A moment of maddness

G

Gazzah

RF newbie
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Mar 21, 2010
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In a moment of maddness Ive just bought an R on ebay - complete with a lens - the seller didnt know very much and descibed the lens as as a 40.5mm - thats what was written on the hood.... so I assume its the filter thread size..
Cost was £175

Ive shot film for years until recently when I got taken over by the digital virus, but Ive never had an RF before but always wanted to try one. I normally shoot nikon (various bodies) with mostly three primes 50 - 35 -24, I have a walk about zoom and a few longer primes for macro etc etc.
1st question : have I bought the right camera? Brightlines seem to cover most of my prefered length ..

2nd Question: What lenses should I look out for to add to my collection (cheap as poss!)

Looking forward to getting my hands on it and maybe reviving my old darkroom equip again...


Gary NH
 
Congratulations on your new camera!

Wait to see it and try it (and the lens) before you think of more lenses...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Congrats on the new camera — I've sort've wanted a Bessa for a while too…

Assuming you got a 50mm lens?

I suppose for some cheap lenses you could try the FSU stuff:
Jupiter 12 35 2.8 in LTM (silver barrel has less contrast, black barrel has more), should be about USD30-50

You probably won't need another 50 but if you do, you have 3 choices from the FSU bunch:
Jupiter 3 50 1.5
Jupiter 8(M) 50 2.0 (apparently the M version has clickstops on the aperture ring. I have the M)
Helios-103 50 1.8 (they say it's the sharpest - I'm getting one to see for myself. I don't know if it comes in LTM)

Out of the 50s, I found the Helios the cheapest. Did a search on eBay and some went as low as USD10, although I'm looking to buy one at around USD30 (the USD10 ones just don't sound believable at all)
Jupiter 8 should be a bit more expensive, probably USD40 or 50? Not sure as I got mine with the camera.
Jupiter 3 is the most expensive, but also the fastest (1.8 vs 1.5, really). Not too sure on the price.

I believe the R has 75mm framelines - there aren't any FSU lenses for that. Apart from CV, I'm not sure who else makes reasonably priced 75mm lenses.

For tele, there're 2 lenses that you can get “cheap” (this is coming from memory; do a bit of searching before you start buying randomly):
Jupiter 9 - 85…f/something…probably 2.0
Jupiter 11 - 135 4.0

I have no idea on the prices for these.
 
Bessa R is a nice camera. I shoot with one. Wait until you get it to see what lens it comes with. The R is a Leica Thread Mount (LTM) & there ara a wide range of lenses made by Leica, Canon, voigtlander, & russian copies that will fit. The J-12 will not fit because the rear of the lens protrudes too far out & may hit the shutter curtain. The Helios 103 is a contax mount lens made for the russian Kiev. Good russian made lenses that are cheap are the J8 50/2 & the Industar61 55/2.8 l/d. Longer lenses like the 135 will not work on the Bessa R because of the Bessas short base length! At least my Canon 135 wont.
cheers!
 
As Greg says, the Jupiter-12 cannot be used with the R2. So far as my knowledge goes, the Helios is not to be had in Leica screw mount: but you probably have a 50mm already as the 40.5 filter size was and is common in that focal length. You appear to have a preference for wides. The camera has frame lines for 35mm, but for anything wider you will need an accessory finder.
 
Hello!
I was watching that camera - the lens looks like a Jupiter 8 (50mm F2). As a new (waiting for) Bessa R owner myself - good luck!
Best regards,
RoyM
 
Thanks all for the advice - I had assumed tat it was a 50mm of some description ith the camera - silly assumtion really - so its a 35 and wider that I will be after.
RoyM - so you are the swine that bid me up that last £20 ;)
Thanks all for the welcome - I hould have the camera by the end of the week... but being easter I will not be holding my breath..


Gary H
 
nobbylon - I had a look at an ultron on a Uk site - at £200 it will have to wait until next pay cheque comes in .... The images do look good. In the mean time I may pick up a FSU lens on ebay..


Gary NH
 
i love my R. i shoot a canon 50/1.8 ltm, jupiter-8 50/2 l5m, and industar-50 50/3.5. hope yours does as well as mine. that is quite a bargain ...
 
Never rains but it pours !
Ive just been offered a mint looking IIf (Ive just seen pictures so far) with an Elmar 5cm 3.5, complete with case. Itwas buried in an old schoolcupboard for the past few decades.
I will be viewing it tomorrow - ay guidance on wht to look for ?


Gary H
 
Use it... Take with you a handheld incident meter and a roll of slide film, and shoot at box speed with as much shutter speeds as you can...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Both of my Jupiter-8s have 40.5mm filter thread. I wouldn't be surprised if thats what you bought, in which case you just got an R and decent lens for a good price!
 
I had a bessa R +50mm jupiter +40.5mm hood a while back (hey maybe you bought my old came!!). I really liked it if it wern't for the fact that it sounded like a gunshot going off everytime i snapped a picture. Good camera though. Enjoy it.

And just to add that i bought a old summitar yesterday in a moment of madness as well!!
 
Thanks all for the words of encouragment, I have just had an email from the seller, they are sending it special delivery so it should be with me by the weekend. I really want to get a wider lens (35 or 25) as well, but an old IIf has just been offered to me and it is so tempting...

Gary NH

PS is there anywhere that shows which of the FSU lenses will work with the R? I have noticed some posts saying that one or other lens is to deep, it would be good to know before I splash out on anything - also os there somewhere more reliable than Ebay to purchase them? Im a bit wary of the ones from Ukraine...
 
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What doesn't seen to work on the R:
J12 — rear element goes too deep
Helios-103 — doesn't come in LTM
J11 — R's base length is too short for accurate focusing

J9 probably would work but you'd need an external finder (85mm), and again, accurate focusing might be hard.

FWIW you might be able to get the Helios-103 on your R with an adapter:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=88261

Seems to be pretty hard to get, as they're hand made by one person and he doesn't seem to like making them for LTM. I'm not clear on what the situation is right now…

Update: found them on eBay…for USD280
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-Contax-RF-Lens-Leica-M39-L39-39-Adapter-Kipon-/400104295374#ht_2042wt_876

That's the cost of about 10 Helios-103's…
 
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Gazzah said:
In a moment of maddness Ive just bought an R on ebay - complete with a lens - the seller didnt know very much and descibed the lens as as a 40.5mm - thats what was written on the hood.... so I assume its the filter thread size..
Cost was £175
Click to expand...

Congratulations!
If you didn't post your offer, the bessa would be mine ;)
My auction sniper was waiting with price £171..

If you won't like the camera, just let me know. :)
But I'm pretty sure you will like it!


Damian
 
Sorry Damian - I have it in m hands now.. Will be putting the first film through today.
The Jupiter lens thats on it seems fine, focus is a bit loose for my liking but it works well. Now all I need is a wider lens.

I nearly bought a J12 then I read XXLOVERXX (?) post above ...

Gary H
 
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