Bessa R3a or R2a if using 28mm lens?

[RIVI1969]

Hello!

Thank you for reading this post, the truth is that I been searching a lot but I still have not found a deffinitive comment about it, so that I why I bother you with this question.

I want to buy a new rangefinder kit, after too much analysis I dropped my first choice -Contax G- and decided for a Bessa with aperture priority, it will be my first experience with rangefinder cameras after years of being a SLR and digital user. I know any of the 2 Bessas Ra have frames for wider lenses, so I dont know which one to choose! if I want to buy a 25mm or a 28mm which one should I pick?

I would also like to have your opinions regarding optics, I see so many options that is hard for me to figure out which are the better lens.

Maybe my questions are naive but I rather ask to stay in the darkness! Oh! By the way, I have a Leica CM, you know that little camera already have a 40mm lens attached so maybe the Voigtlander 40mm wouldn't be an option, unless you told me is better that the 50mm's or the 35mm.


Best regards,
Ricardo Villagran

 

[sockeyed]

It's important to know that neither the R2A nor the R3A have framelines built in for 25mm or 28mm lenses. In both cases, you will need to use an external viewfinder. The Voigtlander 25/4 lens comes with one; their 28mm lenses does not.

That said, it might be possible to use a 28mm lens on the R2A using the entire viewfinder area outside of the framelines to frame your picture. You can't do this with the R3A where the entire VF area is probably closer to 35mm.

Do you wear glasses? That might affect your decision too. Many people with glasses find it hard to see the 40mm framelines on the R3A - they are too close to the edge.

Good luck with your decision.

Ben.