budget RF

[hobbes]

You may also give it a try to the whole family of Yashica Electro 35 (GS/GT/GSN/GTN). You may do a PhD on it at a wonderful website: http://www.yashica-guy.com/index.html

 

[Smudger]

The Yashica G series are the goods - but every second one on Evilbay will be faulty, so make sure you have return privileges if you buy online.

 

[zsas]

Saw this blog article about shooting Yashica, worth a read if you are thinking of going Yashica.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/05/06/is-the-yashica-electro-the-best-deal-in-rangefinder-photography-by-ricky-opaterny/

I am a Yashica RF user and love my camera. I shoot the Lynx 14E and have no complaints, just praise, it doesnt even need a battery to operate! It takes a battery but only for the lightmeter, so you can shoot w/o and perfect your internal meter, should you accept the challenge...although a clean Lynx looks to be going for $50-$100 on the bay. And often need a CLA. So there are pros/cons to a cheap, real cheep camera, but maybe a mint one that your send in for a CLA will be better in the long run, that is the route I took, but going the other way, works for others, I dont judge. If you expect your camera to work, see about only bidding or buying one with a return policy, then run some film and see if it is gonna work for you. Best of luck!

 

[Dr.Pain-MD]

Olympus made some really super fixed-lens RFs, I would strongly recommend you go with one of them. They have really good optics and are fairly robust mechanically. Check them out!

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

As good as a Contessa but with a clear life-size rangefinder.
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Vitomatic_IIa

I own a mint condition sample of this exact camera. Even the light meter works. I can confirm it's a heavyweight beauty. Built in an era when men were men, and cameras were too...



One very oddball tip for the Vitomatic IIa with the Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.8 lens is that the standard plastic Fujifilm 35m film canister lid from makes for a gawd-awfully perfect lens cap. Snugly slips inside the lens mount opening as if it were designed precisely for that purpose and that purpose alone.

Ken

 

[one90guy]

I must cast a vote to the Yashicas, as for buying on ebay in about 10 GSN's and 2 MG-1's there has been only 1 that I could not make work. It was always bad contacts with the battery or a broken wire from battery compartment, something easy. I guess Ive been lucky I always ask buyer if camera has been checked with battery, if no answer or no I usually pass.

 

[polka]

+1 : they are excellent shooters, they are very cheap because millions were put on the market, but they may not be working at their age, or they may break soon. Their (only) problem is well known : it's the POD (the pad of death), and may be rather easily cured by competent DIY (fully documented of the WWW). I bought two and had to do it twice (however, for one of them not immediately after buying).

The original 5,6V battery is no longer available but you can use instead 4 alkaline A640 1,5V cells, with no exposure shift errors.

Bye Paul

 

[guitstik]

If you go the Yashica Electro 35GSN route, check out Mark Hama he may have one for sale. Mark worked in the Yashica plant building cameras and now fixes them here in the US. If he has one for sale you can bet that it has been gone through and would be in perfect working order. I think he sells on eBay as well so you might check there.

 

[Selidor]

Dont overlook the other Canonets, the QL 19/25. My dad has both; the QL 19 is broken but the 25 makes perfect pictures.

 

[nosmok]

No love yet for the Olympus XA? Pocketable, meter works better in low light than any of my others, true range finder, great contrasty lens that gets sharp enough. Only if you wanna shoot a lot of flash would I not consider one. Plentiful too.

--nosmok

 

[BillBingham2]

Take a look at www.cameraquest.com there is a classic camera page off the first page that has tons of great info.

I started with a Minolta IIIm and loved it. No meter, no battery no problems.

There are lots of great options out there to chose from. If you want to try an FSU option I would strongly recommend you just sent me all the money you have to spend and I will send you a rock. I tried several from well know sources and they were a wonderful money-pit. Ended up switching to Nikon rangefinders so it was not a total loss, but it was a damn expensive journey.

If you use Nikon SLR/DSLRs I would strongly recommend you look at an S2 or newer Nikon rangefinder.

B2

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

If you want to try an FSU option I would strongly recommend you just sent me all the money you have to spend and I will send you a rock.

Not to minimize your angst, but that may be just a bit harsh. While I don't question your poor FSU luck, others may have had a bit better fortune.

I purchased a Fed 3 from a fellow APUG member a while back just to see what was up with these FSU cameras. It has subsequently functioned very well with nary a single service issue. Took climbing a learning curve on my part as it does NOT normally operate in the "standard" ways to which we have become accustomed with mainstream cameras.

Although I don't know the camera's provenance, I do know that the shutter timings on this thing are closer to perfect across its range than any of the other cameras I own, with the exception of my large format Copals. I know this because I measured them with a shutter tester after assuming they'd be hideous. They weren't.

And just to add insult to injury, the camera also has the clearest and easiest-to-focus rangefinder mechanism I own. Better even than my Canonet QL17 G-III. And there's an excellent built-in diopter correction that will shred your flesh using it, but which works wonderfully well. The Canonet lacks this feature entirely.

All one needs to do is get past the truly wretched fit and finish, and the horrible feel and sounds that emanate every time one winds a new frame. You'd swear the thing was about to fall apart in your hands.

The negatives, however, are uniformly excellent.

Who knew?



Ken

[Edit] In fairness, I just remembered and forgot to mention that the camera's rubberized cloth shutter curtain did have two areas of pinholes when I received it. I temporarily "fixed" these by covering those areas on the back side with small squares of black photo tape. That added a little extra mass to the shutter system, but did not appreciably alter the shutter speeds. This MacGyver-style fix seemed highly appropriate for an FSU camera, and has worked so well that I've just left it as-is.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

I got my Olympus rc for pretty cheap but had to fix a stuck aperture ring and solder battery connections. Turns out cell was bust so no A priority mode. Works better with my own modern light meter anyway! It's tiny and fairly sharp, but maybe a bit to small to hold comfortably for me atleast.

Canonet 28 is super cheap too with most people wanting the 17 version.

I saw the lynx 14e just go for $50 on eBay, good for low light but klunky.

 

[BillBingham2]

Not to minimize your angst, but that may be just a bit harsh. While I don't question your poor FSU luck, others may have had a bit better ........... This MacGyver-style fix seemed highly appropriate for an FSU camera, and has worked so well that I've just left it as-is.

Ken,

Perhaps I'm just envious of people who have had better luck than I did. I ended up spending over $600 USD on three bodies and seven lenses. Inspite of trips to two different repair people (one across the ocean) none of the bodies worked well.

I know there are some people who have had heat luck, I haven't. I love the FED-2 especially when you replace the take up re with one from a FED-5.

With two kids I barely had time to breath let alone tinker.

B2

 

[darinwc]

I'm not a high-end rangefinder shooter, but ive gone through a few fixed-lens rangefinders lately and put some film through them.

In the under $50 range:
If you dont mind a larger camera, the Konica Auto S2, Yashica Electro G*, or Minolta 7 are all great cameras and probably the best bang for the buck..
If you want a smaller camera with auto or full manual exposure, the Olympus 35RC or canonet QL17/19 is your best bet.

1. Do a search on each of these cameras.
2. look at flikr.com for examples (not really the best pics, but does give you a feel foir what they can do)
3. buy one from someone who thoroughly describes the camera AND will allow a return. (will add to the cost, but worth it)

 

[abate cruento]

thanks you very much for the valuable info!