Bessa L and Leitz Collapsable Lenses

[lxmike]

have been mainly using a cv 25.4 on my Bessa L but have recently aquired a Leitz 5cm f2 summitar, I have attached it extended but have not collapsed it onto the L body incase there are issues in doing so. I know with my Canon P that certain lenses cannot be collapsed on them, is that the same regading the Bessa L

 

[newspaperguy]

You can use them, but don't collapse them.
The meter sensor sits at the bottom of the film chamber
and you could destroy it.😱

 

[lxmike]

Thanks Rick, I was very reluctant to collapse the lens in situ on the Bessa L, incase I pranged something, I was mainly worried about the shutter itself but glad I did not collapse it, especially now that I know catching/fouling the sesnsor is an issue to. Thanks again

 

[Scrambler]

This gets a lot of (IMHO) overhyped discussion.

A lot of collapsible lenses can be (cautiously) collapsed on the Bessas. In this I assume the L is the same as the later cameras but you really will need to check. Mine is an "R" which I believe has the same meter position. There is a small shelf (for want of a better term) top and bottom in the camera that stops the lens collapsing into the shutter. The meter needs to be taken into account. Steven Gandy's site includes some advice on limiting the depth of the collapse.

I have been fortunate in discovering that my only collapsible - a FED [Industar 10] lens collapses fully without issue. I've also been lucky with my Jupiter-12, which fits even at infinity focus.

My advice is to mount the lens, open the back, set shutter to B (and hold it open) while you gently collapse the lens and see what it going on. You won't damage the shutter because (as you will see) the lens will stop before it reaches it.

Some more good advice on collapsibles on a Cosina rangefinder: http://www.richcutler.co.uk/r-d1/r-d1_11.htm