Editing Rangefinder camera (section)

== History ==
[[File:Rangefinder Camera Mechanism.svg|thumb|Rangefinder Camera Mechanism. Some cameras ([[Argus C3]]) do not have a beam splitter; these cameras instead have a separate viewfinder.]]
The first rangefinders, sometimes called "telemeters", appeared in the twentieth century; the first rangefinder camera to be marketed was the 3A [[Eastman Kodak|Kodak]] Autographic Special of 1916<!--some sources say 1914 or 1915; check-->; the rangefinder was coupled.
Not itself a rangefinder camera, the [[Leica Camera|Leica]] I of 1925 had popularized the use of accessory rangefinders. The Leica II and [[Carl Zeiss AG|Zeiss]] [[Contax]] I, both of 1932, were great successes as 35&nbsp;mm rangefinder cameras, while on the [[Leica Standard]], also introduced in 1932, the rangefinder was omitted. <!--

The Roland camera (1932-3, from a Berlin company named successively Plasmat, Kleinbild-Plasmat and Rudolph) was the first to present the rangefinder in the center of the viewfinder.

Is this true? Must check. Meanwhile:

-->The Contax II (1936) integrated the rangefinder in the center of the viewfinder.

[[File:Retina-IIIC-600.jpg|thumb|left|1957–60 [[Kodak Retina]] IIIC]]
Rangefinder cameras were common from the 1930s to the 1970s, but the more advanced models lost ground to [[Single-lens reflex camera|single-lens reflex]] (SLR) cameras.

Rangefinder cameras have been made in all sizes and all film formats over the years, from 35&nbsp;mm through medium format (rollfilm) to large-format press cameras.  Until the mid-1950s most were generally fitted to more expensive models of cameras.  Folding bellows rollfilm cameras, such as the [[Balda (cameras)|Balda]] Super Baldax or Mess Baldix, the [[Kodak Retina]] II, IIa, IIc, IIIc, and IIIC cameras and the [[Hans Porst]] Hapo 66e (a cheaper version of the [[Balda (cameras)|Balda]] Mess Baldix), were often fitted with rangefinders.

[[File:Leica-M7-p1010675.jpg|thumb|[[Leica M7]] rangefinder]]
The best-known rangefinder cameras take [[135 film|35&nbsp;mm film]], use [[focal plane shutter]]s, and have interchangeable lenses.  These are Leica screwmount (also known as M39) cameras developed for lens manufacturer Ernst Leitz Wetzlar by [[Oskar Barnack]] (which gave rise to very many imitations and derivatives), Contax cameras manufactured for [[Carl Zeiss]] Optics by camera subsidiary Zeiss-Ikon and, after Germany's defeat in World War II, produced again and then developed as the Soviet [[Kiev (camera)|Kiev]]), [[Nikon I, M and S|Nikon S-series]] cameras from 1951 to 1962 (with design inspired by the Contax and function by the Leica), and Leica M-series cameras.
 [[File:Contax II img 1875.jpg|thumb|left|Contax II]]
[[File:Sp-s3w.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nikon SP]] and [[Nikon S3|S3]] cameras]]
The [[Nikon I, M and S|Nikon rangefinder]] cameras were "discovered" in 1950 by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine photographer [[David Douglas Duncan]], who covered the [[Korean War]].<ref name="Life">{{cite web | url=http://www.nikonownermagazine.com/findout/magazine/issue_015/history.html | title=The History Of Nikon Part IV | first=Gray | last=Levett | publisher=Nikon Owner Magazine | year=2005}}</ref> [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] manufactured several models from the 1930s until the 1960s; models from 1946 onwards were more or less compatible with the Leica thread mount. (From late 1951 they were completely compatible; the 7 and 7s had a bayonet mount for the 50&nbsp;mm f/0.95 lens in addition to the thread mount for other lenses.)

Launched in 1940, The [[Kodak 35 Rangefinder]] was the first 35&nbsp;mm camera made by the [[Eastman Kodak]] Company. Other such cameras include the Casca ([[Steinheil]], West Germany, 1948), Detrola 400 (USA, 1940–41), [[Kodak Ektra|Ektra]] ([[Eastman Kodak|Kodak]], USA, 1941–8), Foca ([[Optique & Précision de Levallois|OPL]], France, 1947–63), Foton ([[Böwe Bell & Howell|Bell & Howell]], USA, 1948), Opema II ([[Meopta]], Czechoslovakia, 1955–60), Perfex (USA, 1938–49), [[Robot (camera)|Robot]] Royal (Robot-Berning, West Germany, 1955–76), and Witness ([[Ilford]], Britain, 1953).

In the United States the dependable and cheap Argus (especially the ubiquitous [[Argus C3|C-3 "Brick"]]) was far and away the most popular 35&nbsp;mm rangefinder, with millions sold.

Interchangeable-lens rangefinder cameras with focal-plane shutters are greatly outnumbered by fixed-lens leaf-shutter rangefinder cameras. The most popular design in the 1950s were folding designs like the Kodak Retina and the Zeiss Contessa.

In the 1960s many fixed-lens 35&nbsp;mm rangefinder cameras for the amateur market were produced by several manufacturers, mainly Japanese, including [[Canon Inc.|Canon]], [[Fujifilm|Fujica]], [[Konica]], [[Mamiya]], [[Minolta]], [[Olympus company|Olympus]], [[Petri Camera]], [[Ricoh]], and [[Yashica]].  Distributors such as Vivitar and Revue often sold rebranded versions of these cameras. While designed to be compact like the Leica, they were much less expensive. Many of them, such as the Minolta 7sII and the Vivitar 35ES, were fitted with high-speed, extremely high quality optics. Though eventually replaced in the market with newer compact [[autofocus camera]]s, many of these older rangefinders continue to operate, having outlived most of their newer (and less well-constructed) successors.

Starting with a camera made by the small Japanese company Yasuhara in the 1990s, there has been something of a revival of rangefinder cameras.  Aside from the Leica M series, rangefinder models from this period include the Konica [[Hexar RF]], [[Cosina]], who makes the [[Voigtländer]] Bessa T/R/R2/R3/R4 (the last three are made in both manual or aperture automatic version, which use respectly the "m" or "a" sign in model), and the [[Hasselblad]] Xpan/Xpan 2. Zeiss had a new model called the Zeiss Ikon, also made by [[Cosina]] but now discontinued,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thephoblographer.com/2012/12/07/cosina-to-discontinue-zeiss-ikon-camera-bodies/#.VQc3oitdWAc|title=Confirmed: Cosina to Discontinue Zeiss Ikon Camera Bodies – The Phoblographer|date=7 December 2012|website=thephoblographer.com|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> while Nikon has also produced expensive limited editions of its [[Nikon S3|S3]] and [[Nikon SP|SP]] rangefinders to satisfy the demands of collectors and aficionados. Cameras from the former Soviet Union—the [[Zorki]] and [[FED (camera)|FED]], based on the screwmount Leica, and the [[Kiev (camera)|Kiev]]—are plentiful in the used market.

Medium-format rangefinder cameras continued to be produced until 2014. Recent models included the Mamiya 6 and 7I/7II, the [[Bronica]] RF645 and the Fuji G, GF, GS, GW and GSW series.

In 1994, Contax introduced an autofocus rangefinder camera, the [[Contax G]].