Hi

I read in another forum about sticking a yellow/orange/red filter (gelatin type I guess) over the rangefinder - the discussion was that this would improve the contrast to help in low light focusing I know that the LTM cameras had just such a accessory, which was orange, and was just wondering if anyone was practising this, does it work and what shade is the best along the yellow to red spectrum?

Thanks very much in advance :-)

-- Gregory Goh (GregoryGoh@hotmail.com), May 17, 2002

Answers

I would have thought that yellow would be the best colour, though I wouldnt bother sticking such stuff on the viewfinder

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), May 17, 2002.

It works.

On screw mount Leicas, the difference between the two rangefinder images can be difficult to pick up in some light. When I was first introuced to IIIC's and other LTMs as a Navy photographer in the early 1960s, many of them had a small pieces of Kodak K2 or 15G gelatin filters placed over one of the rangefinder windows. This provided a color contrast to the images, making them easier to see. Some people also were using gelitin color correction filters.

-- Jerry L. Gleason (jgleason@patriot-news.com), May 17, 2002.

Yellow filters = better clarity. Is this why people wear yellow driving glasses?

-- Fred Sun (redsky3@yahoo.com), May 17, 2002.

Jerry, thanks for the info - just to clarify, which window exactly the one you look through, or the forsted/serrated one next to it (on the M bodies)

Thanks again

-- Gregory Goh (GregoryGoh@hotmail.com), May 17, 2002.

This may be obscure, but Leitz actually made a screw-in orange filter for the rangefinder. If you look carefully at the front round optics, you'll note that the edge is threaded. Both of my IIICs have this filter, which I picked up in NYC about a decade ago. The filters DO help in low light conditions. I suppose some orange gelatin would serve the same purpose.

-- Patrick (pg@patrickgarner.com), May 17, 2002.

I once read about using a light blue filter to increase rangefinder contrast. I tried an 1/8 or 1/4 CTB (can't remember which) on my M3. It was helpful, but it wasn't a revelation. Seems like an orange or red filter would darken the viewfinder too much to focus or compose in low light.

-- Steve Wiley (wiley@accesshub.net), May 17, 2002.

Some rangefinders are made with their rangefinder patch's optics tinted/filtered to be Yellow; pink; orange; purple etc... Over time these depositions evaporate/disappear/fade with time...

-- Kelly Flanigan (zorki3c@netscape.net), May 17, 2002.

I some times in very dark situations use a lamp over my subjects, but I have got some angry people, canīt recomend that

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmai.com), May 17, 2002.

We didn't buy a special filter, we just cut a small circle out of a K2 or 15G filter. With the lens facing you, we put it in the rangefinder window on the left side. The metal cap on the window screws off, and we placed in inside the cap. There is enough of a lip to hold it in place. Of course, if the normal rangefinder image was bright enough to see the separation between the images, we didn't use anything at all. I never put one in my IIIC because I didn't need it.

I never saw anyone use one on an M Leica, but if you did you would place it in the small rangwinder window on the left, as you look at the camera. You could put it in either window on an LTM.

-- Jerry L. Gleason (jgleason@patriot-news.com), May 17, 2002.

i have a screw-in orange filter for my iiig. it is good indoors -- up to a point. it obviously reduces rf briteness, and so in VERY low lite becomes more impediment than help. in average indoor lite, however, it can be a boon. in truth, i never used it much and haven't used it all for a long time. i could be wrong about this, but i seem to remember that the orange caste is only visible through the rf peephole in the iiig, and not the vf peephole (they are side by side). this would make it more attractive to use on a barnack camera than an M (which obviously only has the one peephole).

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), May 17, 2002.

I've been using one of the Leitz OKARO filters on my IIIf for a couple of years and just got the pre-war equivalent (ORAKO) for my IIIa. Both cameras have god RF contrast w/o the filters, but IMO they make focusing a good deal easier.

-- Robert Marvin (marvbej@earthlink.net), May 17, 2002.

There was already an "OKARO" orange filter on the IIIc converted to IIIf BD that I bought a week ago. It fits over the RIGHT-hand RF window surround, when seen from the front. (The left-hand RF window surround is not deep enoung and the filter would fall off.) This is not a screw-on filter, it's a clip-on but it's a tight fit and, if turned, it will unscrew the RF window surround. I find it helps me to see the split RF image more clearly, even in poor light.

With an M, you would need to stick a filter over the tiny LEFT-hand RF window, when seen from the front, otherwise you would also affect the VF. I've never tried it but I think it should work OK.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), May 19, 2002.