The second post like this. I recently stated that I would not be discussing newer gear as much going forward, but two categories would remain.
- Vintage Digital
- Scenes Seen
There is yet another category that stands alone regardless of vintage. Rangefinders. I have discussed this older variant of this camera over a few posts…
…but, with the exception of a startup, the brave souls, this is the only modern, in production rangefinder game in town.
I wish it were otherwise. As I have mentioned before I would love it if another brand came up with a full-frame (Sorry Epson R-D1. At prices approaching M 240 prices that will be a no.) M Mount variant like Bessa did with the R line, Zeiss did with the Ikon, Minolta did with the shared CL line, and Konica did with the Konica Hexar RF for film.
It seems like easy money to me. Take a smallish full frame digital camera off of the shelf, tear out the AF and mount, and graft in a knock-off M rangefinder mechanism. Boom. Instant take my money camera. Just me? No one else? Anyhoo. Pixii picked up the abandoned gauntlet but I wish others would as well. Like the Epson R-D1 for M6 money I would rather the M 240.
Enough of that.
Why a rangefinder in this year of our Lord 2024?
I have no rational answer to offer you. I will not set your eyes rolling mumbling about feel and “the moment” and simply say this.
I like rangefinders.
That is it. That is all I have got. If you are looking for reason and/or logic you have wandered on to the wrong web page.
On to the photos.
For this post the lens in question is a little gem of a lens.
This lens is fantastic.
- Aesthetically perfect.
- The stellar build belies its lack of provenance.
- Fantastic image quality.
- Affordable.
But unlike the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 in the last post this is not a “At this price point.” proposition. This is just a fantastic lens full stop. Purists may complain that it is a blatant rip off a Leica lens but at 1/10th the price I purely do not care. Good for me.
Here are some recent captures. Scenes seen with vintage digital. Nothing Earth shattering. Just some captures while going about my day one day this week. I do not have many to share since I only had it out for a couple of hours.
Another successful vintage digital fit.
As I mentioned earlier there are not a lot of images, but I was not out for long at all and near every image survived the culling. A impressive performance. Add in the fact that this is a compact lens that lends itself well to film and adapting and is pretty much a point and shoot and f/8 and this lens has found a permanent home here.
A rare unqualified recommendation if this is up your alley. Especially if you find one for an even better price used like I did.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 