Bessa for me?

[oscroft]

Just checked the price in Japan for the R4A and it's 87,000 yen. That's right, it's 705 dollars

I paid $749 for mine from CameraQuest (inc free shipping to the UK), which I was very happy with - in the UK they sell for approx $800 plus tax (so about $940).

 

[toksuede]

There are Canon 28/2.8 and 28/3.5 LTM lenses available that may be worth your while looking into. The added bonus is that these lenses are very small. [Figure $200 or so for the 28/3.5 and likely $300 or more for the 28/2.8, but don't quote me on these prices]

Chris

If I can find these lying somewhere for me to buy, I will be on it like horse flies on horses. But since I'm so novice at this RF thing, I will go with the "slow" 21/4p or the 25/4p to start with, get dissapointed with the slowness, and go crazy with other lenses. The thing is, as long as I'm satisfied with the speed of the lens, I will be very happy. Why Cosina doesn't make all their prime lenses faste is a mystery to me altogether...

 

[toksuede]

Try to see if you find something in the shops, where you could try things out before committing :
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Fpw9

That was very helpful. I've been to that street trying to find cables and such for my pocket wizard and it was fun walking around checking things out. But since my French is atrociously poor, it is rather difficult to ask them if I can take teh Ikon for a test drive. But then it's probably a good thing that I do someting like that. I'm still wondering whether it is worth the extra 200 USD to get the Ikon over the wide angle bonanza, that is the R4A.

 

[toksuede]

I paid $749 for mine from CameraQuest (inc free shipping to the UK), which I was very happy with - in the UK they sell for approx $800 plus tax (so about $940).

I used to live in London before I came to Paris. I have NEVER bought anything in the UK that was anything over 100 quid. The prices are so atrocious that it makes me go see red. It's just a no no. I just checked the price for Ikon at Robert White and it's something like 800 pounds. No way. I'm also not too crazy about having things sent to Europe as you might get unlucky and end up paying VAT to donate the money for the customs year end party.

 

[toksuede]

I highly suggest you look at an r4a and a Zeiss 25mm lens. The lens is fast, sharp, and just all around excellent. The body is good too, and it has that all important aperture priority mode which I love on my r2a, and you will have framelines for the 25mm lens and all that good stuff.

That said the 25mm lens is not all that small, in rangefinder terms at least, it will make the camera a bag camera not a pocket camera, if you really want a pocket camera check out one of the new P wideangle lenses by voigtlander.

Mmm... I'm used to carrying around the Fuji F11 compact camera and at the same time lugging around 15 kg worth of stupidly heavy things to various non-touristic european cities. I would like to go light, and the p series lenses do look like they are flat and light. From what I've heard, the R4A is light as well, so I'm all good with that. But thank you very much for your suggestion.

 

[Avotius]

Mmm... I'm used to carrying around the Fuji F11 compact camera and at the same time lugging around 15 kg worth of stupidly heavy things to various non-touristic european cities. I would like to go light, and the p series lenses do look like they are flat and light. From what I've heard, the R4A is light as well, so I'm all good with that. But thank you very much for your suggestion.

I know what its like to carry around heavy stuff, nothing as heavy as what you have though, I carried my canon 20D and 70-200 2.8 and a 30v with 17-40 around my neck for three straight days and now every time I hang a camera, even a rangefinder around my neck I get some pain in my neck/upper back area. That really sucks, but nothing that a little pressure therapy here cant take care of.

I have a bessa r2a and a 35 pancake 2, its really really small, easily fitting into a small ammunition bag used by hunters to store shot gun shells on a belt.

 

[toksuede]

I know what its like to carry around heavy stuff, nothing as heavy as what you have though, I carried my canon 20D and 70-200 2.8 and a 30v with 17-40 around my neck for three straight days and now every time I hang a camera, even a rangefinder around my neck I get some pain in my neck/upper back area. That really sucks, but nothing that a little pressure therapy here cant take care of.

I have a bessa r2a and a 35 pancake 2, its really really small, easily fitting into a small ammunition bag used by hunters to store shot gun shells on a belt.

Heavy things are just no good, but as long as I stay in this profession, it's about good bags as well as solid legs.

I've narrowed my thoughts on this to the R4A and the 21/4p or the 25/4p.

I'm off to the country side of France this weekend with my F3 to test out the 24mm, since I haven't used it for more than a year. This will give me a good idea as to which one of the lenses will fit my need. I still believe the 35mm is a bit too not wide enough for me, but after weekend, I shall pretty much decide which one will be my film carrier for the next couple of years.

 

[mfogiel]

Toksuede,
If you want to take a look at what type of quality you can get with a good 25mm lens on scanned XP2@320ISO, go to this link where I put some photos from my recent Paris trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59177039@N00/sets/72157600129345564/

There's a caveat: you willl likely take better photos with Bessa, as these have been made with a Nikon FM3A, and a retrofocus lens. If you will make it to Biogon 25/2.8 you will end right up at the top of what you possibly can obtain with a 35mm rangefinder, only the Elmarit 24 can compete with this lens ( but it costs 3 times as much...).
BTW, I buy my ZM lenses via the bay from matsuiyastore, and they arrive to Italy with no extra taxes to pay... 🙂

 

[manusrayus]

tocsuede ,take the metro an go to station Bir-hakeim, there is the avenue de suffren where you have a photo shop called photosuffren spezialized in ZM ,bessa and leica rf

manr

 

[toksuede]

Toksuede,
If you want to take a look at what type of quality you can get with a good 25mm lens on scanned XP2@320ISO, go to this link where I put some photos from my recent Paris trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59177039@N00/sets/72157600129345564/

There's a caveat: you willl likely take better photos with Bessa, as these have been made with a Nikon FM3A, and a retrofocus lens. If you will make it to Biogon 25/2.8 you will end right up at the top of what you possibly can obtain with a 35mm rangefinder, only the Elmarit 24 can compete with this lens ( but it costs 3 times as much...).
BTW, I buy my ZM lenses via the bay from matsuiyastore, and they arrive to Italy with no extra taxes to pay... 🙂

Back from the weekend and I dumped the rolls at the lab this afternoon. Will be ready for viewing tomorrow. It's been a very long time since I actually asked a lab to process a film and have them printed. God knows when that was.

Thanks for the link. I had a look plus my experience this weekend, I have eoloquently concluded that anything probably wider than 24mm is perhaps too wide. It's strange how fast and easy one forgets. How wide things are. Biogon...sounds like one of the characters from transformers, but before I get there, I will have to learn the nitty gritty with the "learning" model, that is the 25/p. As an afterthought, I should shoot some streets outside with a 35mm lens (or fix the zoom at 35mm) and see if I like that one. Isn't the Cosina 35mm faster than the 25/4p?

Money is an issue, as always, so I was hoping someone crazy enough to ditch their R4A for a decent price would appear out of the shadows, but so far no luck.

 

[toksuede]

tocsuede ,take the metro an go to station Bir-hakeim, there is the avenue de suffren where you have a photo shop called photosuffren spezialized in ZM ,bessa and leica rf

manr

Ah, merci. I was thinking about buying a wok tomorrow (Tuesday), so maybe I'll goto the camera store and then buy a wok. I know, it's tough being a house husband, but someone needs to play the role.