Rangefinders with frame lines

[ole-squint]

Hello to all. I'm looking for a 35mm rangefinder with 35mm & 50mm frame lines. Mechanical only, LTM, and as light weight as possible. I'm currently carrying an Olympus 35S and an Olympus Wide-E, but now I'm in my 70's and they're getting heavy by the end of the day. Is there such a thing as a camera the weight of a IIIf with the viewfinder of a Canon P? Am I looking for the holy grail?
Thanks in advance-----------------

 

[BrianShaw]

Kodak Retina IIIC or IIC. Must be the "big C", not the small c.

 

[madNbad]

Spent some time looking at various models of Nicca, Leotax and early Yashica and it looks like any of those, with combined rangefinder/ viewfinder would still be the same size as a Canon. Good luck with your search!

 

[Paul Howell]

Retina IIIC B and IIIS, the S is different breed of cat from the IIIC, has true interchangeable lens which could be used with the Retinaflex IV, but not all Retinaflex lens could be used on the IIIS. Trouble is the light meter, unlikely to find one in good working order. In 39mm screw mount, Canon P or 7S.

 

[reddesert]

Retinas aren't M39 mount. Dunno about framelines in their viewfinders. I don't think any of the near-Leica-copies from Nicca, Leotax, Yashica have switchable framelines (although otherwise they are nice).

If you want switchable frames or framelines in the viewfinder, then the camera is generally going to be bigger than a Leica III or copy aka "Barnack" style camera, because the nice viewfinder makes it bigger. But only a little bigger. A Canon 7 is maybe 6 ounces heavier than a Barnack/Leica copy style camera.

For the OP's precise use case, there is some generation of Canon - probably the V or the L - that has switchable 35 and 50 mm views, and is a little smaller/lighter than the later ones like the 7.

Or, compromise on a fixed 40 or 45mm lens and get a Canonet or a Konica auto S2 - the humble Konica has the nicest view and framelines of any of these, IMO.

 

[hashtagquack]

the VI doesnt have framelines for the 35mm view but it does have a option to select 35mm but this is a view without projected/reflected framelines. Not sure of the word for this. The 7 has framelines for 35mm but it is a bit less nice to use compared to the VI IMO. Just doesnt feel as nice in the hand. Even with these options I prefer a barnack with a compact 35mm finder

Depending on budget though it seems the Bessa R meets your requirements

 

[gone]

A Bessa R is light and has great meter. Their shutter fires on all the speeds w/o batteries if you prefer using a handheld one. Otherwise, something like a Leica screwmount camera w/ a 35mm finder on top?

On my Leica IIa w/ a 35mm Summaron, I just used the camera's 50mm viewfinder. It worked fine, but not so well w/ the 90 Elmar. That old Summaron made some great images too, very old timey.

 

[reddesert]

the VI doesnt have framelines for the 35mm view but it does have a option to select 35mm but this is a view without projected/reflected framelines. Not sure of the word for this.

Switchable viewfinder magnification is how I would describe it - I don't have a VI, but an L2, where there is a 50mm view at about 0.7x magnification, a 35mm view at smaller magnification, and a RF view at about 1:1 for more precise focusing. On later models the finders get bigger, larger magnification, more comfortable, but the bodies get bigger to accommodate this as well.