Anyone have opinions on the Voightlander Bessa R2a?

[Uncle Bill]

I'm contemplating a CV Bessa R2a as a back up to my Leica M3. Has anyone have any good and more importantly bad experiences with the Cosina Voightlander line and the R2a. It's a long term purchase and I am doing my due dilligence now.

Thanks in advance

Bill

 

[Terence T]

Hi Bill,

The R2a is a pretty popular RF and it's been discussed in quite a bit of detail previously. You could do a search and you'll find lots of past discussions on it. A good place to start would be the Voigtlander threads.

 

[GeneW]

Bill, many of us are Bessa owners and from what I've read in the many discussions here on RFF we're all pretty happy campers. I've owned an R and R2 and have liked them very much. I've not personally used an R2A so can't comment on the latest model. The Voigtlanders are not Leicas, but they're an awfully good bang for the buck.

Gene

 

[phototone]

I have an R2a and it is an improvement on an already well built design.

 

[Terence T]

If I had to point out a con on this otherwise neat cam, it would have to be it's shutter. Even the electronic shutter on the R2a/R3a comes down with a loud mechanical clack which seems to add to the hand jerk, especially undesirable when shooting at slow speeds. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier with mine. The build quality is excellent for a $500 camera, I also appreciate the excellent meter, aperture priority mode and improved rewind lever over the R2. The R2a can't be beat for its price. I love mine so much that I'm picking up a second body.

 

[MCTuomey]

I like my R2A very much. I've been shooting with the CV 35/1.7 and the 75/2.5 - there are a number of photos at my gallery taken with the Bessa. It's a lot of camera for the money, no doubt. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

I might mention a couple of idiosyncrasies. One is the RF patch being very slightly misaligned horizontally (not enough to affect focussing). Second is the meter seems occasionally inconsistent, sometimes over or under by at least a stop. Neither bothers me enough to do anything about them. I'll figure the meter thing out eventually.

Handles very nice. Have shot at 1/8 successfully. Love the bright VF. It's brighter than my M4, actually.

 

[Tom Diaz]

I bought an R2A in March to back up my Leica M6. I have so far used it with the Leica lenses.

It has a shorter rangefinder base (significantly) than my M6, so I do not use the very fastest lenses with it. It focuses fine at moderate distances with the 90mm f/2 that I have, which is the severest test I've put it to.

The aperture priority meter is a great convenience, which I think I will use extensively for night shooting and available light. Outside, with lots of sky in the pictures, I have used it in "metered manual" mode almost as much as full auto. The metered manual mode is very easy to use, too. The viewfinder shows the selected shutter speed in solid lights, and in blinking lights it shows the "preferred" speed that would have been used if you were in full auto. That gives a very clear and instantly comprehensible picture of whether you're over or under and by how much.

It is quite a bit noisier than the M6, but isn't everything? I agree that for $500 it's a great buy considering you can use so many lenses, including the best in the world. It feels great in the hand. It has a nice raised area on the right and a non-slip skin, so it's easy to carry in your shooting hand, which I like to do rather than have a camera slung around my neck all the time.

When I go out with both it and the M6, it's the R2A I use more. That'd probably be true if I had an M7 and M6--I'd use the M7 more. This way, though, I have spent about $2300 less on the camera body.

One con: As I mentioned in a different post, the shutter mysteriously jammed up completely on me after less than a month's use. Time will tell whether this is a fluke or a sign of more trouble. The camera was replaced immediately, so I'm still happy. After this experience I expect to stay happy but do not expect it to last for 50 years. There will come a point where it ain't worth fixing, whereas I doubt that the M6 will reach such a point even if the Leica company vanishes. But that's another story.

I told you the con, but I want to send you a strong buy signal!