Bessa RxA or RxM for cold weather?

[binky]

I'm thinking of getting a Bessa R2A, mostly for travel and keeping it in a regular backpack to keep things inconspicuous. But I was wondering if the R2M would be better for cold weather since I also like to take pictures when I go hiking and skiing. The AE would be convenient, but I'm not sure if batteries would be a problem when it's -20C (-5F) outside? Any advice is appreciated.

thanks
John

 

[rbiemer]

I own an R2a and haven't had any battery issues because of the cold. Occasionally the VF will fog up from the heat and moisture coming from my face. Same with the Bessa R I used in previous winters. I spend my winters in the Adirondack Mountains of NY state and lately the temps--except for this week, it is a bit warmer--are typically in the teens to single digits F with some stretches at much colder. We had a morning or two this year with -20F, last year we had some -28F days.
I'd be more worried about the camera bouncing around inside the pack than the temp!
Rob

 

[40oz]

I don't think it would matter, but if it's a concern get the -M. That way if it did become an issue you wouldn't be stuck with a camera that didn't work when you are out camping.

 

[wgerrard]

Battery life is often shorter at low temps. That might be an issue if you're planning on exposing the camera to the elements for hours on end. If you are just going to pop it out of the backpack for a few pix and then pop it back in, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Brian Puccio]

I spent a day in a (mild) NY snow, shooting outside for about 8 hours in 25* Fahrenheit with a R2A with no problems. Not sure if a week in the Arctic circle would be worse on it, but for a day trip in the cold, no issues.

 

[Lauffray]

Agree with above, if you only plan on taking it out occasionally from the backpack for a few snaps then it won't matter all that much. Although the M will work with dead batteries, it also means there's nothing controlling the shutter. On my R3M, sometimes the shutter fires by itself while advancing film(when it's really cold), a problem i suspect not present on the A line.

 

[KenR]

I had problems in December when the temperature dropped into the 20's. After an hour outdoors my R4A worked for 8-10 frames and then wouldn't fire. Back home it worked fine, so I replaced the bateries thinking that they were the problem (in about 9 months). A week or so later the same thing happened - the camera worked fine for an hour then I couldn't click the shutter. Once home and warmed up it worked fine and has continued to work fine since then. I have started keeping the camera inside my jacket and removing it only to take a picture. This seems to have solved the problem.

 

[binky]

thanks all for your inputs

I think it would be mostly a battery issue, although I'm not quite sure if it would affect the shutter. (I'm sensing from the responses that it shouldn't.) I'm still leaning toward having AE, if it would make it quicker to take the shot and keeping hands in pockets!

 

[Tompas]

I'm thinking of getting a Bessa R2A, mostly for travel and keeping it in a regular backpack to keep things inconspicuous. But I was wondering if the R2M would be better for cold weather since I also like to take pictures when I go hiking and skiing.

We had a long winter in Germany and I had my R3a "freeze" on two long walks, carrying it outside over my jacket. Warming it up under my jacket made it work again quite quickly -- but a RXm would not have had such problems. Fresher batteries probably would also have worked longer.

Keep in mind: The manual Bessas have no on-/off-switch resp. shutter release lock, unlike the RXa models. For me that's a deal breaker.

 

[patois]

I have an R3M and the batteries stop working at around the point that the camera becomes too cold to hold in your hands. I've worked around that but usually at those temperatures I just want to go inside.