Bessa R2A/R3A rewind crank problem?

[Imagestreet]

Used a spanking new Bessa R3A in anger last weekend taking indoor pictures at an engagement. Rewinding the first film (36 exp Kodak Portra 400BW) when I managed to snap the rewind crank off. Anybody else suffered from this? Was obviously under guarantee so replacement was not a problem, but mildly concerned about having to treat such an expensive camera with kid gloves. Otherwise this is a fabulous little camera, a distinct improvement on the R2 (plug -which I'm now selling on eBay) and as soon as I work out how to set up a user gallery I'll start to post pictures with it!

:bang:

 

[MCTuomey]

The rewind crank on my R2A seems slightly delicate, if that's the right word, so I'm mildly cautious with it. Of course, the camera's still very new to me, so a certain amount of cautiousness is natural, I guess. I could see my 230# self tearing the crank clean off if I was blindingly angry while rewinding, yes. But I think that's probably true with any of my RFs.

Glad it's warranteed. Hope the wait is not too long for its replacement.

 

[peter_n]

There seem to be a lot of reports about defects in these new R2A/R3A cams. Were earlier CV models also dodgy when they first came out?

 

[Huck Finn]

This is odd since one of the selling points of the R2/3A was "a stronger rewind crank" - supposed to be an upgrade over the R2. Stange . . .

 

[ddutchison]

There seem to be a lot of reports about defects in these new R2A/R3A cams. Were earlier CV models also dodgy when they first came out?

A lot of R2's were delivered from the factory with poorly adjusted RF's (pretty simple to correct), and some of the early 35/1.7 Noctons had loose locking screws internally, but that's all I remember concerning their QC issues. It's interesting that Zeiss has set up their own QC proceedures for their Cosina assembly line.

 

[Huck Finn]

I read of a number of problems with the R - apparently due to one bad shipment - but not much with R2's.

 

[Doug]

Yeah... some R's had tilted frame-lines. Odd that that would recur in new models now.

 

[peter_n]

I still find it odd that any Japanese manufacturer has QC problems. I may have posted this here before, but I worked three years for a Japanese company and they were obsessed with quality. The fact that Zeiss sees fit to set up their own QC tells you that CV is lacking in that area.

 

[MCTuomey]

I bought an R a short while ago and returned it due to badly tilted framelines. At the time Mr Gandy felt that the camera might have taken some hard knocks during shipping. The packaging didn't appear in bad shape when it arrived, though. Otherwise, the camera seemed fully functional and the CV 2.5/35 that it came with was in perfect shape. In any case it was fully warranted and I returned it without a problem.