Why Everyone Should Have a Scale focus Camera

The first consumer cameras were nothing more than boxes that had little settings that you were able to manipulate. There was no element of focusing, because of how small the aperture was, so most of everything was in focus. Cameras progressed steadily from there giving you a plethora of options and more control over the camera. More control meant more innovation spawning faster lenses that needed to be focused to where your subject matter was. This, in turn, created that lovely depth of field effect that people strive to perfect today. But before the likes of ground glass or the rangefinder, most cameras integrated a simple viewfinder and a system called scale focusing.

The First Focusing CAmeras

Very early scale focus cameras had a simple viewfinder that was used to frame a shot, but with that simple solution came a problem. The viewfinder was not where the lens is, so the closer you got to your subject, the more parallax error occurs. This was rectified with later cameras that included parallax correction, where the viewfinder would show you a larger area then what would be photographed. Within that larger viewfinder, there would be ‘frame lines’. This meant the closer you focused the camera to a subject, these frame lines would change to correct for parallax. Most of the time these frame lines were reflected from another area on the camera onto the viewfinder glass, which I would say led to the discovery or innovation of the rangefinder system.

But how do you focus if you don’t have any type of rangefinder or through the lens focusing? This is where the scale focus system comes into play, and I hope your great at guessing distance. The early scale focus cameras had distances were written on the barrel, like most lenses still have today. This along with the aperture scale, that told you what range was in focus, was all you got. This system is hard for a lot of people, me included because you need to be spatially aware of how far away you are from things. Some lenses had a shorter focusing length, which made for fewer mistakes. But as lenses got faster, focusing throws got longer. Let's say for example your focusing on a person indoors. It’s a darker room so your shooting wide open at f/2, that is a pretty shallow depth of field so there is a lot of room for error.

The Changing MArket

As time went on scale focus cameras never really went out of fashion, they just changed their market. With the advent of more accurate ways of focusing, scale focus cameras were relegated to the cheaper alternative. Some companies had a line of cameras that all shared a common name but had different tiers depending on how much money you wanted to spend. For example, Agfa had the Solinette (Ansco Regent in America) line of cameras that came in two different varieties. The base model being the regular Solinette, with a relativity small viewfinder, scale focus, and a slower lens and shutter speed. Or the higher end model that included the same tiny viewfinder but with a coupled rangefinder and faster shutter speeds. Granted both cameras take fine pictures, but even today that price difference sticks. For example, if you want to get a medium format camera, scale focus ones are cheap and plentiful, but if you want one that has a rangefinder, get ready to pay over a hundred dollars for a decent example.

It’s not easy to master the system by any means. But as manufacturers made scale focus the cheaper alternative, their audience changed with it. Professionals did not buy the cheaper models, average consumers bought them and with that convenience was the key. As cameras with automation were getting cheaper, manufactures wanted an even cheaper alternative to market. Personally, I have a hard time with the older scale focus cameras. If I’m shooting wide open I can get the shot in focus maybe twenty percent of the time, and thankfully it turns out I wasn’t the only one. Camera manufactures wanted to simplify this system even more and make it friendly to the average consumer. This lead to an update of the scale focus system that most people know of. Being the typical, pictures of a mountain, a group of people and a single person as the focusing scale. This was made to simplify early automatic and later non auto focus cameras for the average consumer. In some instances, you would have more picture options, distances in the viewfinder, or even a distance scale on the underside of the lens for a better reference. This replaced the old scale focus system and ushered in a new age of budget cameras. But after auto focus cameras became cheap in the late 1980s, there was no need for scale focus cameras anymore and they faded into obscurity.

The Scale focus CHALLENGE

Given the incredibly long lifespan of scale focus cameras, you can find them pretty much anywhere and cheaply. But there is a reason for that. Most people either go for the better model in that line of cameras or are just scared of scale focusing in general. Scale focus is not easy, and even with the picture scale on the later models, you can still miss a shot. But don’t let that deter you, these cameras are just as great as their fancier alternative. A lot of the time you can get the same exact glass of an expensive camera, but on a scale focus version for a fraction of the price. Even if all else fails and you still cannot get the focus down there are shoe mounted rangefinders that work fast and are accurate, but are still a bit pricey. If I haven’t sold you on getting a scale focus camera yet, there is another reason I want to bring to the table.

As a photographer, you always want to improve your skill, whether it’s in style or technicality. A great skill everyone in film strives to achieve is being able to ‘be’ the light meter and just look at a scene and know the settings off the top of their head. But another skill some people don’t work on is the relationship between aperture and depth of field. With an SLR camera, or rangefinder, its easy to focus on an object, expose for a shot and go on your merry way. It’s quick and easy, but you're not understanding the quality of depth of field that way. With scale focus, you have to slow down and think a bit, and with that choose where you want the depth of field in your photo. You really have to know how far away an object is, and with that knowledge understand what is and is not going to be in focus. You have to work for an image, and with that knowledge, you can better use other more advanced cameras to their full potential.

The appreciation

I’m not implying that everyone is like that, but that’s how I was when I started out in film. I was happy with focusing on an object and calling it a day, not really paying attention to the distance scale on a lens, never realizing I could further manipulate the depth of field. But that all changed when I got my first scale focus camera, the Kodak Retina S1. This was a budget alternative and one of the last Kodak cameras to garner the Retina name. I took this camera with me on a walk one summer day, and I was amazed at the shots I took. Almost all of the photos were in focus and razor sharp, and I’m still amazed at the quality. This camera really changed my mind about scale focusing and got me to learn a lot more about the aperture distance relationship.

It doesn’t end there either, I actually did something with this new found knowledge. It may be old news to you, but I learned about zone focusing used in street photography. In this method of street photography you set a smaller aperture on your lens and then set the lens within the range you want to be from your subject. For example, you set the aperture to f/16 and the lens from infinity to 8 feet, within the f/16 markers on the lens. With this, you can completely disregard focusing. All you have to do is get your subject within the focusing range, frame the shot and move on. This makes street photography super fast and causes no more missed shots due to focusing or adjusting settings. I’ve even shot from the hip a couple of times and got some of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken. So why not use a scale focus camera for street photography, it will work just as good as any other camera. I’ve found amazing new cameras I initially avoided because of scale focusing and skills I use every time I shoot now. So why not pick one up, it may be a little difficult at first, but I guarantee it will help your skills and even your wallet.