Reliability and Collectability of R2/3-M

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Bill Liss

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Hi, I was hoping you guys could help me out with a couple questions.

One:

How durable/reliable are rangefinder cameras, R2/3-M in particular? Can they just be left to bounce around in a bag (exaggeration) or should they be packed up pretty well? I just mean, do I have to be careful with them.

Two:

The 250th Anniversary cameras are supposed to be limited edition. Will they be collectible someday, and does the serial number have any influence on that? I wanted a user, so I'd feel sort of bad if I beat up on someone's collectible.

Third:

Everyone uses RF cameras for street shooting. Aren't they appropriate for other uses as well?



And just a little background: I am new to RFF and a new RF user, having only previously used slrs, so any other advice is welcomed.


-Matthew
 
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HI Matthew, and welcome.

The Bessa's are great cameras - great bang for the buck. The RF mechanism of most any RF camera may be knocked out of alignment if bumped.

Bessa's are built on the same platform as the Nikon FM10 cameras I believe. There is a difference in build quality and durability (also in price) between the FM10 and the F/F2/F3/F4/F5 Nikon cameras.

If you look at the used camera market, mainly the top-end quality cameras hold any degree of their value. IMO the Bessa's will not be collectable like the Leica, Contax, Nikon, Canon RF cameras.

Don't buy the Bessa as an investment. Use it to take pictures. It is very very good for that.
 
I suspect the jury's still out...

I suspect the jury's still out...

I own two Bessa Rs. One's rangefinder has drifted so far that focusing with any accuracy is out of the question.

The other Bessa is faring better, but its infinity focus is not accurate. At closer distances, ~15-30', it does better.

Both of my cameras were purchased used over the past five months, and the RFs were good when I received them. So it would appear with normal use, the RFs will drift. That's a bummer.

I look forward to the day I can send them out to be adjusted. Perhaps the screws weren't tightened enough on the assembly line? Maybe a competent camera tech will be able to put them right, and have the fresh adjustment last longer.

The "250th anniversary" sound like a bit of a marketing ploy.








Bill Liss said:
Hi, I was hoping you guys could help me out with a couple questions.

One:

How durable/reliable are these cameras? Can they just be left to bounce around in a bag (exaggeration) or should they be packed up pretty well? I just mean, do I have to be careful with them.

Two:

The 250th Anniversary cameras are supposed to be limited edition. Will they be collectible someday, and does the serial number have any influence on that? I wanted a user, so I'd feel sort of bad if I beat up on someone's collectible.

Third:

Everyone uses RF cameras for street shooting. Aren't they appropriate for other uses as well?



And just a little background: I am new to RFF and a new RF user, having only previously used slrs, so any other advice is welcomed.


-Matthew
Click to expand...
 
FrankS said:
HI Matthew, and welcome.

The Bessa's are great cameras - great bang for the buck. The RF mechanism of most any RF camera may be knocked out of alignment if bumped.

Bessa's are built on the same platform as the Nikon FM10 cameras I believe. There is a difference in build quality and durability (also in price) between the FM10 and the F/F2/F3/F4/F5 Nikon cameras.

If you look at the used camera market, mainly the top-end quality cameras hold any degree of their value. IMO the Bessa's will not be collectable like the Leica, Contax, Nikon, Canon RF cameras.

Don't buy the Bessa as an investment. Use it to take pictures. It is very very good for that.
Click to expand...

😱 Agreed. Use your RF rather than just keeping and looking at it from time to time. For collectible, I am sure Leica is the majority choice (though I owned no one)
 
Lots of people have helped to establish the myth that RF's are the only real street shooting cameras, and no good for anything else. Rubbish. Rangefinders are very fine cameras- what you sacrifice in terms of viewing/composing precision vs. SLR's, is more than made up for by the gain in sharpness due to the optical simplicity of the lenses, the lack of mirror movement, and the overall speed of operation of the camera. But in the end, it's just a different tool for doing the same thing- exposing film.

I would steer clear of any camera as an investment. Buy mutual funds for that purpose. Your Bessa, on the the other hand, is a good camera. By all means toss it in the bag. Do take some care with it, so as not to knock the RF out, but don't worry about it- just use it. The lens might be considered something of a collectable in the future, but I seriously doubt there will come a time when you will wish you hadn't used it, but kept it as a collectable. If you do, you'll end up with a fine lens you never used, which you could trade for perhaps the value of a good meal and a couple of bottles of wine.

So I'll say it again- you have a camera. Use it. If you want an investment, call your broker.
 
My sense is that Cosina is not making large quantities of any Voigtlander cameras and lenses, even though certain items (like the Bessa T 101 sets) are explicitly limited editions. Partly that's because there isn't the market for a large production volume.

By all means, use these cameras and lenses. But take good care of them. They are not as sturdy as other cameras, and that's especially true of the rangefinder mechanism. But if you exercise a modicum of care you should be OK.

The idea that rangefinders are limited to street photography (whatever that is, exactly) is is nonsense. Yes, they are no good for serious macro photography, or wildlife photography, but for almost anything else they're great.
 
caffeineshutter said:
I look forward to the day I can send them out to be adjusted. Perhaps the screws weren't tightened enough on the assembly line? Maybe a competent camera tech will be able to put them right, and have the fresh adjustment last longer.
Click to expand...
Why not do it yourself? It's not that difficult.

I did it once for my Bessa R, and now I have to do it again because I gave the camera to a friend who put it in a cloth bag with couple of other heavy hard objects, strung the bag to his bicycle and rode around on cobblestone streets for a day - I guess no rangefinder alignment in the world would survive that treatment 😉
 
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