A tribute to the Bessa R4A/R4M

[Keith]

What a fantastic, unique and dare I say it, cheap little camera.

Maybe 'inexpensive' would have sounded better! 😀

 

[amateriat]

Wait...you got one (or the other)?


- Barrett

 

[noimmunity]

An R4* love fest! Nice, Keith!
the 28 FL doesn't get a lot of love around here, but those framelines on the R4 are heaven, if you ask me.
And yes, it does occasionally matter with a 21 to be able to look through the VF and use the RF to focus. 😎

 

[back alley]

 

[Gary E]

I just checked out a R4M at a local shop, and it's now on my shortlist of things to buy by the end of this year. Really a great WA finder inside a body. I've been using external VF in 21 and 28 and this R4M is really more convenient and comfortable.

 

[Doug]

Love mine -- Totally unique wide framelines, and very versatile. It usually has the M-mount 25 Skopar on it.

 

[amateriat]

Et tu, Joe? 😉


- Barrett

 

[Keith]

Joe,

Gorgeous ... just gorgeous! 😛

Makes me wish I'd bought the M instaed of the A ... it looks much better in gloss finish IMO!



Barrett,

I've had my R4A for a couple of years but haven't used it a whole lot. Last week however I was asked to photograph an exhibition opening in a very small gallery with a large machine/display in the middle of it and decided to do it with colour 800 film so dusted the Bessa off and trotted along with 15mm, 25mm and 35mm lenses.

All I can say is brilliant ... wound up using the 25mm and 15mm lenses predominantly and getting sharp hand held images down to 1/4 second in the cramped gloom of the tiny gallery. You can actually compose with the 15mm lens and the entire finder if you're a little creative and the 25mm frame lines are sensational ... as is the whole camera actually.

I can't believe I was thinking of selling this thing a few months back as it gets very occasional use but I have to ask myself what other camera could have done this job with film in that sort of light ... the R4* is unique, there's no other word for it!

Yes indeed ... feel the love brothers and sisters ... take your Bessa in your hands and tell it you appreciate it's unique skills. I have several times over the last few days as I've gone back to the gallery to photograph the progress of the working exhibit!

 

[ultra8]

Yes, I love my R4M. It´s cheap, it´s small and it´s works without battery.

 

[Pablito]

If I were doing more film work at this point I'd have one but I find it amazing that so many folks consider it cheap. Cheap next to a metered Leica maybe.

 

[jsrockit]

If I was to buy any film camera new these days, this would be the one. It is the only body that offers something unique in the RF world and the only reason to go outside of a Leica M.

 

[agricola]

Keith
I have been using my CLA'd M4 for theatre work and have really appreciated its very quiet shutter. How would you compare the shutter noise of the Bessa to
(a) an M Leica
(b) your FM3a?

best
Dan

 

[Keith]

Keith
I have been using my CLA'd M4 for theatre work and have really appreciated its very quiet shutter. How would you compare the shutter noise of the Bessa to
(a) an M Leica
(b) your FM3a?

best
Dan

Hi Dan,

The Bessa would be half way between an M and an FM3A IMO ... the FM3A is damned loud and no hiding that fact!

The Bessa is a sort of sharp 'snick' ... it catches the ear in a quiet room but more because of the pitch than the volume. The gallery I was shooting in had a contraption with an electric motor and reduction box driving a set of rollers which were feeding paper into the room, so not an issue in this instance but I would use it comfortably in a quiet environment and have done so occasionally.

Pablito ... I'll put up the same defence for the Bessa R4* price that we hear repeatedly for the M9 ... no one makes an equivalent! 😛

I think I paid $670.00 (happily) for mine from our bartender from memory. Incidentally the camera's handling is much improved with the genuine grip ... I picked one up in our classified recently. The camera does come with the ugliest case I have ever seen though! 😀

 

[peter_n]

I can't believe I was thinking of selling this thing a few months back as it gets very occasional use but I have to ask myself what other camera could have done this job with film in that sort of light ... the R4* is unique, there's no other word for it!

I sold mine almost two years ago and thoroughly regret it. You are absolutely right it is unique and you wonder what happened to the sales of 0.58x mag Leicas when the R4 came out. I'll be getting another one...

 

[Tom A]

The R4 is one of the great rangefinders ever! Nobody could have imagined that at some time, we would get a metered Rf that could handle 21/25mm without top-mounted finders!
Joe, how come yours look so pristine! Mine makes the people at Cosina shudder when they see it! Dinged and scratched - but it has not missed a beat since I got it (about 2 weeks before the official release - so it is getting on in age). Ususally has the C-Biogon 21f4.5 on it - though today I stuck the 21f2,8 Biogon it for a change.
It is always with me, other cameras come and go (M2/MP/ZI/R3's etc) - but somewhere in my shoulder bag lurks the R4M with a 21 on it!!!!

 

[back alley]

tom, mine are gone.
i bought the r4m and then the r4a and then went digital with the rd1.

i also sold all the cv lenses and went zeiss.
i am now buying the cv lenses back (it seems), after selling most of the zeiss lenses.

 

[Tom A]

Joe, this probably means that you will be buying another R4 at some time! As a mtter of priciple - I rarely if ever sell lenses (exception was a collapsible Summicron a couple of weeks ago - but that was to a friend - so it doesn't count). Bodies do change, though the R4's stay put!

 

[le vrai rdu]

What a fantastic, unique and dare I say it, cheap little camera.

Maybe 'inexpensive' would have sounded better! 😀

yep that's all the bessa, inepensive but not cheap at all

 

[Keith]

The R4 is one of the great rangefinders ever!

That sums it up perfectly Tom ... imagine if this camera had been released back before we found out that 'film was dead!' 😀

Imagine a digital version! 😱

 

[back alley]

a digital version would be pretty much perfect for me!