Vivitar 35ES Compact Rangefinder

September's camera was a return to a compact rangefinder. I readily admit that I'm a big fan of compact rangefinders and I have several of them. I've used a few of them for this blog--the Chinon 35EE II, the Olympus XA, and the Ricoh 500G. The Vivitar 35ES is a good-looking camera that fits right in with the rest of the bunch and was easy to use.

This camera has a 40mm/1.7 lens and bright viewfinder patch. The all black finish is appealing and it has just enough heft to feel solid in your hand. The meter is located within the lens housing but I didn't use any filters this month. Just know that you wouldn't have to compensate when using filters if you use this camera.

I decided to go back to shooting black and white film this month. I still have some bulk Kodak Tri-X from the late 70's that keeps impressing me.










Next month's camera: Yashica 35CC Rangefinder

introduction

I knew it was a bad idea to count up the number of film cameras I own. I thought I had maybe 12 and had a great idea of using a single film camera each month for an entire year. As it turns out, I actually own 18 vintage film cameras. 

So I've decided to spend the next year and a half using these cameras and sharing my results here. I’m not setting any rules regarding film (black and white? color?) or how many pictures I can take in any given month. My only rule will be that I will only carry one single camera for the entire month.

The Line-Up:

Manual Cameras:

Agfa Solinette

Agfa Isoflash Rapid C

Canon Demi EE17 (half frame)

Medium Format:

Ansco Color Clipper (w/flash)

Petri

Ansco Titan

Franka Solida III

Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 1b

SLR’s:

Sears TLS

GAF L-17

Konica Autorex (full and half-frame)

Rangefinders:

Olympus XA

Konica Auto S

Chinon 35 EE II

Vivitar 35ES

Yashica Electro 35 CC

Ricoh 500G

Fujica 35 EE

I will try to mix it up from month to month but—due to the disproportion of certain camera styles—this won’t be mathematically possible. Actually, I think I’ll shoot these cameras in alphabetical order because it’s a pretty good mix that way.