My three CV cameras are the R, R2, and Bessaflex, all in black finish. Without considering the Bessaflex, I actually like the R a little better than the R2.
Granted, if you need the M-mount, then the R is not in the running at all. But I use screw-mount lenses, and a screw mount adapter pretty much permanently living on the R2, so that's not a factor I consider as important.
Many people say the R is no good because it has plastic cladding and such so it's not good compared to the Leica, but they miss the point altogether: it's like saying an Opel is no good as a car because it's not built like a Rolls-Royce.
But I favour the R over the R2 in practice: I don't care much about the supposedly studier cladding, plastics is good enough for me as the innards are pretty much the same as the well-established Cosina chassis anyway. The point is that I feel the R is inherently more "pure" as a working camera, without the "user-friendly" features incorporated into the R2.
Case in point: the meter of the R works regardless of frame counter and shutter readiness, and I do not need the meter to not work to remind me that I have to wind the film. Speaking as a photographer for more than three decades, one can say I am set in my own ways, using my instinct to take pictures rather than frame-by-frame deliberation, and that is fair enough too. But what I find bothersome - to various degrees - is when the camera thinks it is smarter than me. This also explains why I favour the Nikon FM to the FM2.
