I use SLR, TLR and rangefinder, as well as a few scale focus cameras. Each type has its charms and each type has areas where it provides a slight advantage.
For me the rangefinder is a little quicker to use. I suspect that helps explain its popularity as a street camera as there are times when you must be quick to get your shot. Let me explain a bit.
Focus is quite quick, even though that may seem a bit counter-intuitive since most rangefinders are manual focus. There are two ways this can happen. First, wide angle lenses have a pretty wide depth of field, particularly at f11 or wider. So you can set your lens to give you an acceptable level of sharpness within a fairly wide range of distances. Second, most rangefinder lenses have a short focus throw. My Zeiss ZM 50/2 Planar goes from 0.7m to infinity in about 95 degrees of rotation. This means that you can focus very quickly if you want. Again, if your aperture is at f11 or narrower than you don't have to be right one the money, close is good enough, just like horseshoes and hand grenades.
The next issue that isn't often considered with rangefinders is the shutter response time. My M3 takes a picture within 17 milliseconds of pushing the shutter button. My Zeiss Ikon takes 14 milliseconds in manual, 20 in autoexposure mode. The Leica M7 in manual fires in 12 milliseconds. These are very quick times. The quickest the Nikon F6 will fire is 37 milliseconds and this is not the average. And the Nikon is considered a very quick camera. BTW, the M8 and M9, Leica's digital entries, take 80 milliseconds, so Leica lost a lot of shutter speed on the way to digital.
When you combine these features with the large, bright, always on, viewfinder on these rangefinders you can see why they are considered so quick, and a real darling of the street shooter crowd.
But remember, it takes time to master these cameras so that you can actually take advantage of this quickness. You won't just pick one of these cameras up and immediately step into the street and be capable of taking fast and masterful street shots.
And lest you believe that a top of the line, auto exposure and autofocus dslr is faster, it isn't. Auto focus for one adds dramatically to the time. Most SLRs, digital or not, have to keep the mirror down while the lens focuses, then they flip the mirror out of the way to take the shot. A Canon 1DS Mk IV, a pro camera for sure, takes up to 120 milliseconds to get shots sometimes and the average is a bit below 100.
Food for thought when considering your next camera. Remember, shooting your kids in the back yard is a lot closer to street photography than portrait photography.
For me the rangefinder is a little quicker to use. I suspect that helps explain its popularity as a street camera as there are times when you must be quick to get your shot. Let me explain a bit.
Focus is quite quick, even though that may seem a bit counter-intuitive since most rangefinders are manual focus. There are two ways this can happen. First, wide angle lenses have a pretty wide depth of field, particularly at f11 or wider. So you can set your lens to give you an acceptable level of sharpness within a fairly wide range of distances. Second, most rangefinder lenses have a short focus throw. My Zeiss ZM 50/2 Planar goes from 0.7m to infinity in about 95 degrees of rotation. This means that you can focus very quickly if you want. Again, if your aperture is at f11 or narrower than you don't have to be right one the money, close is good enough, just like horseshoes and hand grenades.
The next issue that isn't often considered with rangefinders is the shutter response time. My M3 takes a picture within 17 milliseconds of pushing the shutter button. My Zeiss Ikon takes 14 milliseconds in manual, 20 in autoexposure mode. The Leica M7 in manual fires in 12 milliseconds. These are very quick times. The quickest the Nikon F6 will fire is 37 milliseconds and this is not the average. And the Nikon is considered a very quick camera. BTW, the M8 and M9, Leica's digital entries, take 80 milliseconds, so Leica lost a lot of shutter speed on the way to digital.
When you combine these features with the large, bright, always on, viewfinder on these rangefinders you can see why they are considered so quick, and a real darling of the street shooter crowd.
But remember, it takes time to master these cameras so that you can actually take advantage of this quickness. You won't just pick one of these cameras up and immediately step into the street and be capable of taking fast and masterful street shots.
And lest you believe that a top of the line, auto exposure and autofocus dslr is faster, it isn't. Auto focus for one adds dramatically to the time. Most SLRs, digital or not, have to keep the mirror down while the lens focuses, then they flip the mirror out of the way to take the shot. A Canon 1DS Mk IV, a pro camera for sure, takes up to 120 milliseconds to get shots sometimes and the average is a bit below 100.
Food for thought when considering your next camera. Remember, shooting your kids in the back yard is a lot closer to street photography than portrait photography.
