Cheap old 35mm rangefinders

Gerald Koch · Jun 9, 2005

Forgot to mention the Olympus Trip 35 with a razor sharp 40 mm Zuiko lens. If you are going to buy one make sure that the selenium meter is working.

benjiboy · Jun 9, 2005

I don't think the battery for the Yashica 35 G.T. is available any more, Ithink they were mercury cells, and they are not allowed to make them due to environmental issues.

Will S · Jun 9, 2005

Bentley Boyd said:
I don't think the battery for the Yashica 35 G.T. is available any more, Ithink they were mercury cells, and they are not allowed to make them due to environmental issues.

photoethnography.com says:

5.6v PX32 (battery check feature)
-compatible with 6V PX32A; or 6V PX28 alkaline, with 40c adaptor

Gerald Koch · Jun 10, 2005

For cameras that took a single mercury battery there is a very simple fix. This involves the addition of a 1N34A diode in series with the battery. The diode allows a silver oxide battery to replace the mercury battery by adjusting the voltage the camera sees. There are several sites on the web which describe this modification in detail.

titrisol · Jun 10, 2005

You sre about the diode type?
Is that for 1.5V -> 1.2 V?

If so RadioShack is your friend.... they sell for about 0.30

The 1N34A Germanium diode is an old standby in electronics. Widely used for detecting the rectifying efficiency or for switching on a radio, TV or stereo etc.

* GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS Peak Inv. Voltage(PIV): 60 Volts
* Max. Average Rectified Current: 50mA @ 25 deg C
* Junction Temperature (TJ): 100 deg C Max.
* FWD Voltage Drop(VF): 1.0V @ 5.0 mA
* Reverse Current: IR 15uA @ VR 10 volts

titrisol · Jun 10, 2005

HEADS UP!!!
Leica M3 with lens at GoodWill!
http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=1388901

Gerald Koch · Jun 10, 2005

Yes, that's the correct diode it drops the silver oxide battery's voltage from 1.55 to 1.35. There is a Schottky diode which is a bit better but the 1N34A works well for this purpose.

titrisol · Jun 10, 2005

I've heard of the Schotky diode but couldn;t find any around here... off to Radio Shack tonight!!

titrisol · Jun 12, 2005

http://home.pcisys.net/~rlsnpjs/minolta/conversion.html

Has explanation and pictures of using Schottsky Diodes and how to install them.

Max Power · Jun 13, 2005

FED 5 Baby!!!

My QL17 GIII was stolen from the house about a month ago. I really wanted another RF, but was a bit frustrated by the issue of having a single fixed lens. The meter was another issue.

Wanting to see if I liked the whole RF vibe anymore I just got a new in the box FED 5V on eBay from a reputable dealer. Ugly as heck but a really great performer. I have managed to put together a kit including the FED 5V, a J-9, a J-12, an I-61 and a Petri Tele/wide VF for $150. The quality is rather surprising.

I highly recommend this route for someone who want's to try RF photography without spending serious $$$ on the likes of a Bessa or a Leica.

Kent

Murray@uptowngallery · Jun 13, 2005

This is a rhetorical question I suppose, but I am still interested in replies.

Despite having 4 rangefinders, 2 SLR's, and folders, I ask myself why do I want to pursue the RF's if I already have a SLR that's easier to use.

I don't know why. I read a bunch of urban legends about RF's and how much truth they may hold on Dante Stella's site. Maybe there is no answer.

What do you folks who have 'higher forms' of camera like about the RF's?

I can come up with reasons why I continue to try them (C3's and Moskva V) out, but I feel like it's some subjective reason that defies words and logic.

Murray

blackmelas · Jun 14, 2005

I've gotten down in to the guts of my Kiev 4 to fix the rangefinder and the focus. I haven't yet opened my Contax IIIa or the Leica M2s at work, but I would. THere is something reassuring to me about working on it yourself. Also, I shoot the rangefinders without a meter (the IIIa's meter is broken). I feel like it's just me with the camera as an extension of my body and my subject. Then there's that wonderful soft mechanical "clk" or "wrr clk" as the shutter releases. It's nothing like my SLR's or digital cameras with their two dozen buttons, eight score settings and modes, electronics, batteries, TTL, mirror slap, etc.
Just "clk".... and I'm off to the darkroom...

titrisol · Jun 14, 2005

I like rangefinders for 3 reasons:
- Picture quality, I can concentrate on the image much better
- overall feel and quietness
- the way they focus

Donald Qualls · Jun 14, 2005

I'd love to have a decent 35 mm rangefinder -- I'm seriously considering a Signet 35 or Signet 40, since they're inexpensive and have the excellent Anastar lens (even though the shutter is often reviled, I don't mind the lack of slow speeds and seldom miss speeds above 200). Quiet shutters are a plus, and many RFs are easier to focus in bad light than an SLR (my Spotmatic, with f/1.4 50 mm lens and at EI 1600, can be hand held when the light is so dim I have trouble seeing the microprism spot in the finder).

I don't care that much about interchangeable lenses (I seldom even mount the 28 mm and 135 mm on my Spottie), so I'm firmly in "inexpensive" RF territory -- which also gets me leaf shutters I can likely service or even repair myself, and typically cameras with full manual control, so it doesn't even matter much if the meter works. I'd love to get a Canonet, Yashica, or Olympus RF with a fast lens, though -- f/1.8, 1.5, even 1.2. Maybe someday...

Max Power · Jun 14, 2005

Murray,
I've been asking the same question for a little while myself. I have an X-700 kit that gives me very satisfying results; it is simple to use and does what I ask of it.

I've been switching between RF and SLR for a year now, and for myself, it comes down to size/weight and vibration.

My X-700 is fairly large and even the 50mm is a big chunk of glass. It's hopeless hand-held at under 1/30 sec. My FED 5V is small, has small lenses and is quiet and has very little vibration; I can use it at 1/15 sec in extreme cases.

I don't buy into the RF mystique at all, I just find it better for some uses.

Kent

jamesdak · Jun 14, 2005

I too prefer my rangefinders over my other systems sometimes. For something to stick in a pocket and carry around all the time nothing beats my tiny but sharp Minolta 7SII or the even smaller Olympus 35 RC. For years I carried around a complete Maxxum 7 setup and then the past year or so carried my Panasonic FZ10 digital daily. But all these cameras took up a lot of space and none of them where pocketable. The little rangfinders will slip right in a pocket or I sometimes clip a tiny neoprene bag with the RF and and extra roll of film inside to a belt loop and head out. The meters do fine for me as long as I'm shooting print film. It was also a blast today to watch my 9 year old get so excited as he snapped away with the 35 RC. We went to a state park so I could work a waterfall and I gave him the little rangefinder to play with while I worked. One hour to get the prints back and he's got instant gratification for his work. And since my son is small for his age he's always had problems holding one of my heavy Minolta MF SLRs level to shoot with, the RF shots where all nicely level (although not all in focus, LOL).

Murray@uptowngallery · Jun 15, 2005

OK - I had some of the same thoughts/feelings which were conflicting with my expected logic...

I am enamored with folders right now and I've gotten nothing but garbage out of them so far, possibly operator error in part.

I used a Matchmatic Brick for a project with my daughter & a friend for girl scouts. The friend happily chose the Brick (perhaps in part knowing it's cinema notoriety) over a Minolta X-700. I told her how to set exposures and haven't seen the results yet, although the mother thought it was great (need an unbiased opinion, however).

Realistically I probably don't have time and shouldn't spend the money, but something makes me want to shoot a roll thru each of the other two Bricks I recently got, 'just so I know if they work', I guess. I can't explain it.

Murray@uptowngallery · Jun 19, 2005

http://uptowngallery.org/Murray/C3Matchmatic/
directory with 5 C3-Matchmatic 'snapshots' test shots to see if two rolls of double exposures were my fault or the camera's (no comment).

The Flying Disc dog ones are apparently overcompressed. I'll update them. The portraits are ok.

Murray

FallisPhoto · Aug 6, 2007

gnashings said:
... (I got the wien cells - works great) ...

I was reading the other day that a Wein cell is nothing more than a 675 zinc/air hearing aid battery pressure fitted into a collar. The guy said that if you can pry the 675 battery out of one, and ream it a bit so you don't need a hammer to get another 675 battery into it, then you can use the collar as an adapter for normal 675 hearing aid batteries. The attraction of doing this is that hearing aid batteries only cost about a buck.

rusty71 · Aug 6, 2007

I've had a lot of 35mm rangefinders by Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Yashica etc. The only one I can afford that I really like is my Kiev 4m. If you get a decent one they are rock solid and the 50mm f1.8 Lens is a good performer. Great for color or black and white. All manual, but I like that! No seals to worry about either. The thing is built like a T-34 tank. All of my Yashica Electros died from a sticky pad. Sooner or later they're all gonna go. My Kiev keeps on ticking.

Paul Howell · Aug 7, 2007

I have spent the last few years reprinting (and printing negatives that I never printed) 40 years worth of primary 35mm negatives. Given inmprovements in film quaility, good and bad darkroom set ups, negatives machined process by UPI and other wire services, the shots made with a Cannon 7S or Lieca GIII still stand out over the shots made with Nikons or my Pentex 42mm system. A rangefinder is much more hand holdable in low light, quite, and the Lieca was rock soild. Even my Retina III C will give most SLR sa run its money.

JHannon · Aug 7, 2007

rusty71 said:
All of my Yashica Electros died from a sticky pad. Sooner or later they're all gonna go.

The Yashica Electro "Pad of Death" - a bad rubber pad used on the shutter release that slowly dissolves. I replaced the pads on my Electros, there is a step by step procedure on how to do it if you are willing to open the case.

--John

IloveTLRs · Aug 7, 2007

I just got a Konica Auto S2 from my dad. It seems to be a pretty solid camera. Better than the GS: even with no battery the shutter fires at all speeds

mabman · Aug 8, 2007

I recently picked up an Auto S2 as well - it's quickly becoming my favourite camera - the lens is really tremendous.

I use a hearing aid battery in mine, type 675, available from most pharmacies and Wal-Marts (actually first I bought a WeinCell from a camera store, which is the same except it has 2 holes instead of 4, and supposedly lasts longer, but mine was DOA), and I ended up using the removable metal ring around the WeinCell to help the hearing aid battery fit better in the battery compartment. If you don't have a WeinCell and are having fit issues I suppose tin foil would do the job as well.

I think it's definitely worth having the battery - the meter on the Auto S2 in my experience thus far is really very accurate (I've put a roll of slide film through it, it turned out very well).

My only complaints - the ISO selection only goes to 400, and it's only shutter priority and manual - no aperture priority, which I prefer. But, for a camera made in the late 1960's, and something I picked up CLA'd for under US$100, it's really quite good.

P C Headland · Aug 8, 2007

If you want something cheap and fairly capable, small, all mechanical and with interchangeable lenses, you could look at the Braun Super Paxettes. 35, 50, 85 and 135mm lenses are available, with coupled RF. If you get something like the Super IIBL you get a fairly accurate light meter built in as well.

The only real downside is the lack of a film wind knob - you have a rewind lever, which is a bit slow.

Cheap old 35mm rangefinders

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