Newbie: need cheap RF then more expensive one!

[Greg Heath]

I love Rangefinders !!! The best kept secret in film photography.

Have you decided Yet ? Do you need a camera ?

There are so many cameras out there.

I have rebuilt and used

Olympus 35RC
Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE (1962)
Yashica Electro 35 GSN
Konica Auto S2
Petri 7s
Yashica Lynx 14E

and the one I have yet to buy is the Voightlander R4M with 21mm lens.

Send me a private message with your address and I will give you your birthday present early or late (to the original poster who is looking for a camera )...

I will give you my awesome Olympus 35RC, with yellow filter and hood. It takes awesome photos and I'll even throw in some film to get you going. Photography is worth sharing and I have too many cameras anyway.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb2qqm/...7626444135224/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb2qqm/5653040344/

Greg

[demonboy]

PM sent (immediately, of course!).

[demonboy]

Well, what can I say? That was a turn up for the books! Indebted to Greg for that, with many thanks sent via PM.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to visit a camera collector. Well, on my wife's birthday, without her , I drove 4 hours to get to Pala, which is not that far away (70km from Cochin), but a long way when contending with Indian driving and Friday traffic. It was a great journey, but because I was taking my wife out to lunch I could only spend 20 minutes with this guy. An impressive collection, though some cameras have suffered due to the tropical heat. All the cameras on the table are rangefinders: 3 or 4 Yashica GTNs, two Canonet 17s, one Yashica GX (possibly the one I'm holding) and a couple of others I forget. For the first time I was actually able to play with these cameras and get a real feel for them. I'm almost tempted to drive there again and spend more time in his shop, or maybe take a punt with his repair man and just see if he can rescue that GX.

[rthomas]

That's a nice collection of large format cameras...

[BrianL]

Also, consider an older Zeiss or Voigtlander such as as the Ikonta or Vito series. The Ikonta is small enough to fit in a pocket as the lense folds in but there is no belllows to worry about. The Vito series is fixed lens and depending on version can have the Color-Skopar lens that can run with the best of them. Usually they need a cla for the shutter but easy enough to have done and the charge is usually very reasonable.

[demonboy]

Wow, I DO like that Ikonta, Brian. That is a beautiful camera. Thanks for pointing it out for me. I'm discovering new cameras on a daily basis!

Any tips on which of the Vitos are worth going for and which I should ignore?

[ambaker]

The collector is also a seller? Oh what a great way to spend an afternoon! I am drooling over over his collection. Most excellent!

[Peltigera]

Voigtlander made two excellent rangefinders Vitomatic IIa and Vito BR. Neither uses a battery and are very sturdy cameras. The Vito BR has no built-in light meter but the Vitomatic does. My main camera is the Voigtlander Vitomatic IIa. The Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE is just as good and also does not use batteries.

[Peltigera]

Vito cameras to ignore - the C series. The shutter release also cocks the shutter (which makes it stiff) and the release button is in a poor place. I find them very difficult to use.

[Greg Heath]

The Contessamat is one of those that is passed up, but it's a great camera. I got mine for free. I love the lens. So clear. It's a nice camera for street photography. No need to ever look through the viewfinder. Just set it and forget it, ...and look for an opportunity.