Amazon have X-Pro1 available for pre-order

[Larry Bolch]

Anyway, to get back in topic, I think the XP1 is going to have a very fast processor - early reports are that it is instantaneous. And APS-C is probably more than adequate for the street photography and holiday snaps I would use it for. Nobody would be crazy enough to use a rangefinder camera for arch photography, but it's good to know it can work when it's all I'm carrying and have a good opportunity.

Why on earth not? I shot for top architects and developers with an ancient Brooks VeriWide for decades. It had a stunningly sharp Schneider 47mm SuperAngulon over a 6×10 cm format—about like an 18mm on a 35—seven shots on a roll of 120. It did not even HAVE a rangefinder, only focusing by scale. Clients loved the quality.I bought it used, shot with it for many years, sold it for about what I paid for it, and it paid back handsomely during the working years. To the best of my knowledge it is still at work. Similar cameras are—or were—still made by Alpa, Linhof, Fuji and Horseman. Cosmetics have changed a bit, but the essential concept of the camera has not.

 

[Darren Bradley]

Yes, that makes sense. But I don't think 35mm or smaller rangefinders are generally in the arsenal of most architectural photographers. Not being able to preview the shot and line it up precisely is problematic, not to mention the inability to shift/rise the lens.

 

[Larry Bolch]

Yes, that makes sense. But I don't think 35mm or smaller rangefinders are generally in the arsenal of most architectural photographers. Not being able to preview the shot and line it up precisely is problematic, not to mention the inability to shift/rise the lens.

True. I used a PC-Nikkor on a SLR when a client needed chromes. It was strictly a shift-lens, though there are now a variety of outstanding quality tilt-shift lenses. On the other hand, the 21mm SuperAngulon on the Leica saw considerable use in architecture, due to its lack of either barrel or pincushion distortion. Perspective distortion is no problem. Shoe mount levels worked on all three axes, and I had a nice big dial-level from a hardware store that I plopped on the flat top of whatever camera I was using.

However, there were a number of medium format cameras that had the necessary movements. The Plaubel ProShift front plate could be shifted both vertically and horizontally. My Linhof 70 could be shot as a hand-held interchangeable lens rangefinder, but also as a full blown flat-bed field camera with ground-glass focusing and triple extension bellows. Linhof supplied a cam custom machined to the actual lens.

The Brooks VeriWide with its 6×10 format, allowed on to shoot vertical and simply crop out the foreground, still leaving a nice large image size.