2A Bessa or Not 2A Bessa?

[meezy]

Good evening, folks.
Haven't posted in ages.
I have an opportunity to buy a very clean R2A body for about $640. Fully functional, except for, strangely - it seems the previous owner glued the shutter lock in the open position. Is that something that owners of these cameras sometimes do? If so, why? Would that stop you from buying it? Any other thoughts or comments? Looking forward to your responses.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Larry H-L]

I have both an R2a and 2m. No big problems with either, but some people have reported rangefinder patch alignment drift. Easy to readjust if you are handy with a jeweler’s screwdriver. The R2m’s all-manual shutter seems slightly more quiet than the 2a.

The glued shutter lock would worry me if it cannot be undone, as I think it could lead to battery drain if the camera was cocked and moving around in a camera bag. If the shutter release was bumped, it might activate the meter. One other reminder is to not try and advance the film too quickly, if you engage the shutter release before you fully finish the advance stroke, the shutter can jam.

 

[meezy]

Thanks for the tips. I hear you re: battery drain. You're absolutely right.

 

[zenza]

$640 is quite steep, especially for a camera with an undo-able and questionable owner modification.

For comparison, a pretty nice grey R2A with Nokton 35mm 1.4 sold on eBay yesterday for $800.

 

[meezy]

Yeah I saw that : (

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I checked "sold" prices for Bessa M/A series. They went up significantly. Used cameras are sold (not for sale, but sold) for around 1K$ mark. NIB prices are just insane now.

But, if something is not functioning on the top plate of the camera, most likely something went wrong under the plate.

A series are good substitute for M7 (which is as tall as Bessa, if not taller, yak!) and I have funny feeling what Bessa R_A will outlast M7 even if it is build on cheap Cosina SLR base... It will looks like crap within five or less years, but will function ten years from now.

 

[aizan]

If you can get it repaired, that could be a good deal. Find out how much it would cost or if anyone still can.

 

[zenza]

I checked "sold" prices for Bessa M/A series. They went up significantly. Used cameras are sold (not for sale, but sold) for around 1K$ mark. NIB prices are just insane now.

If you filter out all of the sold Buy It Now auctions, the bid auctions typically don't go nearly as high.

 

[meezy]

If you can get it repaired, that could be a good deal. Find out how much it would cost or if anyone still can.

I don't know if I can get it repaired. Here is the issue in question: