Kodak Brownie No.3A Analog Rangefinder Options?

[BobClack]

Unless I'm just not searching correctly, it appears that if one wants to buy a new (2014)
stand alone photography rangefinder to use with a vintage non-rangefinder camera, the
only game in town are the $300.00 (and up) laser rangefinders.

Is anyone producing an analog photography rangefinder in 2014?

I recently purchased a vintage Saymon-Brown but without the manual I'm just not getting the
calibration correct.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[250swb]

There are hundreds of accurate (or at least adjustable to be accurate) vintage camera rangefinders on eBay for tiny amounts of money. True, a few may be dogs, but look for Watameter, Voigtlander, etc. and which go for less that $20.

Steve

 

[Regular Rod]

Unless I'm just not searching correctly, it appears that if one wants to buy a new (2014)
stand alone photography rangefinder to use with a vintage non-rangefinder camera, the
only game in town are the $300.00 (and up) laser rangefinders.

Is anyone producing an analog photography rangefinder in 2014?

I recently purchased a vintage Saymon-Brown but without the manual I'm just not getting the
calibration correct.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

How about a much more accurate rangefinder than most, that is yours for 5 minutes of your time, a sheet of card and some toner from your printer?

http://tomchuk.com/misc/rf/

Put in the information. Print the card. Cut it out. Keep it with your camera.

Make as many as you need to suit all your cameras.


RR

 

[michr]

What you're looking for is called an accessory rangefinder. I bought one last month for about $10 and have used it successfully for a couple of rolls of film in my Zeiss 6x9 folder. The accessory rangefinders fit in the accessory shoe, but that won't help you on the 3A, so you can hold the rangefinder over the film plane and get the distance, which should be close enough. Don't rely on it for close work, but anything over 10 feet should be well enough in focus. These rangefinders come in metric and feet scales, so get the right one for your camera.

 

[Peltigera]

Over ten feet, guessing should be accurate enough.

 

[michr]

Over ten feet, guessing should be accurate enough.

I hear all the time that rangefinders aren't good for close-focus work because of parallax. And if it's true that over ten feet can be guestimated well enough, then rangefinders must only be useful from about a foot to nine feet, so perhaps OP should buy a tape measure instead.

But seriously, OP, buy an accessory rangefinder, use it, and you might wonder if it's worth $1000 more for a medium format camera with a coupled rangefinder.

 

[Peltigera]

If you look at the distance markings on a focusing scale on a lens - if you measure a distance to, say, 18 feet, you can only set that on the lens to an accuracy of =/- 3 feet (on my Zeiss Ikon Contina and my Ikonta 520). I don't have a Kodak Brownie 3A to check the focusing scale on the lens the OP has but I would expect a camera of that age to have quite a small scale - helical focusing was not usual back that long ago. The small aperture (f11-ish) is going to give quite a large depth of field.

 

[michr]

Apologies OP for not fully reading your comment, as I see you do already have a rangefinder. I couldn't find any affordable optical rangefinders made recently. I did find two kinds of devices available cheaply on Amazon, a laser distance measure, and an ultrasonic distance measure. Presuming you only need to measure with distances below 50 feet, one of these might be an option for you. Accuracy is probably good enough for your purposes.

 

[BobClack]

Thank you to all for your help with this question.


250swb- Yes, if I do buy another vintage rangefinder, it will have to have a manual. I presently own a vintage Saymon Brown rangefinder but without the manual I'm not understanding how to calibrate it. (It's slightly off.)





Regular Rod- I followed the link and it looks like a well-thought out device. However, with my way of working (meaning, I try to limit my "photo stuff" as much as I can!) I'm looking for a "1 item for all cameras push a button answer giver".


Basically, if I were better at remembering where my stepping rings and filters are, I would definitely consider this DIY device!


Thank you for the link!




Peltigera- Thank you for your responses. As it happens, it is from my testing of my Ikonta 520 that greatly lead to posting this topic.


Having recently taken out the Ikonta 520 for an initial test drive (on a tripod), my images came back with blurring in some images, but not in others. I need to be able to determine if, (A), my distance estimates are inaccurate, or (B), is the camera's focusing slightly off and I need to figure adjustments.


A trusted distance measuring device will allow me to take my distance estimates out of the equation and allow me to better determine any camera's possible focusing peculiarities.


Basically, if I know the distance is a true 18 feet, I need only to figure adjustments to the camera's focusing and move on.


Having now picked up the Brownie 3A, it seems like a useful item to employ with any camera that I might have to throw at it.




michr- "Accessory rangefinder". Yes, I was struggling with the term!


And thank you for the idea of a "laser distance measurer". I've not heard of this device. I think this is what will fit best for what I need and how I work.


I'm looking for as near exact distances as I can get (with price considerations). Whether this comes via a classical (or modern) analog rangefinder or a laser distance measurer is of equal value.


Once again, thank you to all for your responses.


And once again, APUG is a fabulous resource for us newbies who are feeling our way through.