Uh, no.
Is anyone here else a fan of the Zeiss Ikon ZM?
Is anyone here else a fan of the Zeiss Ikon ZM?
Is anyone here else a fan of the Zeiss Ikon ZM?
Yep. It's my favorite rangefinder.
And I thought you were a Leica man.
Pixii is the ONLY non Leica digital rangefinder available today. So it has the to get the top spot. First things first this is a real rangefinder with rangefinder mechanism and framelines for 28mm, 35mm, 40mm and 50mm. It’s sleek and modern. It has no screen for review, is made to be connected with a phone and has no card interface.
1.) I definitely agree about my website. The files are just wayyy to big. I'm working on it!
2.) You are absolutely right. All of my work has hitherto been shot with medium format and large format cameras on a tripod. The reason why I'd like a rangefinder is because I'd like to expand my practice and use a rangefinder for fast, handheld work - different work than currently seen on my website. A rangefinder's size appeals to me because I can carry the camera with a few lenses in a small bag and get away with photographing in more restricted areas, getting in, taking the shot, and getting out. I can't tell you how many times I almost got a shot with my large/medium format cameras on tripods only to have someone or a security guard threaten me or threaten to call the police. I had a horrible experience just a few weeks ago when someone ran up to me and threatened to smash my priceless Linhof Master Technica Classic because he thought I was photographing his house! I definitely would like to avoid that going forward. Also, as you've mentioned, I tend to shoot wide. 50mm to me is practically a telephoto lens! I seem to be most comfortable with and in between the 28mm to 45mm focal lengths, occasionally using a 20mm for my nicely featured Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7. The Minolta Maxxum lenses are very good, but I'm not convinced that they're the best for wider angles. I noticed this since I digitally scan my negatives to fairly enormous sizes.
Anyway, that all said, cameras like the Contax G1/G2 also scare me a bit because of the many stories I've heard of them turning into unusable bricks and how all the LCD screens eventually bleed. In contrast, however, I've heard great things about the Minolta CLE, Konica Hexar RF, and Voigtlander Bessas.
I feel partial to the Minolta CLE and Voigtlander Bessa R4a (for wide angle shooting), in that order. I still like the idea of the Contax G1, particularly because I have a Sony a7R IV - that I almost exclusively use for scanning my negatives - and those apparently amazing Contax/Zeiss lenses can be adapted to said Sony a7R IV.
At the end of the day, and definitely tell me if my thinking is wrong or erronous, but I think I'd like a mostly mechanical rangefinder (even though the G1 would contradict this).
That all said, I think the winners for me are (in order):
1.) Minolta CLE - would only need the 28mm and 40mm lenses
2.) Voigtlander Bessa R4A - since I shoot almost exclusively wide angle/standard, this might be a winner for me with 25mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses
3.) Contax G1 (Green Label) - would be happy to shoot with just the 28mm, 35mm, and 45mm.
-Of these 3 cameras, which ones do you guys think are the best?
-Would the Contax Zeiss lenses beat out the Voigtlander lenses or Minolta lenses or vice versa?
For my money, the best value for a 35mm RF is a Leica IIIf (or g) with a 50mm f/3.5 collapsible Elmar on it (or the f/2 Summicron, but those are way too much money). The camera still holds up well after all these years and the lens - even the uncoated ones - is just tack sharp. The nice thing is, that these thread mount lenses can be refitted to an M body later, with the appropriate adapter.
Leica doesn't have to be expensive. It's only expensive if you have to have the latest thing and are a hipster willing to spend nosebleed money to impress the other hipsters at the lousy coffee place on the corner ...
I would totally agree with this and have never had a camera with a shutter as quiet as a Leica IIIF. Pure Barnack genius an precision.
The most silent rangefinders have leaf shutters.
I guess the Contax (iia/iiia/ii/iii )is considered a really noisy rangefinder, with its metal slat shutter but compared to an SLR it is near silent. The Retinas as @Don_ih implies are really quiet with their leaf shutters. I would say rangefinders tend to be pretty quiet, and comparisons between them are pretty minor relative the difference between rangefinders and SLRs.
The sound of the Leica shutter is comforting....
THA-WHACK!! from a Hasselblad
The only Hasselblad I've used had a leaf shutter.
The sound of the Leica shutter is comforting....
I don't think of the sound of the Leica shutter as being special in that same way.
I like the sound of the clockwork at 1 second, then the shump of the shutter closing.
It's not special - but it sounds reliable.
The Contax shutter is swell, if it works. Almost none of them work properly.
The only Hasselblad I've used had a leaf shutter.
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