#RANGE FINDER CAMERA HOW TO#

You will anticipate the shot before you take it Therefore if you wish to get every possible advantage to capture photos without your subjects noticing, shooting with a rangefinder is key. One of the most important things about street photography is to be invisible and not stand out in the crowd. However when I am shooting street photography with my bulky DSLR, they always notice the loud clacking sound of my shutter and feel more threatened with the “professional-looking” body. When shooting with my rangefinder, people rarely notice that I am taking photos of them because the shutter is nearly silent and my camera looks far less threatening. There is no secret that rangefinders are simply more low-key for street photography than DSLR’s. This makes me question which shots I truly want to take and which shots aren’t worth it. Each roll of my film only holds 24 exposures, which means that every shot I take has to count.

This especially is true when it comes to shooting with film. They are much more simple than DSLR’s, which helps you focus on taking each image individually instead of just shooting your camera like a semi-automatic gun. Shooting with a rangefinder is different. With my 16 GB CF card, I can easily take a thousand photos yet only have 5 truly remarkable shots. The frustration of shooting with a DSLR for street photography is that I often take way too many images– most of them which don’t make my “keeper” pile. It gives me a h3 sense of liberation and freedom, and a peace of mind that I am controlling my camera– rather than my camera having a mind of its own. When I walk into the shade, I will instinctively lower my aperture by a stop (or even two) based on the darkness. Now I can look at the sky and based on how h3ly the light is, I will know exactly which settings to use. After many rolls of practice and diligence, I now know exposure like the back of my hand and no longer need to rely on a light-meter to gauge my shots. The first few rolls of film I shot with my rangefinder were horrible– either too overexposed or underexposed. The camera is fully-manual, which forced me to truly understand the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. However with my Contax IIIa film rangefinder, it became a totally different ball-game.

#RANGE FINDER CAMERA HOW TO#

Although I knew the basics, I was more reliant on my camera to help determine the settings for me, which crippled my perception of how to use manual settings. I had no idea what a “stop” was, and how my DSLR would calculate the ideal exposure. When I started photography, I had a weak understanding of exposure and how it translated into ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. In this blog post I will best outline my thoughts on how shooting with a rangefinder will make you a better street photographer. There are many strengths that rangefinders have over many other traditional types of cameras when it comes to street photography. Although rangefinders can be expensive, I believe that they can be a great investment. Recently I have been shooting quite a bit with my rangefinder, and it has truly helped my street photography from both a technical and artistic point of view. I have shot with many types of cameras, including point and shoots, disposable film cameras, DSLR’s, and even rangefinders. Ever different camera has its own strengths and weaknesses, and are all used in different situations.

When it comes to street photography, I am a huge believer that there is no “best” camera for street photography.

Range finder camera