Inexpensive, sturdy, mechanical rangefinder?

A relatively cheap lens that performs excellent is the Heliar 50mm f2 (M-version black collapsible). I bought this for EUR 200, but it was completely disassembled. It was as hard as a Chinese puzzle to put it back together.

gelatin silver print (heliar 50mm f2) leica m2

Amsterdam, 2023

Erik.

1690352966039.png
 
Today's 'tough' cameras have virtually no moving, mechanical parts as far as I am aware, excepting for perhaps the lens assembly which allows for zooming. Anything which has any sort of precision engineering, moving part will require some degree of care when handling. In my experience very few photographers (including most professionals) trat their cameras with anything other than respect, the possible exception being press photographers using cameras they are supplied with, and even then they tend to be careful because an obviously maltreated camera, broken when needed, does not go down well with editors.
I use housed cameras which have to withstand vibration, constant knocking around in various boats with waves and swell and are then with me as i drop into the water. So far none have had problems due to this and I've used Nikon, Canon, Fuji and Sony cameras in housings over nearly 40 years (and lots of Nikonos too). But not rangefinders because they don't work underwater. I've also used lots of M cameras over the years and again none have let me down except when damaged due to being dropped (and then only one - an M8 which worked fine but rattled). All my cameras are used but looked after.
So why the post? Well, I'm really not sure that many cameras lack the sturdiness they need for reasonable use. Certainly most seem to operate well enough and I've seen 'cheap' models used way beyond their use by date in terms of shutter actuation, etc..
 
Well the OP was last seen in March so not sure if they are still around - but here's a nice deal on a functioning Argus C3 📷 "Brick" 🧱 w/Case & Lens Cap: $17 USD plus reasonable shipping:
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aaxk. I thought this was a new thread, not one I'd responded to two plus years ago. sorry
 
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Godfrey said:
aaxk. I thought this was a new thread, not one I'd responded to two plus years ago. sorry
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No worries, it happens 😁
As long as I'm HERE though my vote would be for my Canon P, if for no other reason than for how Tough the little bugger is.
I was on the mountain bike about six years ago when the clamp hold the seat to the seatpost gave way and I fell backwards onto the pavement. The first thing making contact with the concrete was the exact part of my back pack that my Canaon P was in and that particular spot in an instant took all of the weight and shock of the impact. When I pulled the P out of its own protective bag sure enough there was a small dent in the upper deck and so I was expecting a future repair bill to get the optics back into shape: to my amazement though when I looked through the viewfinder everything was just as it was supposed to be and Nothing was out of wack.
Taking an impact like That(I was well over 210 pounds at that point) with minmal damage is quite an achivement for a camera built in 1961 but I guess that That is testimony to the soundness of design and build quality.
 
Wow, nice to see this thread pop back up again. I still need to get a canon p haha. You guys convinced me it looks like a solid option, and now i have a canon 35mm f2 ltm and leica 5cm collapsible summicron ltm, so I'm set. Has anyone here used the Canon L1? I met a guy with one a year or so ago and it was pretty nice too :)
 
Erik van Straten said:
This is with the Leica lll that I mentioned above, 90 euro's, and with the Color-Skopar 50mm f2.5

gelatin silver print (color-skopar 50mm f2.5) leica lll

Amsterdam, 2020

Erik.

View attachment 4826506
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Oooh nice! You know i did pick up a leica iiif when i got the 5cm collapsible summicron, but was also curious about that voigtlander 50mm 2.5 color skopar since its tiny and its rigid. How have you liked that lens?
 
analogpics said:
Wow, nice to see this thread pop back up again. I still need to get a canon p haha. You guys convinced me it looks like a solid option, and now i have a canon 35mm f2 ltm and leica 5cm collapsible summicron ltm, so I'm set. Has anyone here used the Canon L1? I met a guy with one a year or so ago and it was pretty nice too :)
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My Canon P is usually pared up with my Color Skopar 35 F2.5 pancake, a lens that I picked up used a few years back. The two are a good combo for general use but the fast focusing feature of That particular lens take a little getting used to:
1694270279457.png
 
analogpics said:
Oooh nice! You know i did pick up a leica iiif when i got the 5cm collapsible summicron, but was also curious about that voigtlander 50mm 2.5 color skopar since its tiny and its rigid. How have you liked that lens?
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I've been using the Voigtländer Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5 for over a decade. It is a very fine lens, a great "normal lens" match to film or digital with FF sensors.
 
analogpics said:
..... Has anyone here used the Canon L1? I met a guy with one a year or so ago and it was pretty nice too :)
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I have one. Same basic body as the P, but with a simpler viewfinder. Really like the auto-parallax correcting bright line viewfinders. No doubt one of my favorite rangefinders.

Jim B.
 
I'm surprised nobody has recommended a Canon Model P yet. It's the best RF in my book, but you'll need a light meter for it.
 
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