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You’re Using a Rangefinder Camera Wrong. Here’s the Best Method

Chris Gampat
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01/25/2022
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Contax 35mm f2 Funleader review product images 2.81-100s200

If you’re considering using a rangefinder, then we’re pretty sure you’re using it incorrectly. The reason for this is simple: modern cameras and lenses encourage you to shoot with them wide open. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t shoot with your pretty rangefinder lenses wide open. But you’re not doing yourself any favors. Lucky for you, we’ve done tutorials over the years on using a rangefinder camera better. So we’re going to go through a few here.

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Using a Rangefinder Camera to the Fullest Potential

Let’s be honest, if you’re manually focusing a lens back and forth to get your subject in focus, you’re not always going to nail focus. It’s difficult! But sometimes it’s all you can do if you’re shooting with an ultra-fast aperture lens. Rangefinder cameras are meant to be used differently though. You’re supposed to stop the lens down, focus a distance away, and then fine-tune the focusing with the viewfinder. When you use it this way, you can get photos that sometimes the fastest autofocusing cameras wouldn’t be able to. This is how master street photographers have used them for years. 

Zone Focus the Camera

Here’s a quote from an article we previously did on how to zone focus a camera that was sponsored by Leica:

  • Choose a normal or wider focal length. The ideal choices are 50mm, 35mm, 28mm, and 24mm lenses. The great masters of street photography used anywhere between 50mm and 28mm lenses. Those, they said, show the world the way they see it. We’ve got a full recommendation of our favorite lenses right here. Try the Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux ASPH, the Leica 28mm f1.4 Summilux ASPH, or the Leica 35mm f2 Summicron ASPH.
  • Look at the lens. Focus it to a distance you’re comfortable being from your subject. During social distancing times, you might want to choose around six feet away. 
  • Read the distance scale. It will tell you how much of the scene will be in focus at a given aperture. Stop the lens down to where you’re comfortable.
  • Set the ISO so that your shutter speed is at least 1/50th. If you really want to stop people in motion, you’ll need at least 1/1000th.
  • As an extra tip, meter off your hand. Your hand will be close to the skin tones that you want to capture. And that will prep you for shooting the photos you envision.
  • Pay attention to the lighting around you. As it changes, you might need to adjust your exposure.

How to Zone Focus a Lens

Of course, you do not really zone focus with your camera. Instead, you’re doing it with a lens. And in the video above, we’re showing you just how to do that. This applies to more than just rangefinder cameras. Of course, zone focusing is the best way to go about using a rangefinder camera. But if you adapt those lenses onto another mirrorless camera of some sort, this is the best way to use them. 

We hope that these videos and this short tutorial helps you folks out. Please enjoy!

focusing lens manually focusing rangefinder rangefinder camera using a rangefinder zone focus zone focusing
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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