The Golden Age

The 40's and 50's were the golden era of the 35mm rangefinder camera.Leica,Contaxand eventuallyNikon, along with a huge range of lesser lights, manufactured an array of rangefinder cameras at every price-point. Some of the greatest documentary photography of the 20th century, especially work done in Europe during the war years, and then the Korean War, were predominantly produced with RF cameras. 

Then in the late 50's the SLR came to prominence and the rangefinder camera was eclipsed. Of literally dozens of manufacturers producing RF cameras, within a few years only Leica was left.

From the early 60's though the mid 90's, a thirty year period, Leica continued to produce a succession of superb, and superbly expensive rangefinder cameras, culminating in the currentLeica M6 TTLand even newerLeica M7.

Then in the late 90's a succession of new rangefinder cameras started appearing. First came Hasselblad and Fuji with theXPan. ThenCosinaandKonicaappeared on...