Rangefinder Camera
A camera focused by aligning two images in a coupled optical system, viewed through a bright-line finder separate from the lens.
In depth
The finder shows more than the frame, so the photographer sees a subject entering the composition before it arrives — the reason many street photographers still prefer them. Focusing accuracy depends on the mechanical rangefinder base length rather than the lens, which makes the system superb with wide lenses and unreliable with long or very fast ones.
Examples in practice
A 35 mm lens on a rangefinder can be zone-focused and shot without ever raising the camera to the eye.