As I alluded to in my last post, my newest camera, the Ansco Speedex 4.5, is quite a step back in time in camera technology. While I am quite used to adjusting exposure and shutter speed manually on my 30D (and on my loaner 20D), the lack of a rangefinder on the Ansco remains a huge challenge. The viewfinder is just plain glass, helping you frame the 6x6 square area. There is nothing but a distance scale to help you decide if the subject is in focus or not. This is only a small step up from the Holga's mountains -> Mommy daddy -> head distance scale. The Ansco distance scale goes from 3ft -> 3.5 ft -> 4,5,6,8,10,30 to infinity.

In my two days of shooting with the Ansco (on my third roll now without having seen the results from the first roll) this lack of focus feedback has become an interesting challenge. I am not great at judging distances. I know what a six foot person appears like, everything else in my head is compared to that imaginary six foot person if he was laid out straight in front of my camera. So not very accurate.

Rangefinder

You can get a rangefinder. There is a dead shoe on top of the Ansco that looks like you can slot a flash into (albeit with no contacts), but more likely it is there for a small accessory rangefinder. A rangefinder is a viewfinder that helps you calculate the range and then apply it to the camera's focus controls. It uses mirrors that show two of the images in front of it out of alignment. You twist the knobs and combine the two images into one. It then gives you a number in feet (or less commonly in meters). Cameras that are called rangefinders have integrated rangefinders -- some also have separate viewfinders -- but old folder cameras such as this Speedex do not. Therefore you have to find a clip on version.

Unfortunately, since the cameras for which these rangefinders stopped being produced in the 50s, they will be hard to find. I've had had suggestions to perhaps try for a laser ruler or golfer's rangefinder. These, which are bound to be more accurate, are more expensive than the actual camera. Until I find something under $40 I'm going to have to keep on imagining that six-foot person.

More links on rangefinders

• Photoethnography page on accessory rangefinders