Bessa shutter & light leaks

[minuteman]

Hi,All!

As an intro to the rangefinder world, i purchased an olympus 35dc and since then i leave my slr gear at home most of the time. Since it would be nice to have a system with interchangeable lenses (between 25 and 50 focal length), i decided to have a look at the bessa r2m set with the 50/2 and an additional 35mm lens.
Our local voigtlaender dealer in vienna (www.leicashop.com) told me that there might be problems with the shutter not being 100% light-tight, so between shots it would be better to leave the lens cap on. Of course, he wants to sell his leica gear.
I do street shooting most of the time so this would be really impractical. Any experiences?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my poor english,
Chris

 

[pvdhaar]

The Bessas have dual shutter curtains to compensate for the lack of a light blocking mirror like in an SLR. If anything, they make for a camera that jams easier than an ordinary SLR, but light leaks through the shutter they have not..

 

[thafred]

Hi Chris,
Don´t be put off by the jerks at Leica-Shop...I´ve bought some VC stuff there and allways had the feeling of just beeing tolerated in the shop because I have no golden Tie clip or something , it´s the only place to get the stuff here sadly..
total bullcrap that the Bessas leak light but as you say...they want to sell Leica stuff...(ask him If you can use one of the MP´s with Lux to make a photo direct into the sun ;-) would be funny to see his face while burning the shutter cloth...so much about light tightness)
Don´t get me wrong, I dont wanna bash leica because I really like their products but I hate that the noses are skyhigh when a dealer sells red dot´s....

I havent handled the R2M but it sure looks beautyfull on the shelves of the Leicastore...go for it!!! (thou I like the Black finish of the R3M more) I´ve used and abused a BessaR for nearly two years now and I really like and enjoy this camera (thou my m6 is permanently fixed to my hands, the bessa sees good action now and then)
good to see some Vienna residents come back to the Old scool rf stuff ;-)
cheers
Fred

 

[Lemures-Ex]

When I first got my Bessa R a couple years ago I took it to the beach to test it out. It was a very bright sunny day and I took a lot of shots of my girlfriend with the sun both backlighting and next to her in the frame. I put 5 rolls through it with extreme lighting situations like that to test the lens/camera. Not a single light leak. Plenty of flare of course

You have nothing to worry about!

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

There are no light leaks, due to the double shutter design decision.

 

[minuteman]

Hi Chris,
Don´t be put off by the jerks at Leica-Shop...I´ve bought some VC stuff there and allways had the feeling of just beeing tolerated in the shop because I have no golden Tie clip or something , it´s the only place to get the stuff here sadly..

Well, it's no big deal. No consulting service ... no camera. It just makes me wonder why they're selling voigtlaender products at all?
Luckily my photo dealer around the corner belongs to the "Ringfoto" group and so i get a new R2M over the next weekend for testing with the option to buy it afterwards.

total bullcrap that the Bessas leak light ...

Great to hear.

Don´t get me wrong, I dont wanna bash leica because I really like their products but I hate that the noses are skyhigh when a dealer sells red dot´s....

So the Bessa will be my "entry level drug" to the rangefinder world. Maybe i can afford MP in 20 years or so.

I havent handled the R2M but it sure looks beautyfull on the shelves of the Leicastore...go for it!!! (thou I like the Black finish of the R3M more) I´ve used and abused a BessaR for nearly two years now and I really like and enjoy this camera (thou my m6 is permanently fixed to my hands, the bessa sees good action now and then)
good to see some Vienna residents come back to the Old scool rf stuff ;-)
cheers
Fred

he he, planet earth is really small sometimes
ciao,
Christian

 

[thafred]

So the Bessa will be my "entry level drug" to the rangefinder world. Maybe i can afford MP in 20 years or so.

haha, entry level drug! mind you, it´s more Crack than Cannabis.....very highly addictive!! Also I bet you´ll be owning a M much sooner than in 20 Years :-D (even more so if you are around RFF much of your time)

YES, die Wööd is a Doaf :-D

greetz
fred

 

[Avotius]

My bessa r2a is fine and I have done some brightish lighting shots with it, no problems

 

[Bertram2]

Hi,All!

(www.leicashop.com) told me that there might be problems with the shutter not being 100% light-tight, so between shots it would be better to leave the lens cap on. Of course, he wants to sell his leica gear.

Of course ! That light leak thing ist straight BS. It is a metal shutter with a front blind ! If there are any holes anywhere then you can find them in Leica curtains, very easy to burn a hole into these shutter curtains. Maybe this was what he had remembered ? ) Wrong shop for buying CV stuff.

Bertram

 

[charjohncarter]

I don't know if a Bessa R qualifies here. But I left the lens cap off my R, at my daughter's house in LA on a sunny day (believe me, it is more than Sunny 16 on a sunny day in LA), on her sunlight patio, on a table on said patio for many (4+) hours, and there was zero evidence of light leaks. AND I have light leaks with other cameras. I know what they look like. You are possibly listening to a very disingenuous salesperson.

 

[kmack]

I don't know if a Bessa R qualifies here. But I left the lens cap off my R, at my daughter's house in LA on a sunny day (believe me, it is more than Sunny 16 on a sunny day in LA), on her sunlight patio, on a table on said patio for many (4+) hours, and there was zero evidence of light leaks. AND I have light leaks with other cameras. I know what they look like. You are possibly listening to a very disingenuous salesperson.

Don't try that with any RF camera with a cloth shutter, you will smoke it.

Chris, my experiences with the R has been similar to charjohncarter's. I would not worry about light leaks.

 

[charjohncarter]

I agree, fortunately, the Bessa R has metal. Even at that, I was pretty upset when I found what I'd done.

 

[minuteman]

Thank's to all of you!
Yesterday I shot my first roll of neopan400 with the bessa. What an experience! Lightweight, no mirror slap and precise manual focusing. It's got everything i missed on these crappy modern auto-everything plastic SLR's. I think i'll go for it, maybe with an additional 35/2.5 color skopar.

cheers,
Chris

 

[oscroft]

I think i'll go for it, maybe with an additional 35/2.5 color skopar.

That would be a good choice - the 35/2.5 is a superb lens

 

[Seele]

There again the salesman could be thinking about the Yasuhara, although I subscribe to the theory that he would rather sell Leicas with higher profits.

In the past there's been reports of Leicas catching fire as film base was made not with celllulose acetate or polyestar, but highly flammable cellulose nitrate. Once it burns through the shutter curtain, may the gods have mercy on you!