It has a larger-than-normal distance dial to handle the increased precision, but unfortunately, that dial is crammed left of center, very near the eyepiece, making it uncomfortably close to your eye. This is the result of excellent engineering, which maximized window distance while keeping the body rather svelte. This finder has a best-in-class measuring window distance, and hence the highest precision and longest usable range of any other accessory range finder I’ve tested. It is made entirely of metal, and includes threaded front window glass, easy access to internal elements, and multiple adjustment points.

This is a very high quality range finder, with great precision and accuracy. This is one of the earliest accessory range finders, made by Saymon Brown in New York, USA. Saymon Brown / Lecia / Measure-Rite / De-Jur Range Finder But only the bottom one will mount nicely on your camera! The bottom can do so only out to 50 feet. The top model can accurately measure distance out to 300 yards. Here’s an example of two models, optimized for different purposes, of Ideal’s range finders: Just remember that the cute little rangefinder that fits so well on your camera is sacrificing range and precision for that compact design. Longer range finders, especially if they have their cold shoe mount centered on their body, can interfere with other accessories on adjacent mount points, on a Mercury for example. On the other hand, longer range finders add more bulk and weight to your camera. The length thus increases the effective range and precision of the finder. The greater the distance between the two rangefinder measuring windows, the more accurate the meter will be, especially at farther distances. Length is important for range finders, for these reasons: Of course, relative cost is subject to change, and is dependent on availability and shipping costs to your region.Ī word about length: In the specs for each finder, I’ve included a “length” category. We rate cost relatively, from $ (cheapest) to $$$$ (most expensive). In addition, we have several generic cold shoe adapters that can be used on nearly any accessory, so it is possible to adapt nearly any range finder you wish to a Mercury or other contemporary camera.

Mercury Works has developed several cold shoe mounts for popular range finders in order to adapt them.

However, some range finders were designed with proprietary mounts for a particular camera, and some weren’t design to mount at all, but rather to be carried in a pouch or pocket and used as an independent device (camera mounting is only for convenience the range finder works just as well independently of the camera, and is in fact less cumbersome). Often this meant on a standard cold shoe. Most accessory range finders were designed to mount on cameras. There are a couple of exceptions, however. Because the photography world was dominated by Germany and the US during that time, the vast majority of range finders out there come from one of these two countries. Thus these are the golden decades for accessory range finders. Though at least one manufacturer still makes and sells an accessory rangefinder now, the rangefinder craze mostly spanned the 1930s to the early 1960s. A few scattered reviews exist online, but we thought it would be useful to compile a comparison of many of the most common models. This range of choices, however, can be quite overwhelming. Their utility has ensured that many manufacturers have released range finders over a long period of time, and they are readily available on the used market. Thus many manufacturers have manufactured accessory range finders that are essentially universal: instead of being coupled to a lens, they read out the distance, allowing them to be used with any lens. However, built-in range finders often only work for one lens or a set of lenses. Most models have a built-in range finder (hence their name). Rangefinder cameras have been manufactured for the past 100 years. That’s the exact distance to your subject. Then look at the dial itself: it will give you a reading. Turn the dial until the the particular point that you want to measure is perfectly aligned. Turning a dial on the range finder causes the two images to converge or diverge. Inside you will two images superimposed over each other (one is tinted and only covers the center of window). To use one, you look through a viewing window. Accessory range finders are small optical devices that use the distance between two lenses to determine the distance to an object.

Pocket ranger finder hugo meyer