I want old school new technology

Justiceiro

Hey all,

What is really missing from my digital lineup at the moment isn't a new lens, or the latest canon body, or anything like that. Not that I'm not always in a state of perpetual lust for the new gear. What I'm missing, digitally speaking, is a replacement for my Yashica electro 35. I want a rangefinder, or something close to it, and I don't have the cash to shell out for an epson rd-1 or a leica.

I need something portable, that I can carry around when I am not expecting to be photographing, or where security is a problem. I dan#t want anything fancy- in fact, the more old school the better. (actually, what I want is an epson, but I don't have $5,000 handy.) I want a CF card as media, though this isn't a deal breaker, and I want aperture and shutter priority control. As far as other options go, I'm not really interested. A long tele zoom isn't necessary, as I'm really looking to do street and PJ with it.

Any recommendations?

ziggy53

Digital rangefinder cameras are extremely limited in number, and the ones that i could recommend for general photo-journalistic and street photography are the Leica M8.2 and Leica M9. The Epson R-D1x appears to only be available in Japan, and I'm not even sure about that.

The Olpympus digital Pen Micro-Four-Thirds have the classic shape you're looking for, but the AF is a bit sluggish if you compare to a modern dSLR. The Panasonic M4/3rd cameras look like a small dSLR but have a faster AF, especially if you get the correct lenses.

I do think that a high-end P&S is the best combination of cost and features for diminutive image capture, but responsiveness is lacking.

No prefect solution I'm afraid, unless you go "traditional" film range-finder camera and digitize the negatives. A bit more work but you can capture that film essence and great responsiveness in a single package and fairly reasonable initial cost. Film latitude is still a benefit over digital. If you "process only" the film costs are not too bad.

Justiceiro

Thanks for the info Zig, I'm currently shooting the Electro 35 and scanning the negs. It's cool, but digital has taught me to love instant gratification.