Which rangefinder cameras have separatable lens assembly?

CuriousOne · Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Posts: 669 Location: Home

Hello.

I'm looking for old rangefinder cameras, where lens assembly is separate and affixed to main body via screws or whatsoever. I'm not looking for rangefinders with interchangeable lens.

As far as I know, some Yashica models have separatable lens. What about others?

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Most old Japanese rangefinders with leaf shutters of the 50s-60s have a front plate holding the focus mechanism. The lens and shutter is secured in the focus mechanism by a retaining ring around the rear lens cell. I have seen this in numerous brands.
The focus mechanism can generally be separated from the front plate, but you have to remove the plate first.

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

The rangefinder cameras with broken or otherwise unrepairable mechanics...

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Best ones to cannibalize are those with broken shutter or aperture blades. A fairly common problem.
These can be repaired, but only by taking these blades from another identical unit - which will be left without blades.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

This is the Pen EM lens, it's 6 elements in 4 groups, this design is not found in Pen F mount, the well known Pen F 1.8/38 is 6e/5g and physically larger.

Remounted for use on NEX:

Lens test and sample images here:

http://forum.mflenses.com/olympus-f-zuiko-f2-35mm-on-nex-3-t67054.html

f4, guess focus inside a dark shop:

100% crop:

JohnBar · Joined: 21 Jun 2012 Posts: 581 Location: Liverpool

The Braun Paxette has versions with some interesting fixed lenses

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Paxette fixed lenses are just triplets and tessars of varying price/quality levels, might as well just use an interchangeable triplet (Domiplan, Trioplan etc) or tessar (Tessar, Primotar, Xenar, Color-Skopar etc).

The really interesting stuff is to be found on high end Japanese models - ones with f2, f1.9, f1.8 and f1.7 lenses, those are 6 elements in 4 or 5 group types. Slower 2.8 models are usually 4e/3g tessars.

Olympus had some models with superb lenses - the 35SP had a 7 element 1.7/42, the 35RD had a 6 element 1.7/40 and the 35RC had a 5 element 2.8/42.

There were too many other makers of similar cameras to list, just look for broken ones rather than destroying a working camera.

CuriousOne · Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Posts: 669 Location: Home

I'm looking for CHEAP ones Smile

What about Petri rangefinders?

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Petris are a good target.

The cameras look nice, the earlier ones anyway, but the bodies are rather troublesome.
The lenses are standard 6 element double gauss types. They shouldn't be bad. Petri bought them from someplace, probably the same places the others were getting them.
The shutters are fine, Copals on the ones I have and the same as used by several other Japanese makers.

I have worked on three so far, of different versions, all have the same f/1.9 lens and the same fault, in that the cocking linkage (that transfers the cocking lever motion to the shutter) wears out easily, and is not easy to fix.

SXR_Mark · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 506 Location: England

If you want cheap, then look for viewfinder rather than rangefinder cameras.

The cameras with easy to remove lenses are those that take a standard shuttered lens of the type that would be used on a folding camera and simply mount them rigidly. These lenses are just held on with a simple retaining ring at the back, as they would have been mounted on the bellows . Examples that I have taken lenses from include Kodak Retinette, Agfa Silette, King Regulette, Illford Sportsman, Balda Baldina.

However, as Ian has pointed out, these lenses will be triplet or Tessar types. But I don’t think this is necessarily bad. A good triplet or Tessar can be very good (and a bad one can be very bad). The Voigtlander Skopar that I converted to m4/3 is really nice. Note this particular lens was not as simple to remount as the shuttered types mentioned above.

With triplets and Tessars, some will focus by moving the front element and others by moving the whole lens (unit focusing). In my experience, front element focusing often compromises the lens performance a lot and the resolution falls dramatically at close focus distances. Thus, I prefer to mount all such lens on a helicoid or bellows to allow unit focusing, leaving the front element in a position which gives the best performance (usually at or near the nominal infinity position).

Later Japanese fixed lens cameras with more complicated optical designs are (in my experience) much harder to remove and adapt. Some will not retain the aperture either. I have converted a lens from a Minolta Hi-Matic and Konica C35. Both were a lot of work and I would rather use the Skopar. The thread below for the Minolta shows you the work involved.

Minolta

Konica

One thing to point out is that if you retain the focusing of the original camera you will not have a very short minimum focus distance because such cameras don’t focus close due to the inevitable parallax error between lens and viewfinder.

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4745 Location: Cheshire, England

I agree with the above post. Non rangefinders are the better ones if you want to remove the lens easily. I have converted a Konica C35 lens, an Olympus trip, a Minox 35CL, a Color Skopar from a Voigtlander Vito B, and an Agilux from an Agimatic. I say the best is the Konica C35, next is the Minox CL and then the Color Skopar.