3 of Our Favorite Rangefinder Style Cameras You’re Going to Love
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There isn’t much that satisfies me like a good rangefinder camera. Most cameras on the market have an SLR style and shape. But rangefinder cameras will really give you a completely different feeling. In terms of shape, rangefinder-style cameras have a completely different silhouette than SLR-shaped cameras. If you’re a photographer who loves shooting candids, these are some of the best to use. Lucky for you, we dove into our Reviews Index to find some of the best. Take a look with us!
The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Pro Tips on Using Rangefinder-Style Cameras
Here are some pro tips on using rangefinder-style cameras:
- Lots of folks complain about the lack of a grip. But truthfully they’re just holding rangefinders wrong. Instead of using your fingers to clutch, you’re supposed to use your thumb to push it into the fingers.
- Get a good camera strap. There are lots of fantastic leather ones built exceptionally well.
- Rangefinder style cameras truly belong with small prime lenses. There’s no good reason to put a giant zoom lens on a camera like this. They’re designed to capture and document everyday life.
- Rangefinder style cameras have a variety of uses in history. Photojournalists used the Leica rangefinders to document some of the world’s most important moments. Various photographers shot magazine covers with medium format rangefinders in the studio. The list can go on and on. If other photographers did it, so can you.
- Traveling a lot? A rangefinder style camera is going to be smaller than an SLR for sure.
- Colloquially, a rangefinder is basically something that just lets you focus. But it became assoiated with a specific type of viewfinder that lets you see a subject move in and out of the frame. These cameras have that shape, but not a proper rangefinder mechanism.
Sony a7c: They Finally Did It!
In our review, we state:
For a shooter like me, Sony has almost made the perfect camera. We finally have a small, rangefinder-style camera with a full-frame sensor. There is also a bit of a grip that I don’t mind. It has autofocus. And it pairs well with equally small lenses. It’d be a waste to use this camera with zoom lenses.
Fujifilm X Pro 3: Like Shooting Film, Digitally!
In our review, we state:
We’re going to drop a few major truth bombs here when it comes to the ease of use. If you’re an experienced photographer, then you’re going to love this camera. If you don’t need to chimp every photo you take, then you’re going to adore it. If you don’t use the LCD screen often or even at all, the Fujifilm X Pro 3 is the camera for you. If you’re the newer type of photographer I see on photowalks that needs your screen, then you’re going to gawk at this camera. The screen is only a mild difficulty when it comes to working with portrait subjects, but it’s not awful. For event shooting and when shooting on the streets, the hidden LCD screen is a godsend. It will keep you focused and in the zone. (That’s where you should be anyway.)
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Leica Q2: The Most Durable of Rangefinder-Style Cameras
In our review, we state:
The Leica Q2 is rated to IP52 when it comes to weather sealing. This isn’t as robust as the Olympus OMD EM1X, but it is still very durable. Photographers who take it to shoot in the rain shouldn’t fear as you’ll be able to combine the lens’s great quality with the camera’s overall durability. Throughout our tests in the rain here in NYC, the Leica Q2 performed admirably–arguably in a way that I’d say all cameras should at a minimum these days.