Bessa Night Focusing

[Victor Mercado]

I own a Leica M3 and find it very difficult to focus in low light (90mm Elmarit), especially in night street photography. Does the Bessa R3A have a better rangefinder for focusing in low light? Does anyone with hands on experience with the R3M have any comments? ~vm~

 

[david.elliott]

My M3 is as good as my R3M. I have no trouble with either.

Maybe your M3 needs a cla?

 

[furcafe]

M3 VFs are slightly tinted, so the Bessa will be slightly brighter, but the difference shouldn't be huge.

I own a Leica M3 and find it very difficult to focus in low light (90mm Elmarit), especially in night street photography. Does the Bessa R3A have a better rangefinder for focusing in low light? Does anyone with hands on experience with the R3M have any comments? ~vm~

 

[Disaster_Area]

I find focusing at night is both easier and harder with a RF. It can be harder to find a nice contrasty part of the image to focus on that's were you actually want to focus... but when you do find one it's much easier to see as the contrast is higher than in well lit situations.

 

[maddoc]

Nothing is easier to focus at night (dim light) than a well maintained Leica M3 ... 😉 (from my experience)

 

[ferider]

My M3s viewfinders are slightly darker than a Bessa's or ZI's but easier to focus in the dark due to higher patch contrast.

Sounds like your M3 needs a CLA.

Roland.

 

[newspaperguy]

Personally, I use an old Voightlander Kontur finder (literally see in the dark) and estimate distances.

 

[Victor Mercado]

After a brief read on Camerquest the Voightlander Kontur looks tempting. My M3 is enroute for a CLA, in the meantime I'm jonesing for a backup 35mm rangefinder to cover street. The M3a seems to be the most popular workhorse in this price range. ~vm~

 

[gilpen123]

It's an R3a not M3a Victor. Anyway, I also find the M3 the easiest to focus on real lowlight conditions. Finding the focus point in lowlight is difficult specially focusing on human body/face. The best IMO is scale focus for night street shots where timing is crucial.