Category: rangefinder

Articles about rangefinder cameras

Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)

Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Minolta Uniomat
This is my first Minolta (ignoring my Minolta Dimage digital camera). The Uniomat is a semi-automatic exposure rangefinder camera. It takes 35 mm film. It is not a particularly large camera for a rangefinder but it is heavy. It measures 230 mm wide by 170 mm deep and 185 mm high. This makes it too large to be considered a pocket camera – quite apart from the weight (745 g with a short test film loaded).
The maker is stamped on the base-plate “Chiyoda Kogaku” and the camera was made in Japan. Chiyoda Kogaku made Minolta cameras from the mid 1930s but only changed their company name to Minolta in 1962. In North America, Minolta cameras were known as Ansco through a trading agreement with the USA company of that name , and the Minolta Uniomat was sold as the Ansco Anscoset.
My particular camera can be dated to 1960/61 by the black plastic surround to the light cell and the black plastic surround to the viewfinder. In the Uniomat II this was chrome around the light cell and white plastic around the viewfinder.
Being a rangefinder, there are two images in the centre of the viewfinder image which the user has to align using the focussing ring on the front of the lens. This focussing patch in the centre of the viewfinder is reasonably clear – particularly bearing in mind that this camera is now fifty years old. I, personally, have a slight problem in that my natural method of holding the camera means that my left hand obliterates the rangefinder window as it is well to the left of the camera. However, this is not lethal as I can easily move my left index finger slightly when focussing.
  1. Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Top view

Setting the exposure is simplicity itself. First you need to set the ASA rating of your film (no DIN option) by lifting the inner ring on the lens and moving the red dot on the inner right of the lens to the correct ASA number (there are FOUR red dots on this ring for different purposes but it is fairly clear which one you need to use at a given moment). You then move the inner ring on the lens until the needles in the exposure window are superimposed. That is it. This sets both shutter speed and aperture – you have no control over either. There is a scale on the lens of standard EV numbers and a red dot indicating which one is in use, but you cannot influence the setting other than to move to a different EV if you want to increase or decrease the exposure. 

 

Wallace Koopmans has produced a chart to show the aperture and shutter speed you get for each EV value.  You can see the original and read Wallace’s comments on the Uniomat at Wallace Koopmans Artlog.  My thanks to Wallace for his permission to use his chart.

Copyright Wallace Koopmans

Once the exposure is set, there is another red dot on the right of the lens which indicates which shutter speed has been selected. These go from 1/8 to 1/1,000 seconds. That last, 1/1,000 seconds, is very fast for a leaf shutter. It is worth mentioning how Citizen (the manufacturer of the shutter) have achieved this. In most cameras, there are separate diaphragm and shutter blades.  You set the diaphragm to the required aperture and when the film is exposed, the shutter blades open to the maximum aperture (which on this camera is f2.8). This means that for smaller apertures, the shutter is spending time moving beyond the diaphragm blades and achieving nothing. In this Citizen shutter, there is only one set of blades in the lens (five blades in all) and the shutter blades double as diaphragm blades. So, at f2.8, the shutter blades open fully and offer a maximum speed of 1/60 seconds. At f5.4, the shutter blades do not open so far and the speed is 1/270 seconds. At the smallest aperture, f16, the shutter blades do not have to move very far at all and the shutter speed is an amazing 1/1,000 seconds.

Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Front view

There are other controls on the lens that are not obvious. First is the depth of field scale.  It is always nice to have one of these but this one is different. Because you cannot set the aperture, the depth of field scale does not use f numbers but EV numbers. In use it is much the same but slightly confusing to start with. Maximum depth of field is at EV18 and the depth of filed scale goes down to EV9. Below EV9, the aperture is always f2.8.  The are two scales to make using flash easy – one for electronic flash (x) and one for flash bulbs (M).  to use these, you line up the distance to the subject (taken from the focussing ring) against one of five letters (A, B, C, D and E).  This sets an appropriate EV and thus both shutter speed and aperture.  There is also a red dot that will tell you if you are too far away to use flash.

Other controls on the lens barrel are a flash selector – X (electronic) or M (bulb).  The difference between these (as on all cameras) is the timing of the flash and shutter.  With X, the flash fires as soon as the shutter is completely open and will synchronise at a speed somewhere between 1/250 and 1/500 seconds which is quite fast; faster than you will get with a focal plane shutter.  With M, the flash fires just before the shutter opens to allow the bulb to reach maximum intensity as the shutter is fully open.  In this case the flash will synchronise at 1/1,000 seconds which is extremely fast.  The last control here is the delayed action lever marked V (Vorlaufwerk, the German for ‘delay’).

The lens is a Rokkor 1:2.8 45mm lens about which I know nothing as yet – I will share when I do.

1-11-2012:   

Just got the test film back from the lab.  Fairly impressed with the results.  Only downside is that I managed to get flare on a very overcast day.  Some examples:

Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Busker, Lincoln city centre

 

Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Path in Lincoln’s Arboretum
Minolta Uniomat (Ansco Uniomat)
Pottergate, Lincoln

Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE

Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
 
Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
 

This is a fairly simple compact camera along the lines of Zeiss Ikon’s other Ikonta derivatives, the Contina family.  It is small enough to fit comfortably in one hand – 115mm wide by 85mm tall by 35 mm thick (75 mm thick including the lens).  It takes 35 mm film in standard cassettes.  The Contessa range was made from 1960 until 1971 and the Contessa LKE was made from 1963 to 1965.  The name “Contessa” is a look-back to the companies that made up Zeiss Ikon in 1926 – one of which was Contessa Nettel.  This camera owes nothing to that make of camera and nothing to Contessa Nettel’s designer, Dr Nagel. The price of this camera was £53-16-9 in old British money or £53.83 in modern British money. This equates to around £1,738 in 2020 values.

This camera has a coupled light meter and a coupled rangefinder.  Both of these are visible in the viewfinder which makes using the camera easy.  The rangefinder if the usual double image in an orange spot in the middle of the field of view.  Turning the focussing ring on the end of the lens moves one image – focus is achieved when the two images are superimposed.  A nice touch is the addition of two prominent plastic lugs on the side of the focussing ring which makes it easy to find it by feel while looking through the viewfinder.   The light meter in the viewfinder is not so easy to see.  It is at the top of the viewfinder in the middle and if this part of the viewfinder is against a bright sky, it disappears completely.  Originally, I found it much easier to use the other light meter view on the top of the camera but with practice the display in the viewfinder is easier to use.  When setting the exposure, it is possible to set either the shutter speed or the aperture and then adjust the other until the meter needle centres in the window.  It is much easier to preset the shutter speed as this is merely a knurled ring – the aperture ring has two plastic lugs much as the focussing ring has and it is so much easier to find the aperture ring by feel than it is the shutter speed ring.  Both the aperture value and the shutter speed are visible at the bottom of the viewfinder – this time much more clearly than the light meter is.

The lens is about as good as they come – a Carl Zeiss Tessar.  Because of the age of this camera (1960s) it is not a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar but a West German Carl Zeiss Opton Tessar.  Still a very good lens, though.  The serial number of the lens indicates it was made between 1965 and 1969.  As this camera was only in production until 1965, my specimen must be one of the last to be built in 1965.  The focal length is 50mm with a maximum aperture of f2.8 – so this is a vary fast lens – stopped down to f8, it is going to be superb.  The shutter is a Gautier Prontor 500 LK leaf shutter which is a meter-coupled Prontor with a maximum speed of 1/500 (about as fast as any leaf shutter ever will be).  The one thing that I miss on most modern lenses is the depth of field scale that was ubiquitous on lenses of this era and is present here.

 
Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
 

The accessory shoe is a hot shoe for flash connection and there is no PC connector for cold shoe flashes (an adapter was available as an added extra to allow cold shoe flashes to be connected).  These is a frame counter around the shutter release and a window that can be moved to indicate the type of film being used.  The options are Black and white, Neg, Flash, Sun, Artificial light.

The viewfinder is central and large enough even for spectacle wearers.  There are bright-lines in the file of view with parallax marks for framing close-ups.  The film advance is a lever of the top right as was now usual for 35mm cameras.  The film rewind, however, is underneath – a lever that pops out when the rewind button is pressed.  There are no strap lugs on this camera which means it is sensible to use the every-ready case but I like to carry cameras in my pocket, so I will end up one day dropping this one.  The only other thing of note is the presence of a tripod bush in the centre of the bottom plate.

After running one roll of film through this camera, I was very pleased with this camera.  It is easy to use, fits in my jacket pocket and is a suitable camera to use as a walk-around camera (i.e. one I take with me when I am not particularly wanting to take photographs but prefer to have a camera to hand just in case).  It is not obtrusive and I have found it to be excellent for street photography.

18 September 2012:  

In the five months that I have owned this camera, this camera has grown on me.  My hands have now learnt where the controls are so I no longer have to look and think.  This probably happens quite quickly if you only use one camera but I have several that I use frequently. 

The exposure indicator is clear in the viewfinder – the arrow for the shutter speed less so.  The exposure indicator is repeated on the top plate but this is not really useful.

I have a tendency to carry cameras in my pocket and that generates two problems with this camera.  Firstly, the shutter release gets accidentally pressed.  This is easily cured by not winding the film on until immediately before pressing the shutter release.  The second problem is that the delayed action lever gets moved which means that it takes a while to take the next picture.  This is made worse by the fact that the delayed action mechanism does not work very well any more.  It grinds its way through the nominal eight seconds with numerous pauses that necessitate manual assistance.   

The rangefinder is reasonably clear in use but as I take mainly landscapes, I keep the camera focussed on the hyper-focal distance (which at f8 is twenty feet).

I really like the recessed rewind lever on the base.  This is a good two centimetres long – much longer than the rewind lever on most 35 mm cameras.  It is easy to use and fairly fast.

The only really awkward part of using this camera is setting the film speed.  As I only set this rarely (I generally use APX100 film so I only reset the film speed when I use a different film) it is not a problem.

Sample pictures:

Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
Spurn ex-lighthouse now water tower

 

Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
Staithes harbour
 

Voigtlander Vitomatic II

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This is an update of the excellent Voigtländer Vito B.  The Vito B spawned several cameras – the Vitomatics I and II and the Vito BL. This is the automatic update as opposed to the more manual Vito BL. The Vitomatic II has a coupled light meter and a coupled rangefinder added and a new shutter mechanism (the Prontor SLK-V made by Gauthier) which is needed to make use of the light meter.

I now have a second Vitomatic – the  Vitomatic II CS  from 1967.

Voigtlander also made independent rangefinders which were less handy in use. The lens is still a Color-Skopar 50mm lens but now it is f2.8 rather than f3.5 (this might just be the items I have – I have no idea as to the options that were available regarding lenses for either the Vito B or the Vitomatic II).

a3e1c-img_0660

The size of the two cameras (Vito B and Vitomatic II – I am going to be comparing the two throughout this posting) is the same except the height.  I have a version I Vito B with a small viewfinder.  The later version II had a larger viewfinder and is also higher than the version I.  So the Vito B (II) is the same size as the Vitomatic II.  The layout of the top plate differs as the Vitomatic II has an exposure meter window but is otherwise the same. The front of the camera is also different as the Vitomatic II has both an exposure meter and a rangefinder window both of which are missing on the Vito B.
There is one more change that is immediately apparent – the frame counter on the Vito B is a small window above the shutter housing with an adjusting wheel below the shutter housing.  With the Vitomatic II, the frame counter is on the base plate and has a small adjusting wheel beside the counter window.
e70bb-img_0661The presence of both the rangefinder mechanism and the light meter means that the SLK-V shutter/lens housing on the Vitomatic II is significantly larger than the SVS housing on the Vito B. The SLK-V shutter is Voigtlander’s adaptation of the standard SLK shutter – this is a light meter coupled shutter.  (Both Voigtlander and Prontor were subsidiaries of Zeiss Ikon at this time.)  The Vitomatic II is also significantly heavier – something that could not be avoided with the improved specification. So, in use, the Vitomatic II still fits nicely in the hand but is much more tiring to hold for a period of time. Using the ever-ready case and hanging the camera around your neck would obviate this but I like to hold the camera in my hand – it is more discrete and faster to use.
The coupled light meter is simplicity itself to use. It is of the match needle type with the needles in the window on the top plate. This is adjusted by turning the forward most knurled wheel on the shutter housing. When the two needles are superimposed, the camera is set for a correct shutter speed/ aperture combination. This can be varied in one stop steps by turning the rearmost knurled wheel. Moving this wheel alters the speed/aperture settings but keeps them in the correct range for a viable exposure. It is a bit like the P setting on a modern digital camera. The only drawback to this system is that the meter needles are not shown in the viewfinder so you need to lower the camera and look at the top plate while setting the exposure.
The viewfinder is a reverse-Galilean finder with a large (much larger than the Vito B) eye-piece with bright lines including parallax adjustment.  The coupled rangefinder is also simple to use – this time it is accessed through the viewfinder. The rangefinder presents the user with a bright spot in the centre of the viewfinder with two separate images. The user turns the focussing ring (the smaller, forward most knurled ring) until the two images are superimposed – the lens is then correctly focussed for the part of the image in the centre spot. This is made easier by the user choosing a strong vertical to focus on.

The film chamber is accessed the same way as on a Vito B – a small portion of the base-plate is unlocked and lowered and then the back swings open. This is very secure in use and the type of accident I occasionally have with my Vito II where the catch on the back can accidentally open while the camera is in use is not possible.  The one downside is that changing films while standing in the street is cumbersome – but  far from impossible.

I now have a Vitomatic I as well.  This is the same as the Vitomatic II but without the coupled rangefinder.  I do not miss having a rangefinder as I find guessing distances works just fine – at f5.6 and smaller, the depth of field is enough to cover any slight discrepancy in the guess.

There are also “a” and “b” versions of both Vitomatics – I and II.  The “a” versions have the light meter scale mirrored in the viewfinder and the “b” versions have aperture and shutter speed mirrored in the viewfinder.

Vitomatic II in use.

This is a fairly simple camera to use.  The light meter is not TTL so in use it is much the same as a hand-held meter.  The advantage over a hand-held meter is that aligning the match needles in the light meter window sets a usable combination of speed and aperture.  It is then simple to turn the inner ring on the shutter housing to set either a specific aperture or a specific speed according to the photographer’s needs.  The shutter then selects corresponding speed/aperture to maintain correct exposure.  As this is not TTL, you do not need to fumble with the controls at eye level.  If you want to use exposure compensation you merely turn the exposure control as many stops either side of standard as you need.  As this control basically adjusts the aperture, it is possible to over/under expose by a fraction of a stop.  It is worth noting that the aperture is infinitely variable between f2.8 and f22 while the shutter speed is restricted to click-stops – it is not possible to set a speed between1/125 and 1/300, for instance.  If you try, you will get either 1/125 or 1/300 depending on the exact position of the cam inside the shutter mechanism.
This camera inherits scale focussing from the Vito B complete with two Happy Snapper settings of 3.25m and 10m (roughly) at f5.6.  These settings make street photography very easy.  I often keep the camera set to 1/125 and smaller than f5.6 and the focus on the distant (10m) happy snapper setting – giving everything between 4.25m and infinity in focus.
For more critical work, there is the rangefinder.  This uses gold “silvering” of the half-silvered mirrors giving orange images in the centre of the viewfinder which are clearly seperated from the main image.  As with most rangefinders, turning the focussing knob moves one of the images – focus being achieved when the two images are exactly superimposed.
If the lens is nearly focussed, this is quick and easy.  The downside is that focussing from one end of the scale to the other cannot be achieved in one motion but in use I am not finding this a problem.

Last comment – this is a heavy camera – particularly for its compact size – but this aids stability in use.

Sample Pictures:

Waterloo Station, London

 

Busker, City Square, Lincoln

 

Lincoln university across Brayford Pool, Lincoln

 

Folk buskers, Lincoln

Franka Solida III camera

The first Vintage camera that I bought was a Franka Solida II.  The Solida III is basically the same camera, as you would expect, with a different lens and the addition of a non-coupled rangefinder.

Franka Solida III camera

The Solida III takes 120 film and produces a 6 cm by 6 cm negative – twelve frames to a roll of film.

lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar
focal length:  80 mm
apertures: f/2.9 to f/22
focus range: 3 ft to infinity
lens fitting: fixed
shutter: Prontor S
speeds: 1 second to 1/250 + B
flash:  PC socket, no X/M switch
film size: 120

The lens is a Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar 80 mm, f/2.9 lens.  This is a bit unusual as the aperture sequence usually goes to f/2.8 rather than f/2.9.  The minimum aperture is f/22 which is more than small enough coupled with the 1/250 shutter speed.  It is probably worth noting that the physical size of the aperture at f/22 on a medium format camera is much larger than f/22 on a 35 mm camera and so diffraction effects are negligible and so give sharper images than an equivalent lens/aperture would with 35mm.  With an APS C format digital camera, the difference will be even sharper.  The test film showed this lens to be better than adequate, at the least.

Franka Solida III camera
The shutter is a Prontor S leaf shutter by Gauthier, offering shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/250 plus B.

Happy Snapper settings are indicated in red and are around f/9 and twenty five feet, giving a depth of field from twelve feet to infinity.  There is also a secondary Happy Snapper setting of f/9 and eight feet which gives you a depth of field from six feet to twelve feet – presumably for portraits.

There is the usual delayed action lever giving  a delay of around eight to ten seconds.  A PC socket is provided but no synchronisation lever so the flash synch could be either for bulb or electronic flash. Given the camera’s age, I suspect it is synced for bulbs but whether for M or F bulbs I do not know.

The rangefinder works well and the two images are nice and clear.  There is enough separation between the two rangefinder windows (43 mm) and there is enough movement on the adjusting wheel to make the device effective.  Unfortunately, as a non-coupled rangefinder, it is necessary to read the distance off the rangefinder and set it on the lens focussing scale.  I find guessing the distance and using a smallish aperture to be fine and I don’t think I would use this rangefinder very much.

The other niggle with the rangefinder is that it uses a separate eyepiece to the viewfinder making focussing and composing totally separate activities and further reduces the utility of the rangefinder.

There is a safety interlock between the film winder and the shutter release meaning it is impossible to make a double exposure.  There is a (very) small window beside the film winder which shows red when the film has been wound on.  In fact, it is only necessary to turn the film winder 3/4 of a turn to reset the shutter which is not enough to wind on to the next frame.  Not having a manual for the camera, I had thought the shutter faulty before I finally twigged the purpose of the small window.

The red window on the back which allows you to read the frame numbers has a sliding cover to prevent the fogging of panchromatic film.  Loading is easy.  Both the film spool and the take up spool are contained in hinged housings which hold the film securely until the back is closed.

The pressure plate is significantly larger than the frame size (80 mm wide) which means that the film is kept nicely flat – not always the case with medium format cameras.  The lens standard pops out nicely when the button on the base is pressed – this camera is fully self-erecting.

In use, this is not anywhere as easy as the Franka Solida II.  That camera opens vertically with the baseboard at the bottom under the lens. This Solida III opens sideways so that the baseboard is to the right of the lens when you are using the camera.  This leaves very little camera for the right hand to hold on to which is rather awkward. With the fingers of the right hand curled, it is quite usable and the forefinger drops quite nicely onto the shutter release.

Small items – there is an accessory shoe – cold shoe in flash terms – and a single tripod socket on the base which is to UK/USA standard.  Lastly, the film winder has a film speed reminder on its top, with DIN/ASA numbers from DIN 12/ASA 12 to DIN 24/ASA 200.  On a camera of this age, it is worth noting that the ASA numbers are the “new” ASA scale

Franka Solida III camera
Medieval troubadours, Stonebow, Lincoln
Franka Solida III camera
Medieval guildhall, Lincoln

Fed 5 (ФЭД 5)

This is a very sturdy camera. It is black, square, solid with no frills or cosmetics. Fed cameras started off as copies of German Leica cameras and while the design of a Fed might be identical to a 1930s Leica, manufacturing standards are certainly not.

As I am being fairly negative here, I would like to point out that I do not have experience of Fed cameras in general, merely of my own Fed 5B. (since writing this article, I have bought two more Feds – Fed 2 and Fed 4 – which articles see).

Actually, the camera works very well. Setting the exposure using my trusty Leningrad light meter, all the images in my test film were exposed as I would wish – good blacks, clear whites and a usable range of greys in between. This means that both the shutter and the aperture settings are at least reasonable. I have no means of testing shutter speeds, but they are clearly close to nominal. The aperture has six blades giving a hexagonal aperture – for those concerned with bokeh, this should bode well.

The lens is much better than adequate. Scanning the film taken with this camera and enlarging to full screen on my fifteen inch monitor gave an image that was still sharp with no visible vignetting or barrel/pin cushion distortion. The only problem optically is light leakage from a poorly fitting back.

The controls are “firm” – that is to say, definite effort is required to make this camera do any thing. I find focussing difficult as the focussing ring is close to the camera body and is stiffish to turn. This stiffness seems to be entirely in the lens assembly as the rangefinder mechanism in the camera is quite free and requires very little effort to move. Advice on the Internet is to dismantle the lens, remove the Soviet grease and replace with modern light grease. It seems that the Soviet grease hardens with time and stops the lens turning freely. Actually, this is not confined to Soviet cameras – all old cameras suffer from this to a degree and Agfa camera are notorious for it. The plus side here is that the whole lens mount moves to focus, not just the front element which means that image quality is not sacrificed in order to make a cheaper lens. As this is a rangefinder camera, focussing is easy and accurate – a simple matter of aligning the two images in the centre of the viewfinder. If this is inaccurate, it can be adjusted by focussing on a clear vertical at infinity (i.e. anything over 40 feet or so away) and turning the adjusting screw until the images coincide.

To load a film, the back and base are removed in one piece – much like a Contax. This makes it easy for large fingers to access they film chamber and fit the new film. on my specimen, the cams that hold the back in place are badly made and the back does not quite fit snuggly. This allows light to leak into the camera and fog the film. This is easily obviated by applying black plastic tape to the joins after loading with film – not a really satisfactory technique but it does allow the camera to be used.

Care must be taken when buying second hand FSU (Former Soviet Union) cameras. If the writing is in Cyrillic and the camera is pristine, it most likely has never been used as it was seriously flawed from new. Buying a camera with clear and definite signs of use means that the camera, at the least, has worked well at some point. Dating Fed cameras is easy – the first two digits of the serial number are the year of manufacture. My FED5 body has the serial number 849211 and so was made in 1984. On the other hand, the lens I have has the serial number 9249524 and so was made in 1992. This means that the body/lens combination is not original – not that it really matters.

 

Accessory rangefinder from Voigtländer

Voigtländer produced a small rangefinder as an accessory for their range of cameras in the 1950s.  There were at least two versions of this as evidenced by the shoe connector.  The rangefinder sits in the accessory shoe on top of the camera and is entirely independent of the camera. This was still available in 1970 and Wallace Heaton in London were offering it for £7-8-8
Voigtländer rangefinder
Voigtländer rangefinder
The rangefinder is die-cast in an aluminium alloy.  Externally, there is one eyepiece and two objective lenses with a central knob/dial.  Internally, the eyepiece looks through a half-silvered mirror out through the left-hand objective lens.  The light coming in the second, right-hand objective lens is reflected by a sloping mirror onto the left-hand half-silvered mirror and hence out through the eyepiece.  The sloping mirror behind the right-hand objective lens is controlled via a cam by the external knob/dial.  Turning the knob/dial alters the angle of the mirror and so alters the path of the light towards the eyepiece.
In use, one looks through the eyepiece and sees two versions of the scene – one directly and one reflected through the second lens.  Turning the central knob/dial moves the second image from side to side.  When the images are superimposed, the correct distance can be read off the knob/dial.
Voigtländer rangefinder
This is a very simple mechanism and there is little to go wrong with it.  My rangefinder had a quantity of dust inside which was easily removed with a soft brush.  I also gently polished the surface of both mirrors.  Adjusting the rangefinder is also easy.  You merely focus on an object at a known distance away and move the knob/dial on its spindle so that the correct distance is against the mark.
Voigtländer rangefinder
The only real fault is that the second, right-hand objective lens is rather small so the image reflected off the half-silvered mirror is relatively faint – half the light from from this objective passes through the half-silvered mirror and we only see an image that is half as bright as that from the left-hand objective lens.  To help, the half-silvered mirror is tinted orange (actually, ‘silvered’ with gold) which makes the faint image easier to see.
Voigtländer rangefinder
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