on 10/1/04 10:14 PM, Winsor Crosby at wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I have never looked through an RD and don't remember much about the QLs
> looked through, but rangefinder focusing is a skill. You get better at
> it after a while. Many of those cameras had F1.7 and 1.9 lenses and you
> can hold them still at lower speeds because of the lack of automatic
> aperture and mirror flipping and high inertia focal plane shutter. The
> Canons were very popular. You are more likely to be able to find one in
> good condition just because of their numbers. Use fast film.
>
> Good article:
>
> http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm
>
>
> Winsor
> Long Beach, California
> USA
> On Oct 1, 2004, at 9:45 PM, Siddiq wrote:
I can chime in here... There are two ways of focusing a rangefinder camera,
depending on the 'quality' of the rangefinder construction. Most
consumer-grade rangefinders are accurate to focus when superimposing the
divided images -within- the rangefinder spot. The eye sees when the two
images become one by overlapping in perfect alignment.
Better quality rangefinders are precise enough to focus by bringing the
'break' in a vertical object into alignment (similar to the split-image spot
on an SLR screen) but this is reliable only if the manufacturer is very
careful in making the mechanism repeatable and consistent. Unfortunately,
most of the rangefinder cameras manufactured to this standard have names
that start with "L" and are out of the general consumer price category.
I remember articles that suggest that the eye's sensitivity to the 'break'
in a vertical object is about 5X the sensitivity to overlapping images...
especially in low light or with low-contrast scenes.
Having noted this, a well-CLA'd 35-SP or 35-RD should be focusable
accurately in light as dim as you can accurately focus an OM-1 with 1.8 or
even 1.4 lens. Further, because of the considerable less vibration due to no
mirror flipping about and no aperture stopping down, the camera-induced
vibration is reduced enough to probably allow another couple of stops of
shutter speed... if you have steady enough hands and good technique. This is
like the difference in the lens tests with aperture/mirror prefire...
I'd suggest looking for a good Canonet QL17-GIII, which if you can get it
for $125 with a good CLA is probably a bargain. The equivalently clean 35-RD
will be more expensive in my experience because there were many fewer
sold... the Canonet sold many millions, and they are around a lot. Seems
like the 35-SP is relatively more common than the 35-RD, and the 35-SPn is
much less common than either of those. Its also essentially similar to the
35-SP except for very minor feature changes.
You should watch out, though... you may find you like rangefinders enough to
develop an "L-camera" habit, which is much more financially damaging than
Zuikoholism... ask me how I know... :-p
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-'s of all sorts, and no OM-oney...
And a few of those "L" cameras and lenses...
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