yet.

I have had to pull the lens board on my Graphic View to take off the back lens cap on my Componon after checking to be sure the shutter was open and finding the ground glass still black...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I put yellow gaffer tape on the lens hood and lens cap of my SWC to remind me to check for the lens cap.

 

[Luckless]

Not a fan of using filters are 'protection', as they really only offer protection from dust/spray and other low impact issues.

A filter with a thumbprint or gob of mud on it is just about as bad, if not worse, than a lens with a thumb print or gob of mud.

Plus, accidentally leaving a camera lens pointed at the sun isn't exactly great for it, regardless of what the shutter is made of. Even if you have a metal shutter you're still at the risk of minor light leaks needlessly impacting your film if you would have otherwise had a solid cap on.

Personally I find it far more practical to use lens caps that are obvious in the viewfinder if they're on. [But I mainly use a camera bag as a 'lens cap' with my TLRs to be honest. Hard to not notice the camera bag is still on the camera.]

 

[StepheKoontz]

Another: forgetting to extend a collapsible lens before shooting with it lol.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Everybody's done this at least once.
It's kind of like forgetting to pull the darkslide on a camera without an interlock. On the Mamiya Press you can do both.
Sometimes people tie a string to the cap or darkslide handle to serve as a reminder.

Darkslide? Lesson 5: make sure your film holder has film in it. Really, it helps.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Darkslide? Lesson 5: make sure your film holder has film in it. Really, it helps.

i did that last time I had my Zeiss-Ikon Ideal out (on WPPD this year, with a pinhole in shutter swapped in place of the normal Tessar). Went to pull the dark slide for the first plate holder, and it was jammed up. Finally got it to move, and it wouldn't go back down. Had to pull the plate holder off the camera, and found the film sheath latch on the bottom of the plate holder had apparently gotten pushed over -- and there's enough clearance under the dark slide that the sheath will lift enough (on its backing springs) not to reengage the clip and then it will interfere with the dark slide. Yep, the holder was loaded. Nope, this (more or less the Jerry Lewis method) is NOT the recommended method of verification...

 

[jgoody]

The problem with that is if your rangefinder has a cloth shutter, and you set the camera down lens facing up, you can very quickly burn a hole in the shutter curtain on a bright sunny day.

Another plus with many of the "newer" Canon RFs -- the P, the 7, and a few others have metal foil shutters....