Interested in Rangefinders? Why are you interested?
This article is dedicated to those who are familiar with on of the following thoughts or experiences... It suddenly catches your eyes even though you have never had cared about it. It gets more attention because the price is heavy. Maybe you tried to escape from your heavy camera system and the rituals necessary to operate it. Or, maybe you encountered it after trying a variety of cameras and lenses. Anyway, you become interested in Leica rangefinders. You hear that you need to turn a focus ring that is linked to the rotating mirror via rangefinder-coupled cam. This lets you focus by measuring the distance to the subject using the principle of triangulation. You take a look at the camera body, but find no special functions. Then you look into the viewfinder and learn that you get what's inside the so-called bright-line frame, but its framing accuracy is far from precise. In short, it's nothing but an anachronism. Even so, there're Leica fanatics all over the world and you start to wonder if it's this primitivity that they appraise highly.
Observing the simple cosmetics
If you're interested in cameras as an instrument, probably you react to something simple unconditionally because you think the simplicity is the result of slicing off the unnecessary. Now, what about the Leica rangefinder? The first M-type camera, the Leica M3 appeared in the 1950s. Sixty years later, the newest Leica M9-P was released, but surprisingly there's almost no cosmetic differences between the two models. Very roughly speaking, the only major changes are the sensing device (from film to image sensor)
and the absence of film advance lever. Even if you show the two cameras to a person
who doesn't know much about cameras, s/he cannot tell a difference
between them until you show the back of the bodies. This is astonishing when
the 60-year interval is considered. Can this happen in car industry?
It may be difficult because their shape keep changing.
Driving classic cars isn't easy if you haven't driven them in real time.
Of course, camera can't always be compared with cars. But, if you still feel something special in this camera, continue to read.
Complementing what you cannot see
With a rangefinder, you have to manually focus. Moreover, you cannot even make sure of the focus peak. You're only able to perceive that you've placed a focus by rotating the focus ring until the two superimposed images line up. However, soon you'll start to measure the distance to the subject with the eye. In other words, you complement what you cannot see with eye measurement. With an autofocus SLR camera, on the other hand, you know the camera focused on somewhere in the viewfinder when you hear the beep signal. There seems to be no major difference between the two systems, but with the AF SLR, you're prone to allow the camera to show you what's in the viewfinder. This means that you're likely to accept what is presented by the camera, and shoot easily. Then what happens? You stop placing the focus actively and produce shots that lack of a sense of distance. Of course, everything's all right if the picture is good. But, if you're interested in the rangefinder, you value the action of placing a focus and the feeling of distance. Or, you want to know where the focus is placed. Anyway, if a SLR-only shooter switched to the rangefinder, s/he will definitely need to give a thought to distance.
There're something that you understand only after moving your hands.
Mechanically speaking, all lenses have to be single focal. Therefore, the angle of view is fixed. Plus, you learn to measure the distance with the eye because it doesn't let you make sure of the focus peak. Of course, you cannot measure as accurately as a rangefinder, so you become aware of depth of field controlled by aperture. Then, you'll "zone-focus," which allows you to shoot anytime even though you cannot place a focus most precisely. This is impossible if you look at the focus, and this is made possible only if you place the focus.
Although the Leica M7 (for films) and the digital M9/M9^P have AE (Automatic Exposure), you still need to control aperture by the aperture ring on the lens. Both aperture and shutter increase by half-stop and the metering method is center-weighted that best works with 50mm lenses. This specification is far less advanced than entry-level SLR cameras. But, in actual shooting, such minute controlling isn't necessary in a sense. Unlike current Leica rangefinders with AE, cameras until the M4 require an exposure meter in your brain. But, don't worry. You'll learn to "read" light.
So, what do you think? You may think it's an inconvenient camera, but this camera teaches you the meaning of fundamental actions to take photography. Think about exposure compensation with a SLR camera. If it has AE, you decide exposure compensation value to be +1 or +1.5 when you're shooting snow scenery. However, unless you know the purpose of compensation, you'll be panicked once you encounter other scenes where you cannot determine the compensation value. But, if you shoot with a camera without an exposure meter and measure exposure with your brain, you don't even need to know the concept of "exposure compensation." Of course, I'm not saying that you should only use cameras without AE. It's just that if you know the principle, you have nothing to worry about. By the way, the M9/M9-P has AE, but I guess many users don't use it because they turn the shutter dial when they are not satisfied with what the AE tells them. Perhaps, this is due to their basic habit developed since they used the M cameras without AE. Principles are always simple, and the iconic rangefinder Leica is assembled to deal with the simplicity. So, if you master this camera, you'll know how free you are when you hold a SLR camera. You'll thank that you get what you see in the viewfinder, you can get close to subjects, and you can use zoom lenses that offer a variety of angles of view. In Japanese, the word freedom is written by two Chinese characters: "self" and "to depend." This means that you cannot benefit from convenient functions unless you actively decide what to do by being self-dependent. I'd like to recommend rangefinders to those who want to be more serious about photography and to know the fundamentals.
Getting a current rangefinder models
Now, should you get film or digital? After reading so far, you may want to go for film Leica, but you can still enjoy the attractive rangefinder features with a digital Leica, too. There're a variety of models that you can choose from according to your needs. (Photo・Text / K）
