DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

Search

Submit A Story

rangefinder

Leica has officially announced the Leica M6 reissue – their film camera launch in over 20 years

by 8 Comments

Leica has officially announced the Leica M6 reissue. It’s a relaunch of its popular M6 35mm film camera and the first new film camera that Leica has launched in over two decades. In fact, it’s been 20 years since Leica stopped making the original M6 back in 2002. It was initially launched in 1984 and Leica says they’ve handmade almost 175,000 Leica M6 cameras, serving photographers all over the world.

Leica says that the return of the legendary rangefinder “bring[s] back a cultural icon for a new generation to experience”. The new generation will be paying a lot more for those film and development costs than the last M6 generation did, of course, if you’ve got the money to splash out on a Leica, that’s probably not much of a concern.

Photographer turns a Game Boy camera into an elegant “rangefinder”

by 2 Comments

Even though I’ve never used a Game Boy camera, projects I’ve seen using it are among my favorites. It’s incredible how creative people can get with a simple, 2bit digital camera: shooting astrophotography, macro, race cars, portraits… Even turning it into a webcam.

Photographer Christopher Graves has made yet another inspiring project using a Game Boy camera. He turned it into Camera M (or M1), a sleek and elegant rangefinder-style camera. He kindly shared some photos of his build with DIYP, as well as the details of how he created it.

Nine things that make Leica Rangefinders different from other digital cameras

by 1 Comment

If someone would ask me what digital camera brand is the most different from all the others, I would definitely answer Leica. A couple of weeks ago I bought my first Leica rangefinder, after using virtually every other camera brand on the market. I went for the cheapest one available, the Leica M8. In this article, I have written down my notes on what the biggest differences are from other digital cameras I have used over the years.

This Nikon SP review is about 60 years too late, but what a beautiful camera

by 1 Comment

I always find it fascinating when we see reviews on cameras that haven’t been made for years, often decades. The folks over at Japan Camera Hunter made it onto YouTube a couple of months ago, and they’ve wasted no time in making reviews of their own, including the Yashica Mat 124G, the Zeiss Ikon ZM and now the Nikon SP.

With film still growing in popularity, many just coming to analogue photography are wondering what cameras they should be looking out for that they might enjoy shooting. So, seeing these reviews of old cameras might not be quite as late as they may at first seem and could prove to be extremely valuable for inquisitive buyers today.

The Instant Magny 35 is an “Instant Film” back for your 35mm SLRs and Rangefinders

by 1 Comment

We’ve heard a lot over the last few years about digital film and backs for 35mm cameras. But one thing I haven’t really seen mentioned is “instant film” backs. You know, for things like Polaroid or Fuji Instax. Well, the folks at NINM Lab have had it in the forefront of their minds. They’ve developed a back that fits a number of 35mm SLR and rangefinder cameras. And it’s compatible with Fuji Instax Instant Film.

This miniature replica Canon IV SB rangefinder is an $80 USB stick with only 8GB of space

by 3 Comments

For the Canon shooter who has everything, this could be the perfect little stocking filler this year. Assuming you love them enough to spend $80 on them. This tiny replica of the Canon IV SB rangefinder camera is actually a new Canon-exclusive USB flash drive. It measures 2.8×1.4×1.4″ and contains a mere 8GB of storage.

Read this post before buying a Leica M or a rangefinder camera

Today I want to share with you my thoughts on the Leica M and more generally the Rangefinder system. When I sold all my digital equipment to make a permanent switch to analog camera I went for a Rangefinder camera. The obvious choice for me was to buy a Leica M6 and a full set of lenses to cover a wide focal range.

I first bought the body then ordered at the same time all sort of lenses from different resellers. I had a good sum of money from my sales and was feeling like a kid in a candy shop! I bought 5 lenses going from 21mm up to 135mm thinking that I would never need to buy glass for the rest of my life… Of course that was wrong otherwise we wouldn’t be here today!

The Advantages Of Shooting With A Rangefinder And How To Use One

by 3 Comments

Ever wonder what it was like to shoot with a rangefinder? In this quick little vignette produced by Leica, street photographer Craig Semetko takes us on location as he wonders the city showing viewers the benefits of using a rangefinder firsthand. Semetko also explains how to use one, which is a slightly different process than your typical SLR.

“When you look through the viewfinder of an [Leica] M, everything is in focus. Everything has clarity whether it is behind your subject or in front of your subject or your subject itself. When you look through an SLR, you’re actually looking through the lens and the lens is going to show the picture it wants you to take. Things are going to be in focus and things are going to be out of focus. The M demands more from the photographer, it demands you use your imagination, that you think about what you’re doing, understand what it is you want to achieve then change your manual controls accordingly to achieve that vision.”

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts