Voightlander hot shoe rangefinder?

dcelfving

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
40
Location
San Francisc
Format
Multi Format
I've a beautiful old Voigtlander Perkeo II in perfect condition. I've seen a few auctions on eBay for a rangefinder that connects to the camera's hot shoe. You focus with the RF and then transfer the numbers to the focus ring of the camera.

I need one with metric measurements.

Anyone know where I might track one down? I'm usually not comfortable purchasing camera gear via eBay. I'd much prefer to do business with someone recommended by an APUG user.

Thanks!
 

Lee L

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
3,281
Format
Multi Format
Jurgen Kreckel, certo6 on ebay, will likely sell you one directly. His website is www.certo6.com. I'd recommend him highly, and he might even have a model to match your camera. I've seen him sell a number of Voigtlander rangefinders on ebay.

Lee
 

HerrBremerhaven

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
858
Format
Multi Format
You would not necessarily need the Voigtländer version of the old accessory shoe rangefinder. There are also old Leica versions, and several other lesser known makers of these. The ones I found to be fairly good quality, and easy to adjust are called Präzisa rangefinders. I have three of those, though only one is metric calibrated. It took me a while to find these on EBAY, but once I got a few I found them to be a great help for using my old folder cameras. I have seen these outside of EBAY, though at much higher prices; hopefully someone might have an idea other than EBAY for you. Even if you did try EBAY for these, they are not that easy to find at reasonable prices.

I have some really old Kodak rangefinders, but not for accessory shoe mounting. There are some unusual alternatives that sometimes show up at old camera stores. One issue is the silvering coming off the internal mirrors. Another thing to watch out for is fogged optics. Many of these are very tough to clean and even tougher to repair. Shop carefully, and I hope you find a good example.

Ciao!

Gordon
 

Mongo

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
960
Location
Pittsburgh,
Format
Multi Format
I'll second Lee's recommendation. I bought a Bessa I from Jurgen with a Voigtlander cold shoe rangefinder...both worked perfectly and were spot-on. I believe that my rangefinder is marked in meters but it's in storage awaiting my upcoming move...a quick email to Jurgen (through certo6.com) will get you the information you need.

(By the way, the Voigtlander rangefinder is extremely easy to use. I was concerned when I got mine because of the small size of the peep hole, but it works wonderfully even when I'm wearing my glasses. A very well designed device.)

Be well.
Dave
 

David A. Goldfarb

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
19,974
Location
Honolulu, HI
Format
Large Format
I'd also recommend Jurgen. He's likely to have one.

There are many functional shoe-mount rangefinders. Voigtlander and Leitz made them, as well as various smaller companies. Mine is a Widor, and it's not hard to calibrate, and is very accurate.
 
OP
OP

dcelfving

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
40
Location
San Francisc
Format
Multi Format
Just the thing . . .

Thanks all! I'd come across that ebay auction, but thought I'd ask around here first. Now that three separate people have vouched for the seller, I'm happy to place a bid.

But his reserve price seems to be a little higher than expected - I'm going to drop him a line and see if he has a less expensive model.
 

DBP

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
1,905
Location
Alexandria,
Format
Multi Format
At the risk of being overly pedantic, the Perkeo doesn't have a hot shoe, just a shoe.
 

P C Headland

Subscriber
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
813
Location
New Zealand
Format
Multi Format
These are pretty easy to adjust, so as long as the RF patch is visible, you can't go too far wrong.

Another good source for these is camera shows.
 

battra92

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2005
Messages
217
Format
Medium Format
Tom Hoskinson said:
Why not make a conversion sheet (business card size)?

Recall that 25.4cm = 1 inch
Click to expand...

Actually you might want to move that decimal point. 2.54 cm = 1 inch. 25.4 is about 5cm short of a foot. ^_^;;
 

ZorkiKat

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2006
Messages
350
Location
Manila PHILI
Format
Multi Format

I use a BLIK (shoe-mounted RF for the Smena) for my Agfa Isolette. They're
calibrated in metres. Cheap too, sells for less than US$10. Can't name any other source than eBay, where I got it and many of my other camera stuff.

Jay
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…