Compact 35mm rangefinders with manual mode

[River Mantis]

I'm thinking about a compact (with non interchangeable lens) RF camera with manual mode (sorry, Yashica) until my Canon 7 got fixed or I found a reliable source of a new one. Is there anything to consider beyond Canonet QL17?

 

[Kino]

Konica S2/S3?
Olympus 35RC?
Olympus XA?

 

[nosmok]

Minolta 7Sii has manual shutter at all speeds IIRC; only the meter is battery powered. That Rokkor is a great lens too.

 

[Chan Tran]

Konica S2/S3?
Olympus 35RC?
Olympus XA?

The Olympus RD as well but the XA only has automatic shutter speed. No manual.

 

[Dismayed]

Stephen Gandy has some excellent articles on compact rangefinders:

https://www.cameraquest.com/com35s.htm

 

[Chan Tran]

I have a Yashica Lynx 14 and Lynx 14E. They are great manual rangefinders but not compact.

 

[Cholentpot]

The Olympus RD as well but the XA only has automatic shutter speed. No manual.

Can't have everything. You can fool the shutter though by playing with the film speed setting or using the +1.5 lever.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I have a Weltini -- it's a 35mm RF folder (the example I have that works has the f/2 Xenon; the other, that needs some repair, has a Tessar type f/2.8). There was also a Super Jubilette, Super Baldinette, and of course the Retina. Every one completely manual, very compact when folded. You could go even smaller if you don't insist on cine-perfed 35mm film; the Bantam Special was an 828 folder with a very good lens and RF, and (AFAIK) a little smaller than even the previously listed 135 folders.

 

[markjwyatt]

Retina's (with interchangeable elements, but many do not bother) are great mechanical rangefinder cameras.

 

[BobD]

Most any Retina II or III series.
Olympus 35SP

 

[beemermark]

Olympus SP

 

[Chan Tran]

Can't have everything. You can fool the shutter though by playing with the film speed setting or using the +1.5 lever.

I wish that they can turn the film speed setting into the shutter speed setting. No meter needed. That way I can do flash at different speed and at different aperture. Perhaps a PC sync socket? That way I can use the XA with my Metz 60CT4 and shooting at f/8.

 

[Paul Howell]

Depending on far back and primitive you want to go. Petri and Konica made a number of 35mm fixed lens rangefinders, the Konica models with 50mm F2 and Petri F 1.9 are great cameras if you can one in working order. Even more basic, Argus C33 or 44.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have a Weltini -- it's a 35mm RF folder (the example I have that works has the f/2 Xenon; the other, that needs some repair, has a Tessar type f/2.8). There was also a Super Jubilette, Super Baldinette, and of course the Retina. Every one completely manual, very compact when folded. You could go even smaller if you don't insist on cine-perfed 35mm film; the Bantam Special was an 828 folder with a very good lens and RF, and (AFAIK) a little smaller than even the previously listed 135 folders.

I'm going to agree with all the Retina comments. Aside from the interlock it's possibly the most perfect RF camera I own.

I wish that they can turn the film speed setting into the shutter speed setting. No meter needed. That way I can do flash at different speed and at different aperture. Perhaps a PC sync socket? That way I can use the XA with my Metz 60CT4 and shooting at f/8.

I'd love to use my XA with flash, but alas, it's not feasible.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have a Retina III C big, I got in 1966 as gift my aunts for a comb Xmas and high school graduation present. I still have it. Well by modern standards it is a finicky cameras, not only the interlock, setting the frame count, seeing the EI number, and setting the interlock, when I was 16 not a problem, not it is, As the light meter is not connected to the shutter, aperture interlock it takes time to set the camera up. Sort of sad as at one time it was good daily user. In collage I used it as a second body to my Pentax Spot and later Konica T.

 

[MattKing]

That way I can use the XA with my Metz 60CT4 and shooting at f/8.

I have this picture in my mind of an XA attached to the top of the 60CT4 flash head with velcro.
You could probably work up something with an A11 flash and an optical slave and fiddling with the ASA setting.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have a Retina III C big, I got in 1966 as gift my aunts for a comb Xmas and high school graduation present. I still have it. Well by modern standards it is a finicky cameras, not only the interlock, setting the frame count, seeing the EI number, and setting the interlock, when I was 16 not a problem, not it is, As the light meter is not connected to the shutter, aperture interlock it takes time to set the camera up. Sort of sad as at one time it was good daily user. In collage I used it as a second body to my Pentax Spot and later Konica T.

As a young'n these are all features not bugs. Aside from the interlock. And the interlock.

 

[MattKing]

As a young'n these are all features not bugs. Aside from the interlock. And the interlock.

I'm curious - do you use a meter that reads out in EV?
The interlock, and a meter like that, work really well together.

 

[Paul Howell]

The meter on Retina III C reads out in a scale from 2 to 18,on the bottom of the lens assembly there is a corresponding set of numbers, the user turn the dial that also turn the shutter speed dial which in interlocked with the aperture scale. Every change in shutter speed makes a corresponding change in aperture.

 

[markjwyatt]

I am not crazy about the interlock, but I can work with it. It is the same on my Retina Reflex IV.

 

[BrianShaw]

I'm curious - do you use a meter that reads out in EV?
The interlock, and a meter like that, work really well together.

All of my meters read in EV and I use that feature regularly... on Retinas and Hasselblad. I love EV. EV is a very convenient, often misunderstood, and the interlock is often "needlessly" maligned.

 

[Chan Tran]

I have this picture in my mind of an XA attached to the top of the 60CT4 flash head with velcro.
You could probably work up something with an A11 flash and an optical slave and fiddling with the ASA setting.

The Metz has a bracket which I can mount on the tripod socket. The problem is to fire the flash. I was thinking of disassemble an A11 and attach wire from the inside of it to get a sync signal. You can use optical trigger via the A11 too. Now the bigger problem is that only in flash position which fixes the shutter to 1/30 and aperture to f/3.5. Otherwise the camera shutter is still changing depending on the ambient light condition.

 

[Paul Howell]

All of my meters read in EV and I use that feature regularly... on Retinas and Hasselblad. I love EV. EV is a very convenient, often misunderstood, and the interlock is often "needlessly" maligned.

I'm ok with it, shot many and many rolls of film using the meter on the IIIC, in most cases ok, tricky with backlighting or if shooting zone.

 

[markjwyatt]

The Metz has a bracket which I can mount on the tripod socket. The problem is to fire the flash. I was thinking of disassemble an A11 and attach wire from the inside of it to get a sync signal. You can use optical trigger via the A11 too. Now the bigger problem is that only in flash position which fixes the shutter to 1/30 and aperture to f/3.5. Otherwise the camera shutter is still changing depending on the ambient light condition.

Get the flash and use a slave.

 

[Cholentpot]

I'm curious - do you use a meter that reads out in EV?
The interlock, and a meter like that, work really well together.

I don't use a meter with my IIc. Just eyeball it, seems to have worked. The issue with the interlock is that by moving anything you're not changing the exposure, just the relative aperture or speed. So if I'm going out on a day with conditions that will stay the same all through the shoot the interlock is great. However I never has a situation like that. Light always shifts, there's always a need to adjust. I generally just move the aperture and leave the shutter speed alone.

Get the flash and use a slave.

Fiost of all we don't use that word anymore and second all the Jedi's have take all the Argus flashes.