Michael J Wentz

Which Rangefinder (ie. Leica, Bessa L, Yasuhara) is recommended for a beginner?

I am starting to find digital photography a little boring and am looking back to film for some inspiration. I’m pretty much a beginner to manual cameras and I’m really liking the look of the Yasuhara T981 but I’ve read that it’s not really worth it. I’m looking through the Leica M Series but am getting kinda inundated.
So, what’s the best rangefinder for someone who’s just getting into photography but doesn’t mind getting a camera that will last for a long time.

For an excellent but inexpensive option, I would suggest looking for a Yashica Lynx 14E.

These are great little solid cameras with a wonderfully sharp fixed 44mm(I think) 1.4 lens. They have a leaf shutter, which means the flash syncs at all speeds. They will work at all speeds without a battery, although they do have an integrated match needle type meter. This should cost you $50 or less.

There’s also the Yashica Electro GS and GSN, both of which are aperture priority only(no manual mode), and have equally excellent 47mm 1.7 lenses. They quite commonly are found mostly inoperable, though, due to a rubber pad which degrades and causes the shutter to either not fire or not fire correctly. Also, they are battery dependent, and will only work at 1/500 with no battery. Either one should cost $20 or less in working condition. By the way, the main difference between the GS and GSN is that the GSN has a hotshoe while the GS only has a cold shoe.

I shot several rolls of film with both of these Yashicas, and decided that rangefinder photography just wasn’t for me-I’m definitely an SLR and TLR guy. The Yashicas were inexpensive enough, though, that I wasn’t out a huge amount of cash to find this out. That’s the main reason why I often suggest these models to beginning rangefinder useres.

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