Bessa L 25mm Snapshot Skopar due tomorrow!

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Lol999

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Well I took the plunge a few days ago after much agonising and won a Bessa L with black 25mm Snapshot Skopar on e-bay. Hopefully posted today with next day delivery, so by 1pm tomorrow it's in my hands! Monday i hope to be out wreaking havoc with innocent xmas shoppers, capturing unawares!

Cheers, Lol
 
Did it arrive yet? My R2a body was delivered on Thursday, the Jupiter 8 arrived from Russia this norning but I'm still waiting for the screw to bayonet adapter from China. I've read the instruction booklet forwards, backards and sideways but I can't take any pictures.......
 
Yeah it came Saturday morning and I'm laid up on the sofa with "man flu"! had it out today and shot a whole roll of XP2 Super in 2 hours. Much quieter than my F3. This thing lends itself to street photography. Hung round my neck it's about the size of my hand and, half covered by a scarf it's quite discrete.The only things I don't like are:
the shutter lock means the lever has to be away from the body to take a picture. i missed one picture like this.
the rewind crank is a nightmare towards the end of the film if you have big hands like me, very torquey and hard to grip.

I know I paid most of the money for the 25mm Snapshot Skopar lens and that's fine. if the shutter lock becomes an issue I can either sell the body or file the lock flange off.
Early days yet. The whole manual metering thing is a new idea, I useally shoot AP on my F3. Today being overcast I took a reading at a Zone 5 looking area and then just tweaked a stop open if I went in shade etc. Get the film back tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Cheers, Lol
 
I'm very envious - and I notice the man flu relented long enough for you to shoot a roll of film! I'd be interested in what you think of the lens, I'm thinking about spending the christmas bonus I haven't been given yet....
 
Greetings Lol. Enjoy your new kit. I use a Bessa L fairly often- in the end I ponied up for both the 25mm Skopar and the 15mm Heliar, since they are both such high quality lenses and so relatively affordable. I had a 15mm before and sold it because it got such little use. But I missed it occasionally, and picked up another, which I will keep for the rare shots that just need it. There's something nice about owning the original CV kit, too.

Your complaints about the rewind and the shutter lock are issues I sympathize with. I find I almost always have to remove the finder from the top of the body to rewind the film- otherwise my fingers slip off and I lose the film tension about 5 times before the film is rewound. As for the shutter lock, don't file it off. Huw Finney posted this easy fix to photo.net a few years ago- it's reversible, takes five minutes, and works like a charm.

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00AXa7

Enjoy your new kit, and happy snaps.
 
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Spend the bonus! A 15mm Heliar just went on e-bay with a "buy it now" of £50. i am so skint I just couldn't afford it.I noticed the 25mm going for £100-£125. I'll post a sample image tomorrow if any come out any good (I'm zone focussing and shooting from the hip, so success rate is LOW).

Drew, thanks for the link, when I've shot the film I've just put in (soon) I'll give that a try!

Cheers, Lol
 
Well I got the film back and what a load of crap! It's not the camera, it's me. I've got the metering down and the prefocussing is okay. The problems are:
I need a longer strap, at the moment it's bouncing around on my gut at sternum height.
I'm grabbing at shots and so the sharpness just isn't there, just plenty of blur. The lightness of the camera doesn't help matters in this respect. The lens is nice and sharp with good contrast. A sample below, a grab shot of a fairly mundane type shows the quality, bearing in mind this is a resize from a low res scan:
Needhams.jpg


I'll keep working with the camera as it's nice but unless my technique improves/changes it's back to the F3 and a Bessa L will be up for grabs.

Cheers, Lol
 
Can't say I was ever too fond of the Bessa L (I bought one used to get my sticky mitts on the 12mm Ultra-Wide Heliar that came with it, but soon gave away the body), but the 25mm with its brightline finder is a fine little lens for street work. Pair it up with an old screw-mount Leica and a small hand-held meter, or get used to judging exposure values by eye, and you should have a great time with it.
 
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Lol999 said:
Well I got the film back and what a load of crap! It's not the camera, it's me. I've got the metering down and the prefocussing is okay. The problems are:
I need a longer strap, at the moment it's bouncing around on my gut at sternum height.
I'm grabbing at shots and so the sharpness just isn't there, just plenty of blur. The lightness of the camera doesn't help matters in this respect. The lens is nice and sharp with good contrast. A sample below, a grab shot of a fairly mundane type shows the quality, bearing in mind this is a resize from a low res scan:
Needhams.jpg


I'll keep working with the camera as it's nice but unless my technique improves/changes it's back to the F3 and a Bessa L will be up for grabs.

Cheers, Lol
Click to expand...

Quality looks good. Seems to me it's just a matter of becoming comfortable with the kit and quick hip shots.

I've got the 25mm on my R3A right now and am thinking it is redundant to my 21mm. I guess I should get myfirst roll back before I decide on that.
 
I think I've got the street shooters equivalent of dart-itis, I'm snatching at things, not relaxing and not momentarily pausing whilst I get the shot. Never used to be this way, but that's life. I need to concentrate more on my technique methinks, try to get back to how it was.

Cheers, Lol
 
I agree with dazedgonebye, don't give up after the first roll! I don't know about anyone else, but I've rarely got to grips with a new camera on the first roll of film. I'm STILL waiting for my bayonet adapter for the r2a so I can't offer you proof!
 
stealth

stealth

Hello:

Slow and stealthy works well. BTY is your finder a bright line version or the older full frame type? Mine is the latter, I spend a certain amount of time peering into corners of the viewfinder.

Enjoy your Skopar.

yours
Frank
 
Hi Frank, it's the later brightline I believe as it has a rectangle frame visible when looked through. I like the look of the few non blurred images I got and will definitely be persevering. Just need to calm down a bit.

Cheers, Lol
 
pesphoto said:
Maybe try some nonstreet shooting to get the hang of the camera.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've considered that. I'm struggling with the weight, or lack of, compared to my F3. Now I had noticed this tendancy to snatch coming inwith the F3 but it's weight mostly negated the problem. The lightweight L just magnifies it. I looked at the T and R, I preferred the L over the T I think for the external exposure indication and the R in any badge was just out of my league. the ironic thing is I'm not anxious when shooting so it's not a tension thing, I've just started the shutter tripping from the shoulder and not the thumb. Just need to refine the technique a little.

Cheers, Lol
 
Count me among the admirers of the L & CV 25/4. It's my favorite film camera kit. The scale focus, huge DOF, bright VF and external meter let me "focus" 😉 on composition. My L has also proven to be tougher than I first thought. I have used the Bessa L & 25 in almost every climate except rainforest. That includes Death Valley, ocean beaches and during blizzards. I even take it kayaking (in a zip-loc baggie, of course.)

Lol, give yourself a little time to learn to use your new gear. Like you, I was very discouraged when I first bought my Bessa L and the CV wide angles. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get results I that I liked. Then, after a few months of use, I took the kit on a trip to Europe and for some reason everything felt much better. I came back with some nice images from that holiday.

My point is that there is a learning curve even for a supposedly "simple" kit. If you can avoid becoming discouraged you will be rewarded with some fantastic photos from that camera & lens.

And yes, despite my lavish praise, I still can't stand that bloody shutter lock!! 😡
 
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