Bessa III announce price

Nice camera but a less nice price. I will call our partner Foto Riegler in Austria for a slightly better price and a delivery without VAT.

3 backorders for this folder RF 6x7 or 6x6 camera in the mean time........
 
1joel1 said:
What can the Bessa do that my Plaubel can't? Crazy money, me thinks!

Joel
Click to expand...

Hi,

I don't see that it is crazy money, the Plaubel is not an easy camera to find, the last one that sold on that auction site went for well over $A2000.00 - for a camera that is what? at least 25 years old.

The Australian price is going to be about $3250.00, so for about 30% more than you have to pay for a Plaubel here in Australia you get all this;

Technical specifications.

Folding camera with coupled rangefinder
Film choice 120/220 film
6x7 cm (120-10 exp. / 220-20 exp.)
6x6 cm (120-12 exp. / 220-24 exp.)
80 mm/f3.5 (4 groups 6 elements)
Bright frame-type viewfinder
Automatic parallax compensation
Integral LED exposure metering indications
Electronically controlled lens shutter. 4-1/500 sec, B
Exposure control: SPD Sensor
Center-weighted averaging system
Aperture priority AE and manual switchover
Exposure compensation approx 2EV in 1/3EV steps
Film speed: Manual setting, ISO25-3200 (1/3EV step accuracy)
Manual film wind by winding knob
Mechanical-type counter
120/220 (changeable)
6x7/6x6 (changeable)
CR2 (3v) lithium battery


The combination of two formats (6x6 & 6x7) on the same film in a modern body with linked rangefinder and built in exposure meter will make it ideal for those of us who
A. Don't have a Plaubel &
B. Want to retire our old MF Folders.



good on Cosina I say, the more choices we have the better.
 
I agree with Magpie, for a medium format camera the price is not bad.

I already ordered one.
 
crazy money! it costs what it costs, there nothing we can do about that (no rules against bleeting about it though :p ) maybe it will come down in price as time goes on, maybe not, who knows eh...for some people the price doesnt matter, they dont miss the cash, good for them, for others the price tag is just more than can be justified or close to the realms of what people pay for mild pro-gear (digital canon and nikon for instance) or any number of other options open up in this price range.

I was under the impression it was going to be about half the cost of what it is and then with the recent economic downturns expected it would probably reach A$2200 or so, but at A3200 it definately makes it not a cheap camera, not just above average either...in that area its the sort of camera i want to hold, handle and see results from before i would even consider it, even then i would have to wiegh up whether its really worth a price of A3200 against $200-400++ for some old Weltur and other 6x6's c/rangefinders available or $300-$500++ for some pretty nice 6x9 (which i think is much better), heck if your prepared to spend money friviously then you can get a bessa II with heliar (real, 5 element heliar!) in minty condition pretty easy for $700-1000+

just for kicks, points for comparison pinched from post above- so, how do the features compare to an old good working folder already

Folding camera with coupled rangefinder____No different
Film choice 120/220 film_________________Dont use 220, does anybody really!!
6x7 cm (120-10 exp. / 220-20 exp.)_____personal preferance but i prefer 6x9, this camera cant do it so i see it as a major disadvantage

6x6 cm (120-12 exp. / 220-24 exp.)_____no different to old cameras

80 mm/f3.5 (4 groups 6 elements)______lets see how good the lens performs first, but i like the look of old Tessar, Xenar, and real 5 element Heliar's , i doubt they are going to get that look

Bright frame-type viewfinder________a plus for the new bessa no doubt
Automatic parallax compensation______asumming it works its a plus, but one of things you get used to doing auto in your head without the camera doing it

Integral LED exposure metering indications_________a plus
Electronically controlled lens shutter. 4-1/500 sec, B___a plus but really only noticable if using E6, black and white and colour negs work fine with the old mechanical shutter.

Exposure control: SPD Sensor___a plus but linked to the former LED advantage
Center-weighted averaging system__a plus over non lightmeter older camera but again linked to the former
Aperture priority AE and manual switchover..if it didnt switch it would be stupid, but again this is tied to the lightmeter already mentioned several times so far
Exposure compensation approx 2EV in 1/3EV steps__uh huh, the lightmeter again, yep its an advantage

Film speed: Manual setting, ISO25-3200 (1/3EV step accuracy)__doesnt make any difference to me, does it to anyone else?
Manual film wind by winding knob___same as all old folders
Mechanical-type counter___an advantage to be sure (until mechanical breakdown), but it doesnt kill ya to wind on and count the numbers
120/220 (changeable)____a repeat from the second feature mentioned!!, but no real life advantage
6x7/6x6 (changeable) ____6x7 could be considered a disadvantage compared to 6x9
CR2 (3v) lithium battery___a disadvantage no doubt


so out of that i get the new bessa has the advantage of a light meter, wind on film counter, and bright viewfinder. all good to be sure (as the Irish say), and if using slide film it would be more usefull combined with the electric shutter, however i am not convinced slide film is anywhere near as popular or has as many practicle uses as it once did so for me a deadly acurate shutter is not needed.

so while the new bessa should be nice, and for the small gains may be worth it to some people (starting to feel like ken rockwell--cant be a good thing!), but, if your on a budget, just cant justify the price or prefer the classic lens look (not that we know what this one looks like?). then using a light meter isnt hard, its not like you have to use a light meter for every shot once you have a reading to begin with. winding on is easy enough with old folders and becomes second nature anyway, a brighter or bigger viewfinder is always welcomed but you get used to what your using, thats life.

fwiw an older plaubel kit complete with case and whole set of lenses and assessories in A- or B+ condition sold for US$250 +26%auction fees a few months back (i got a picture of it i think on here somewhere), i remember because i was going to bid on it but had my money and sights set on something else so i didnt get it, not that i didnt regret it, not a bad finishing price eh!
 
Do we really care that the Plaubel, or any camera, is 25 years old? I think that the Nikkor on the Plaubel will turn out to be as good or better than the Bessa III. Okay, I take back the crazy money comment. That's irrelevant to a camera spec comparison and depends on one's own pocketbook.

If anyone in SoCal gets one of the new Bessas, we should do a comparo and post the results. Send me an email or pm and we'll make this happen.

Joel
 
A lot less fervor for this camera now that the price is a reality and no longer a rumor!
 
I think that many people were expecting a bottom-feeder price.

However, it's interesting what people are willing to pay or not pay.

For example, people shelled out hundreds for digital P&S cameras that literally were and are crap. And the same goes for digital SLRs. People easily handed over nearly a thousand (dollars or pounds) for entry-level plastic pieces of junk with marginal kit lenses.

However, when it comes to a film camera, there is a belief that it should cost far less.

The reality is that while production might not be that much, a great deal of money went into R&D as well as tooling and materials.

I think the price is on the high side but not at all unreasonable.
 
Best wishes for both Cosina and Fuji for releasing a new film camera to the market.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
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