I'll post this elsewhere on Photrio and it's also in the German Folders group on FLICKR.
The bulk of the fine old Tessar-equipped cameras are murder for modern work if you want to use them under infinity (∞) for the lens & aperture in use. I couldn't accurately tell the difference between 1.5 and 2.3 meters if my children’s lives depended on it! If you hop on eBay and get one of the old split-image optical viewfinders, you quickly find them tough to see through and dim. What to do?
Bosch tools (and others) offer small (about 1/2 the size of an old flip phone), handheld laser distance finders, for about $30.00 USD as of 12/2020. They come in different maximum ranges, so if your lens’ ∞ distance is, say, 10m or 33 feet, you only need that or slightly longer--12-15m and you can enjoy reliable & consistent focusing at shorter distances with your folder. That said, they often have a maximum distance far beyond that.
These are super convenient to use, as if they were specially designed for our needs! They calculate distance from the butt end of the finder, so you only have to plant that onto your lens, press the button and bingo!--you know how to set your distance. They can be adjusted to read in meters, feet, mm, or inches, which is a huge help is you like to fiddle with close-up filters like a Kodak Portra to get a true bust portrait instead of settling for the head and shoulder view you usually get at you 1 or 1.x-meter minimum focal distance typical for these cameras. The laser spot size is small enough to get the distance at the bridge of the subject’s nose without hitting an eyeball if used with care. It's a red laser than shouldn't cause retinal damage from an accidental, brief exposure.
I can also vouch for the accuracy of the laser detectors. I tried one at it's maximum stated range into a shadowed box with bright room light, no sweat. Outdoors in bright sunlight against a white wall, the ranger still worked fine. With automatic shutoff, the battery lasts forever.
Take your old folder out and get that image of your cat on the porch with ease!!
Bosch GLM 20 Blaze 65' Laser Distance Measure, $29.97 USD on Amazon as of 12/14/2029:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG97GR2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glc_fabc_jqu3FbX8DF7SN
The bulk of the fine old Tessar-equipped cameras are murder for modern work if you want to use them under infinity (∞) for the lens & aperture in use. I couldn't accurately tell the difference between 1.5 and 2.3 meters if my children’s lives depended on it! If you hop on eBay and get one of the old split-image optical viewfinders, you quickly find them tough to see through and dim. What to do?
Bosch tools (and others) offer small (about 1/2 the size of an old flip phone), handheld laser distance finders, for about $30.00 USD as of 12/2020. They come in different maximum ranges, so if your lens’ ∞ distance is, say, 10m or 33 feet, you only need that or slightly longer--12-15m and you can enjoy reliable & consistent focusing at shorter distances with your folder. That said, they often have a maximum distance far beyond that.
These are super convenient to use, as if they were specially designed for our needs! They calculate distance from the butt end of the finder, so you only have to plant that onto your lens, press the button and bingo!--you know how to set your distance. They can be adjusted to read in meters, feet, mm, or inches, which is a huge help is you like to fiddle with close-up filters like a Kodak Portra to get a true bust portrait instead of settling for the head and shoulder view you usually get at you 1 or 1.x-meter minimum focal distance typical for these cameras. The laser spot size is small enough to get the distance at the bridge of the subject’s nose without hitting an eyeball if used with care. It's a red laser than shouldn't cause retinal damage from an accidental, brief exposure.
I can also vouch for the accuracy of the laser detectors. I tried one at it's maximum stated range into a shadowed box with bright room light, no sweat. Outdoors in bright sunlight against a white wall, the ranger still worked fine. With automatic shutoff, the battery lasts forever.
Take your old folder out and get that image of your cat on the porch with ease!!
Bosch GLM 20 Blaze 65' Laser Distance Measure, $29.97 USD on Amazon as of 12/14/2029:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG97GR2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glc_fabc_jqu3FbX8DF7SN
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