Bessa R2A rangefinder — extreme misalignment or broken?

[madeleineostoja]

I know a guy selling his Bessa R2A for dirt cheap, which is the only way I'll ever be able to afford one (I had resigned myself to buying an R), because the rangefinder is badly misaligned. He said it was slightly misaligned and he sent it off to get calibrated, but the tech threw it so badly out of alignment that he couldn't even get it back to where it was. He says you can now only see the rangefinder patch if you look through the viewfinder and tilt the camera upwards.

Does anyone know if that sounds like the tech broke the rangefinder mechanism, or could it just be severely out of alignment? I'd be happy to send it to a more reliable tech who I trust to align, but if it's broken I'm not sure it'd be worth fixing.

Any ideas?

 

[zenza]

It is possible to break the mechanism if you don't know what you're doing. I wouldn't bank on the camera only needing a realignment at this point. May be worth a gamble depending how much the seller wants.

There is another R2A with a broken shutter on a Facebook film gear group for $325. Seller is selling it as a parts camera. Perhaps you could buy both and get a working camera by combining the two.

Though I'm not sure how financially sound that as you can still find Bessas for reasonable prices. KEH had one last week for ~$750. Ive bought a number of Bessas over the past 18 months and have found all for well below the typical eBay prices.

 

[madeleineostoja]

Hmm okay, bummer. I’m in New Zealand unfortunately, so Bessas are few and far between on the used market, and shipping and import duties make intl purchases spendy

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Seeing the patch is one thing. What does it do when you focus a lens? If it is still focusing perhaps it can be re-aligned. In this scenario I'd advise avoiding it unless it is (a) ludicrously cheap, or (b) you can carefully examine it in person prior to committing.
Cheers
Brett

 

[Nitroplait]

Don't buy it if you can't take the loss of the purchase price and the cost of a failed repair attempt. It sounds like a gamble that can go either way.

 

[aizan]

Vertical alignment should be easy to adjust through a hole hidden under the hot shoe (no technician needed). Ask if anyone’s taken off the top plate, which shouldn’t have been necessary, and moved things around. Also, ask for a photo or video of the problem! If that’s the only issue, you’d luck out on a good deal. 😀

 

[madeleineostoja]

Seeing the patch is one thing. What does it do when you focus a lens? If it is still focusing perhaps it can be re-aligned. In this scenario I'd advise avoiding it unless it is (a) ludicrously cheap, or (b) you can carefully examine it in person prior to committing.
Cheers
Brett

Yep the rangefinder patch still moves as normal when focussing, it's just waay out of alignment. I can't examine in person unfortunately, but it is ludicrously cheap, about $550 USD, whereas my only other option would be ebay where they regularly go for $1200+. The camera is otherwise mint.

 

[jbharrill1]

That doesn't sound cheap, maybe just little less than an average price? I'm not totally sure what an average price of a bessa is these days BUT 550 is not on the low end in my opinion.

*EDIT*

Well damn, I quickly checked eBay and it looks like bessa prices are absolutely insane. I feel like you can find an M4-P/M4-2 for cheaper than those ebay prices. Maybe I'm just stuck living in 2016 though.

 

[madeleineostoja]

All the ones that are available to me in New Zealand are on eBay, and there the R2x series tend to go for $1200 or so ��*♀️

 

[CameraQuest]

I know a guy selling his Bessa R2A for dirt cheap, which is the only way I'll ever be able to afford one (I had resigned myself to buying an R), because the rangefinder is badly misaligned. He said it was slightly misaligned and he sent it off to get calibrated, but the tech threw it so badly out of alignment that he couldn't even get it back to where it was. He says you can now only see the rangefinder patch if you look through the viewfinder and tilt the camera upwards.

Does anyone know if that sounds like the tech broke the rangefinder mechanism, or could it just be severely out of alignment? I'd be happy to send it to a more reliable tech who I trust to align, but if it's broken I'm not sure it'd be worth fixing.

Any ideas?

its not unusual for DIYS Bessa RF adjustments to break the RF's.

if so, a trip back to the factory in Japan may be necessary to get it fixed.

 

[zenza]

Yep the rangefinder patch still moves as normal when focussing, it's just waay out of alignment. I can't examine in person unfortunately, but it is ludicrously cheap, about $550 USD, whereas my only other option would be ebay where they regularly go for $1200+. The camera is otherwise mint.

That's not ludicrously cheap. I've paid less for all 4 of my Bessas in perfectly working condition. That's a ridiculous asking price for a camera out of wack.

Calibrating the rangefinder is straight forward enough on Bessas...but it seems like the one you're looking at is so out of alignment it could possibly be broken. $550 for such a camera is a ripoff.

 

[aizan]

It's definitely cheap for current prices, and still a good deal even with the cost of repair at the factory.