Best Full Frame Canon LTM Rangefinder Camera?

[r_a_feldman]

I’d like to know which full frame Canon LTM rangefinder you, from your personal experience, consider the best and why. Please keep the discussion to Canon cameras – I don’t what to hear that X camera is better than a Canon, etc. "Best" can be best overall, the model you like using the most, the best value, etc.

Thanks.

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, why do you ask?

 

[r_a_feldman]

Hmm, why do you ask?

I'm considering getting a Canon rangefinder.

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, now I am really not a user of these cameras, but I have had a IVSB, P, and 7.
The IVSB feels like an improved Leica Barnack ... the 7 had a great viewfinder, but felt large for me ... I liked the P best for its mid size, winding lever, and clean viewfinder.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Canon P.

Film loads like an SLR.
Big "picture window" viewing...no squinty Barnack-type shenanigans.

 

[nosmok]

Another vote for the Canon P!

Although, if you're looking for the "Canon-iest" Canon RF, then a later V model would be the choice-- they made a whole galaxy of bespoke accessories for the V that will keep you occupied finding them, and (who knows) may actually help take pictures.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

7

 

[Nikanon]

Important to hear as someone who went down this path and won’t own one again. Having owned a couple I have to say I have given up on canon rangefinder bodies because 1. When the rangefinder goes out, it’s a huge pain to adjust it, often they were so cheaply made it goes out easily, this will give you enough headaches to sell it 2. They are about the same price as the superior Leica screwmount bodies for more reliability in the Leica. 3. The best part about canon rangefinders is the lenses which you can just use on a Leica body anyway.

Here is the most excellent 50mm f1.8 LTM Serenar LTM on a monochrom 246. No matter what you get , buy this, and it’s 35mm f2.8 brother:

 

[jgoody]

I have a 7 and a P -- they both have their good points. The 7 has the better finder, and selectable framelines, but it's bigger. It's got a so so meter, but no accessory shoe. The P is a little smaller, more elegant, but has a bunch of framelines in the finder all the time -- it has the accessory shoe. Both have metal shutters, which often have a little crinkling, which, if slight, seem to have no bad effect. The 7 takes the super fast and rare .95 (I think) lens -- not that that really matters. I have some " Canon Auto-Up" CU attachments that fit the P and correct the viewfinder and rangefinder as well as having a diopter -- they work surprisingly well. They both load easily with a door very much like an SLR.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

Just get the “P” will ya!! Enough already.

 

[Paul Howell]

The P is a very good camera, but the 7S has many more features, if you find one with a working meter although TTL it is functional. I had a 7S and Leica IIIG, 90% of the time I carried the 7s. Canon LTM are as good as Leica, even today will resolve Tmax 100.

 

[Sammydesinas]

I like the bodies preceding the P, the V/VL/VT.
Cameraquest has a great piece on them comparing them: https://cameraquest.com/crfl1bl.htm
The P actually just removes a few features but gets recommended a lot due to how common it is.

 

[__Brian]

The Canon 7 and Canon P are both very rugged. I had a Canon 7 picked up cheap that had been dropped so hard that the solid glass prism sheered off near the base, through the glass. Rangefinder was accurate. Cleaned the glass shards out of the mechanism, glued the prism back together- worked fine.

If you are shooting with a lot of lenses- the Canon 7 has individually selected 35|50|85+100|135, parallax corrected projected lines. The Canon P has 35/50/100 brightlines, also parallax projected- but always visible. Both have large viewfinders, the Canon 7 is 0.8x mag, the Canon P is 1x. For eyeglasses- the Canon P is easier on the eyeglass lenses.

Both were produced in large numbers, both have metal shutter curtains, both are fairly low-priced these days.

Currently have the Canon III, Canon IIIa, V-T, Canon P, and Canon 7. Had the VI-T, and L-1.
The V-T "deluxe" trigger wind is "unusual", and I got it with a perfect-glass 50/1.2 for less than what the lens sells for.

 

[GRHazelton]

Just get the “P” will ya!! Enough already.

Right on! I have a Canon P with the f1.8 50, the f1.8 35, and the f2 100mm. I will have to get a CLA since the - slightly wrinkled - shutter "hangs up" at low speeds until exercised a while. The handling is excellent. It feels solid, and might make a good defensive weapon. I also scored the everready case, but I intend to replace the original neck strap. Too many years on it to trust!

 

[nicholasnicholas]

7 and VI-L over here. Both are wonderful. VI-L feels more... long lasting?
A canon P is on the way

 

[Randy Stewart]

I have a variety of bodies and lenses. My favorite is the VI-T. I find the 7/7S to be a bit too large and heavy by comparison. Many recommend the P, but I do not. Another reason I do not prefer the 7 is that the shutter looses fast speeds over time, slowing to the point where it is beyond ability to be adjusted. The problem comes from Canon having designed a much stronger or heavier spring pressure to drive the metal foil shutter curtains, and the springs just do not stand up. When they could be replaced, they could be repaired. Those days passed off about 40 years ago. The P has the same shutter (and problems), along with a viewfinder cluttered with three lens frame lines. The P, 7, and 7S shutter will not be touched by any serviceman I know. The VI (either T or L) has the traditional, switchable viewfinder frame lines. Its shutter is the older Leica copy, which means to will be repairable forever.

 

[negativefunk]

I have a 7 and a P, and 50/35 mm canon lenses.

I am not a rangefinder-person but I really enjoy using these. Among the two I prefer the 7 for the viewfinder. It also feels like it would stop a bullet aimed at me as in the movies of yore.
If I planned to use other lenses, the presence of the socket would be preferable for external viewfinders.
I think my 7's meter may actually work but it's so cumbersome I never looked at it once.

I feel like I might prefer a V-something to both the ones I have .
The 50mm 1.8 is a very, very good performer, sometime I'd have liked it focussed closer.

 

[GregY]

I prefer the P......I avoid the 7 (despite its improvements) for the same reason I don't like the Leica M5.....it just feels too big & awkward in my hands.